I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…festive holiday nail colors ride a fine line between fun and corny for me. Of course I want to feel festive but I also don’t want a literally painting of a candy cane or a christmas tree on my nails. Maybe it’s ingrained in me from year and years of art school or something but when it’s that literally it makes me feel too cheesy.

That’s not to say that if you like candy cane stripes on your nails or even a full on scene of santa coming down the chimney that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just not my style. So every year I try to gather some festive holiday nail colors that are christmas-y but would still look good if you wore it on a normal day. I know I’m not the only one trying to find a balance here.

Here are my picks for this year.

• OPI MALAGA WINE // This is a classic OPI shade, and I think I may have even mentioned it as a holiday favorite before, but thats because it’s one of my Christmas season staple colors. It’s red enough to be festive but simple and classic enough to be chic and go with most outfits and makeup looks.
• BUTTER LONDON BROWN SUGAR // I wore this on Thanksgiving, but I think it’s a really great Christmas shade as well. It’s really metallic and gold, but it’s also enough on the bronze side of the spectrum that it’s not classic and obvious. It’s a good way to be festive but still interesting.
• OPI CHRISTMAS GONE PLAID // Green is a classic for Christmas, but not a classic for nails. So this deep hunter green is a good way to be festive and still edgy.
• ESSIE IT’S GENIUS // Again, reds with some glitter are super classic christmas, but taking it to more of a plum hue instead of a true red keeps it more interesting and I dunno…fashion forward I guess? I don’t know if that’s the right description but whatever it is, I dig it
• OPI COMET CLOSER // A true metallic shade is always festive, and you kind of cant tell in the photo above but it has a lot of nuance and a hint of gold in it that makes it almost like an antique silver color. Very vintage-y and cool.

Here is another angle of the colors in brighter light so you can see what I mean more clearly…

Pardon the scratched up looking nail wheel, amazon boned me and sent me ones that look like they were run over by a truck…

Do you have any festive holiday nail colors you swear by or any really cool holiday nail art? Show it to me! I would love some holiday inspo!