27 Best Winter Nails: The Ultimate List

Winter nails don’t all have to be busy with images of Santa Clause and sweater patterns. Sometimes a simple gold is all you need. 

Juliette is made up of rose gold metallic flakies and a scattering of holographic sparkle. The flakes lay flat on your nails and have a hammered gold finish to them. Along with that holographic twinkle when the light hits your nails just right, Juliette is a perfect holiday color for a more refined type of festive.

The worst part of any metallic nail polish is how much of a pain it is to take off, but Juliette is made of metallic flakies so it’s much easier to remove than chromes or gold glitter. 

I honestly didn’t think I was going to like Whats Up Nails’s stamping plates as much as I do. Their designs are crisp and much more dynamic than other brands. The polar bears on the top plate actually look like they’re walking whereas in other brands you’d only have a static pattern of bears. It’s little things like that which makes them one of my favorite stamping plate designers.

On these two plates you get a lot of nice holiday designs and many of which aren’t Christmas-specific which is nice for those just looking for winter themes. Some of the designs might be a little big for short nails which is my only issue with these plates. 

Looking for a good Christmas red? This Fa La La La La Nail Polish Quad from Zoya comes with four full-size nail polish bottles, and considering that Zoya polishes are typically $10 each, this is a serious bargain.

This bundle comes with the shades Dakota, Sarah, Alegra, and Veronica. Each is a highly pigmented red ranging from deep oxblood to cheery shimmering cranberry. This set will save you loads of money on a luxury brand and give you all the holiday red polish options you might need.

Zoya nail polish free of 10 of the most common chemicals found in nail polish including formaldehyde. 

This bundle from Winstonia includes their Winter Wonderland, North Pole, and Holly Jolly Christmas plates. There are some really lovely patterns on here that remind me of wrapping paper. With some metallic gold nail polish as a base, you could create some stunning Christmas nails.

I’ve bought Winstonia plates in the past and I’ve been happy with how they stamp. The Holly Jolly Christmas plate is on my wish list this year. 

Okay, so it may not have the most Christmas-y name, but Shattered Souls is one of my favorite holiday glitters.

The large gold hexes and gold micro-glitter are so incredibly reflective. And if you can’t wear serious glitter during the holidays, when can you? 

This looks festive layered over reds, pine greens, whites, and even over a cool dove grey which has been an in color this year. For a cool gradient effect apply your first coat of glitter only the tips of your nails or near your nail bed and then the second coat to your entire nail. 

Smith & Cult is a brand with a cult following and having tried them myself I can see why. They’re extremely long-lasting. And don’t get spooked by the large cap, their signature gold cap lifts off to reveal a more traditional cap that’s easier to handle.  

Snowflakes are all well and good but holographic snowflakes are something else entirely. These holo foil snowflakes flash all the colors of the rainbow for eye-catching winter nails. 

They look complicated but they’re actually easy to apply. You paint your polished nails with the included foil glue and once that’s dry you apply the foil, shiny side down, and the snowflakes will transfer from the foil sheet to your nails. That’s all there is to it for holographic snowflake nails. 

For something a little more graceful and adult, check out these water slide decals.

You can get incredible detail on water slide decals and these are truly high-detailed. Each one looks like a mini piece of holiday artwork. You get eight sheets of decals and with around 15 images on each, that’s over 180 nail decals to choose from. 

There are some beautiful images in here that are Christmas themed and some that are just winter-themed like pinecones, owls, and mittens.

Water slide decals are a little trickier to put on as you have to dip them in water before sliding the decal onto your nail but if you’ve ever put on a temporary tattoo and you won a pair of tweezers, you can do this.

This five plate set for the price is a really good deal on quality stamping plates. It’s a very playful set of plates with the first plate featuring cute cartoon bears wrapped in lights and a unicorn hugging a Christmas tree for example. 

The second plate is all Christmas sweater patterns to indulge in that fun trend. The third plate has more individual images with penguins and Santas.

The fourth has layered stamping elements which is where the design in broken down into pieces and you stamp them on top of each other to create a whole picture. The plate has marked the images with arrows so you know to stamp tree, then the tinsel, and then the star. 

