25 Top Nightmare Before Christmas Nail Ideas
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Can’t decide if Nightmare Before Christmas is a Halloween movie or a Christmas one? We can relate!
But seriously, we love the story of Jack Skellington so much that we’d be willing to watch this Tim Burton classic several times from October to December!
Since it was just Halloween and there’s still time before Christmas, we decided to share our absolute favorite Nightmare Before Christmas nail designs.
Nightmare Before Christmas Nail Art
Do you love movie-inspired nail art?
How about something spooky and iconic from Tim Burton? Will these Nightmare Before Christmas nail ideas make the cut?
If so, we’ve got you covered!
Check out some of the top Nightmare Before Christmas nails. You can try them at home or get inspiration for your next trip to the salon!
1. Nightmare Meets Christmas
This manicure takes inspiration from Jack as Santa Claus with this Christmas-themed peppermint red and white combination.
It’s an excellent combination of elements from both holidays and works on both Halloween and the Christmas months after.
Try this if you prefer a more classic red than Halloween’s black, green, purple, and orange.
Plus, who doesn’t love Zero as Jack’s own personal Rudolph?
2. Do you love Halloween colors?
If you sit firmly on the “Nightmare Before Christmas is a Halloween” movie side of the fence, then using Halloween-themed colors as your base is a great choice.
Check out these gorgeous orange and black nails with just a touch of Jack Skellington and Nightmare Before Christmas patterns.
This is a nice simple manicure you can do if you want to use Halloween colors with a hint of the movie!
3. Jack and Sally Nail Art
If you want your Jack and Sally Nightmare Before Christmas nails to stand out, try doing one highly detailed accent nail.
This gorgeous manicure utilizes each character’s signature color — black and pink — for a stylish glossy manicure. Then it features each character on just one nail.
It’s playful but still chic and stylish.
Plus, it’s a perfect way to let the character stand out, enjoy a simple classic color on your other nails, and only have to go all out with the art once on each hand!
4. Black and White “Boo!” Nails
If you want something elegant but playful, you can try a monochromatic manicure like this!
The combination of black and white is the perfect palette to create Nightmare Before Christmas nails. It’s also reminiscent of another Tim Burton character, Beetlejuice!
You can use elements and characters from the movie to complete the look or go cheeky and add a fun holiday message!
5. Matte Acrylic Nightmare Before Christmas Nails
While glossy manicures are always great, sometimes a lovely matte can really make your nails stand out.
Like this gorgeous acrylic matte set that lets the design shine through.
The long nails are kept stylish and impactful with three colors, while the Jack and Oogie Boogie intricately drawn nails really pop.
This is a gorgeous look to try if you want sophisticated glam.
6. Minimal Nightmare Before Christmas Nails
Minimal designs are best if you love Nightmare Before Christmas but aren’t too confident in your nail art capabilities.
These pretty nails use purple and sparkles with hints of Jack’s character design.
It’s a simple but effective and fun way of adding a hint of movie magic to your nails so that only those who know will know.
7. Jack vs. Oogie Boogie Nails
We love this fun manicure, highlighting Jack Skellington and Oogie Boogie on each hand.
To do this, you can use similar elements like stitch designs or spiderwebs on each hand and then change the colors to match each character.
This gorgeous set has green and black on the one hand for Oogie Boogie and black and white on the other hand for Jack.
8. Sally Inspired Nail Decals
Nightmare Before Christmas Nail decals are a great option if you want intricately designed nails but don’t have hours to draw them or sit at the nail salon.
This stunning press-on nail set pays tribute to the beautiful patchwork design of Sally’s dress.
The result is perfect nails featuring unique nail art at the same time. It’s a fabulous way to get beautiful and intricately designed nail art without all the work!
9. Nightmare Before Christmas Themes on Nails
Here’s a fun take on getting more of the main characters and movie elements onto your nails!
This playful manicure highlights Jack, Oogie, Sally, and more from the movie and paints them in unpredictable patterns. It’s a fun way of keeping the look fresh.
Including more subdued nails with designs like spiderwebs and stripes helps give the character nails a lift and lets you see them immediately.
10. Sally French Tips
If you love French tips or more simple and classic manicures but still want to try Nightmare Before Christmas nails, this is the perfect design for you!
Sally inspires these French tips. They also highlight that you don’t have to have overt designs on your nails. Sometimes, simple patterns are more than enough!
In this manicure, the tips are designed to match the fun patchwork pattern of Sally’s dress. It’s elegant but still fun.
11. Glow-in-the-Dark Oogie Boogie Nails
When people think of Oogie Boogie, they immediately think of neon, almost psychedelic colors, thanks to his signature musical number.
These nails pay homage to that number fabulously by highlighting Oogie Boogie on a bed of painted black nails highlighted with neon-colored glow-in-the-dark nail art.
The perfect combination of Oogie and his signature spiders in bright neon makes this a perfect Oogie Boogie manicure! Channel villain energy as you watch Oogie and his spiders glow at night on your nails.
