CHRISTMAS NAIL ART: Red & Green Holiday Gnome Nails

by - December 12, 2022


Obviously gnome nails are very, very much having a moment right now. I mean, based on what I'm seeing in stores right now, I would go so far as to say that it's gnometastic out there this holiday season and everywhere you look - GONKS! I will admit that I really, really wanted to do some last holiday season but I didn't have a stamping plate with gnome images and my hand painting skills are... mid at best. So, of course, for this year's holiday season I made sure I had acquired some stamping plates featuring gnome images and I knew I would be doing at least one. 

Keep reading for more!


When I was deciding on the color story for this mani, I decided to go all in on your really traditional Christmas colors. Because I did want my two gnomes on a white background and I'm a notorious hater of white créme bases, I went with this white crelly speckled with itsy bitsy red and green glitters from ILNP. I have to say, I'm really, really glad that I picked this polish up because it's a gorgeous formula and makes for a pretty perfect base for Christmasy nail art - no gloopy, chalky white créme required. I also really wanted to tie everything together by using the same polishes for the bases out of my outside nails as I was using to fill the gnomes, so I went with red and green stamping polishes.

Using two coats of each, I applied my three base polishes and let those dry down. 


I definitely wanted both gnomes to have both red and green represented while still having one being the gnome in red and the other being the gnome in green, if that makes sense. How I ended up doing this was to treat one color like the main color and the other as the accent and then do the same thing but opposite on the other gnome. (I am very much aware that I'm making this explanation for what it pretty clear in the finished product a little too complicated, but I always like to share my creative process.) I also filled in the nose and face region in a nude that was similar to my skin tone and filled the beard and fluffy accents with white. 

When it came time to transfer the images, I started with a starry falling snow image in white to just add some subtle texture to that background. Immediately after that I went in and applied my gnomes, trying to keep them centered as best I could but placed a little bit closer to the tip of the nail than to the base. For my outer nails, I decided to use this image featuring larger starry snowflakes and I applied them at angles towards the base of the nail to just add a little bit of something so that those nails weren't bare but weren't too busy.

Once I was happy with my design, I sealed it in with a nail art top coat and then followed with a generous layer of quick dry glossy top coat for shine and volume. And voila!


All Products Used
ILNP - Christmas Cookie
Whats Up Nails - Neither Noir
Whats Up Nails - Blanc My Mind*
Whats Up Nails - Box Of Whine
Whats Up Nails - Nip It In The Bud*
Pueen - 819 Ballerina
Apipila Smudge Free Top Coat
Sweet & Sour Lacquer Gloss Sauce Top Coat
Lesly Winter Mood 4 Stamping Plate
Pueen Chunky Soft Transparent Stamper
Uberchic The Rocker Clear Tall Rectangular Stamper
NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool**
NailStuff.ca Nail Art Brush**

* = PR Sample | ** = PR Sample/Affiliate NailStuff.ca use code TRYSH for 10% off first order.


I'm honestly just so thrilled with how these turned out - like look how cute those little gnomes are with their big floops and their skinny legs with huge boots. I also love how just utilizing that very red and green color scheme ended up making this distinctly Christmasy without having to add any unambiguously Christmasy elements, if that makes sense. 

If you're interested in seeing a tutorial for this design - or any of the other holiday designs I've put together, head over to @pblnails on Instagram and follow me there to keep up on all of my nail art designs!

Thanks for reading!



You May Also Like

0 comments