The last plate is a little quirky with nice Christmas trees, polar bears in astronaut helmets, and constellations. I’m not sure what exactly that’s about but it’s cute. A neat feature of the last plate is it has empty snow globes and then lots of tiny elements that you can build your own snow globe design by stamping the tiny images inside the empty globe. I think that’s really clever.

If you have longer nails, Maniology (formally Bundle Monster) is going to be for you.

This Winter Kingdom set has nice full-nail patterns that work for shorter nails but they really shine with the larger images for long, show-stopping nails. That ice castle and gingerbread house? Gorgeous.

I love my Maniology plates but they definitely work best with stamping polish. I’ve never had good luck stamping them with regular nail polish. The lines are too fine and there’s too much detail. With stamping polish, Maniology plates stamp like a dream. 

There is one plate of floral designs that I’m not exactly sure why it’s there, but it’s pretty and will be nice come springtime. 

If you’ve been looking for a nail polish that looks like the sunset glinting off fresh snow, Fired Up is it.

November and December are the perfect time to break out your frostiest, iciest polishes. Fired Up is packed with holographic micro-flakies that are easier to remove than regular glitter.

You’ll want two to three coats for this one but the end result is a finish that looks like sunlight sparkling off of fresh snow. This is a polish that changes color depending on the light you’re in. It has a stunning green to orange flash with scattered holographics sparkling underneath.

Believe it or not, depending on weather conditions, snowflakes can actually act as holographic prisms which is the cause of that golden twinkling effect when the light hits new snow.

Want to try getting into nail stamping? This kit is a cheap way to try it out and get in on the fun. The set comes with three holiday-themed nail stamping plates, a clear jelly stamper, and scraper. 

The designs on the plates are cute. They’re maybe not quite as intricate as some of the others on this list but for the price and the fact that you’re also getting a stamper, this is a great deal.

The only thing it doesn’t come with is stamping polish and if you’re looking for that I highly recommend Born Pretty’s 25 Color Set which gives you all the colors you could need right off the bat, including metallics, in mini bottles. 

The Nutcracker is a holiday classic and with all the buzz about the Nutcracker movie, get into the spirit with this five extra-large plate set from Maniology.

They have more of a tapestry look to them than other plates and you can pick out smaller patterns here and there or sample from their larger images. 

Here you’ll find a sword-wielding Rat King, sugarplum fairies, fantastical sweets worlds, cozy Christmas living rooms, and of course nutcrackers.

Don’t have much nail art experience? Nail stickers are basically foolproof. They’re self-adhesive so you literally just have to peel one off, tweezers are great here, and place them on your nail. That’s it.

Press down and then cover with a top coat to extend the decal’s wear-time.

This set comes with 12 sheets of small holiday nail decals. They’re cute, colorful, and slightly raised with metallic foil accents. 

These are perfect for a fast, low-effort needed festive nail look and for little kids who want their nails to look special for the holidays.

Candy Cane Crush is fun, festive, and peppermint-scented. It really does smell like a candy cane.

The glitter topper from KBShimmer is a clear base with red and white micro-glitter along with larger red and white hex glitter. You can create a lot of different looks using this glitter over different base color nail polish.

It’s definitely an attention-getter without needing to put in a lot of nail art time and effort.

Nail wraps let you take complex images and transfer them onto your nails. They can be a little trickier to apply, but are well worth it for the finished look.

These are water slide decals meaning you soak your nail wrap in water for 15 seconds and then the wrap slides off the backing and you can apply it to your nails. Then it’s just a matter of poking in the sides to make it fit your nails. They have a white opaque base so you can apply these to bare nails and they won’t look dull.

Each sheet comes with enough wraps for one manicure with a couple of extras to be sure you have the right size for your nails. Whats Up Nails has wraps this year in eight different designs including Decorated December, Pepperminty, and That’s a Wrap with 3D gift bows.

There are many holidays that happen throughout the winter season so your nails don’t have to be all Christmas trees. These cute nail decals celebrate the miracle of Hanukkah. 

The self-adhesive nail stickers are easy to apply, especially with the help of some tweezers. Cover with a top coat to make help them last longer. There are 30 decals on here with designs like dreidels, candles, and menorahs.

Take a small step out of the box with this periwinkle metallic flakie polish from ILNP.

It has that almost silver look with a blue-purple tingle that gives the effect of tinsel on the tree or icicles at night. It’s lovely on its own or as a base for bold nail stamps like white snowflakes.

ILNP is one of my favorite brands. They’re vegan, cruelty-free, and easier to remove than glitter. You’re also supporting an American indie polish brand.

Nail stencils are a fun way to get complex looking nail art in an easy way.

You apply your stencil to dry, polished nails, paint over the stencil with your contrasting nail polish, and remove the stencil while that polish is still wet–and now you have an impressive all-polish design. 

Whats Up Nails has the best stencils in the nail art world. They’re thick, easy to work with, and won’t tear the second you touch them like cheaper versions.

This pack comes with four different holiday designs which can also be picked up separately: Peppermint Candy, Festive Globes, Bells, and Antlers.

Cici & Sisi’s Merry Christmas stamping plate set comes with six large rectangular plates with festive storage envelopes. This set has a wide range of holiday images from realistic penguins to cartoon gingerbread men. Basically, anything you could think of to want to stamp on your nails this season is covered.

There are lots of detailed snowflakes, Christmas trees in about every style you can imagine, holly, pine cones, stockings, peppermints, and Christmas sweaters.

There are even a couple of holiday themed postal stamps images for creating Christmas card nail art which I think is super cute and unique design I don’t remember seeing elsewhere.

Born Pretty is a trusted name in nail stamping and this three plate set is perfect for those who prefer all-over nail patterns instead of having to center smaller individual images.

There are still some of those stand-alone images, but the majority of these plates are patterns that cover your entire nail.

There are loads of Christmas sweater designs in this set that look so cute. I have the plate in this photo that I bought with a different set and it’s my go-to for Christmas patterns right now. There are patterns on here big enough for long nails but plenty that work with short nails as well. 

Do you need a lot of Christmas nail decals? As in around 800?

This set has eight sheets of nail stickers and seven sheets of nail wraps. That’s enough for you to be set through a couple of holiday seasons or for a fun holiday activity with the little ones to deck everyone’s nails out with these Christmas images.

There’s a wide range of designs in here with some beautiful fir trees and holly, cute cartoon reindeer and snowmen, and detailed presents. The nail wraps are a nice way to get a full, professional-looking manicure where all the nails match.

This is a set of four sheets of nail decals: two for winter nails and two for Halloween nails.

For winter there are two sheets of snowflake stickers. One is all icy blue and the other is more colorful and has gold foil. 

The stickers are self-adhesive so they’re super simple to apply. Use tweezers to stick them on your nails and cover with a top coat. That’s the whole process. I love it. 

Plus, you’ll be all set for next Halloween with these two sheets of pumpkins and skeletons.

If you’re looking to get the most out of your money, this set from Buibee comes with eight full-size nail stamping plates. 

The plates have different themes with snowflakes, snowmen, angels, Christmas trees, and ornaments. There’s one image that gives a birch bark effect and another for icicles that stands out to me. 

They have a good etch on them and stamp clearly. With the number of designs that have a lot of solid areas, I’d say these would work best with stamping specific polish and not drugstore brands. 

For a good Christmas tree green, check out Envy the Adventure from OPI’s Nutcracker Collection. 

It’s a perfect backdrop for red and white glitter or Christmas ornament nail stickers. It’s a true tree green without too much blue in a it and the color looks amazing on all skin tones. Being OPI, you know it will have decent staying power.

The Let It Snow collection contains four square acrylic nail stamping plates full of holiday designs. There’s a nice combination here for full patterns and individual images to play with. You get lots of intricate snowflakes, Christmas knitted sweater designs, and Santa’s reindeer. 

Cici & Sisi are a unique stamping brand because many of their plates are made from acrylic instead of metal. I bought myself a set of their acrylic plates this year and while the plastic medium takes a minute or two to get used to, they stamp as well as my metal plates, and since they’re acrylic they wont warp or get scratched up. Plus they’re lighter and easier to store. 

If you’ve been loving all the Christmas sweater nail stamping patterns but don’t want to go through the trouble of nail stamping–these nail stickers can replicate that effect with a much smaller time commitment. 

You get eight packs of peel-and-stick nail decals and two sheets are dedicated to those sweater patterns. One in white and the other in classic blue and red. There are also two sheets of snowflakes and sheets of classic holiday images like holly, bells, and reindeer that are impressively detailed for their size.