12. Glam and Glossy
This manicure is a more subdued take on Nightmare Before Christmas. Instead of several bright and vibrant colors, they opted for monochromatic muted shades accented with three colors and highlighted with high gloss.
It’s a fantastic choice if you prefer luxurious-looking manicures that continue to show off past the holidays.
The French tip designs don’t make it any less impressive, and the elements still clearly showcase the movie in a more elegant way.
Plus, who doesn’t love a glossy shine?
13. Nightmare Before Christmas Colors
Take inspiration from the Nightmare Before Christmas with the vibrant colors of the movie.
These gorgeous glossy nails utilize the movie’s color palette while adding elements from the story.
The result? Beautiful nails that are perfect for Halloween but can still be used long after if you’re into this aesthetic!
14. Tim Burton Crossover Nails
Who says you only have to stick to one Tim Burton classic when doing your nails?
Burton’s colorful and playful goth look is gorgeous, so why not combine two favorites like this Corpse Bride meets Nightmare Before Christmas manicure?
These pretty nails feature the two couples from these beloved movies in their respective color schemes. They look perfect together and make a fun fandom mani!
15. Oogie Boogie Glitter Nails
Make your Nightmare Before Christmas Nails even more fun with glitter!
This stunning manicure makes Oogie Boogie’s colors pop with perfectly manicured glittery nails.
The combination is spooky, sexy, and fun and takes your Halloween-themed nails up a notch with added glam!
16. Shock, Lock, and Barrel + Oogie Nails
A gorgeous way to let the movie magic shine on your nails is by focusing on the details of the characters and elements and finishing them with a matte top coat.
While bold nail colors can be fun, you can also opt for muted colors for a more harmonized look. This gives you the perfect blank canvas to showcase your art.
The result is a stunning manicure with crazy attention to details that pop!
17. Zero the Hero Nails
Everybody loves Zero! That’s why you’re sure to love these gorgeous Zero-inspired red and black nails.
The glossy black is a perfect backdrop for this awesome character, and it’s fantastic how the design stretches over two nails on both hands.
It’s also cool that it showcases both sides of Zero — Halloween Zero and Rudolph Zero!
18. Burton-esque Swirls ft. Oogie Nail Design
Do you want the feel of the Nightmare Before Christmas without the actual characters on some of your nails? Then the classic swirls of Tim Burton’s art are what you’re looking for!
Oogie’s green and black theme fits this pattern perfectly. You can even add an oomph to it with glow-in-the-dark polish .
It’s also a good option if you aren’t too confident in your character drawing skills. You’ll still get a lovely Nightmare Before Christmas vibe without having to draw intricate details on every nail.
19. A Pop of Sally’s Colors
Sometimes the best way to let your nails pop is to add pops of color to only a few nails. This way, the rest still look classic and clean but with a fun twist.
For this manicure, black and white glossy and matte nails were kept monochromatic, featuring Jack’s colors and patterns from the film.
Then a fun pop of Sally’s colors was added on an accent nail for each hand.
Definitely a fun way to add pizzazz to a monochromatic look.
20. Intricately Detailed Nightmare Before Christmas Nails
This manicure perfectly highlights nails with a detailed rendering of Jack, Oogie, and the iconic scene on the Spiral Hill.
The powder matte design is expertly coupled with very intricate character details — look at that shading — making each nail look like a literal work of art.
While they look like absolute perfection, a design this complex will definitely take a long time to make. So maybe pop on the movie while you work!
21. Longer Oogie Boogie Glow-in-the-Dark Nails
Want to find a way to ramp up your Nightmare Before Christmas Halloween manicure even more? Make them long and make them glow!
Glow-in-the-dark nail art is perfect for this classic Tim Burton tale, particularly for the character Oogie Boogie.
The best part is that, like these pretty nails, your manicure will still look good even when the lights are on.
And when the lights are off? They’ll look magical!
22. Pastel Perfect
Think pastels don’t go with Nightmare Before Christmas? They absolutely do!
This gorgeous manicure shows just how pretty Jack looks against soft pastel purple and pink. The black and white are a fantastic contrast to the softer hues.
Sally’s patchwork designs look great as a fun element too.
23. Go for Gold!
Go for the unexpected by using gold in your Nightmare Before Christmas manicure.
This gorgeous design combines perfectly sculpted nails with gold, glitter, Jack, and Zero. The look is both goth and Christmas at the same time!
It’s perfect if you want elegant nails with fun, cheeky flair for the holidays.
24. Oogie Boogie and his Dice
“Ashes to ashes and dust to dust! Ohh… I’m feeling weak — with hunger! One more roll o’the dice oughta do it!”
These cheeky purple-and-green nails feature Oogie Boogie along with his signature cubes of chance in a clever design that stretches over not just two but four nails.
It’s an excellent, eye-catching design that’s chic and bright. Add a lot of gloss to keep it looking elegant and stylish.
25. All Hail the Pumpkin King
Of course, we can’t end this list without a manicure that pays homage to the Pumpkin King himself.
Jack Skellington’s look is so striking and unique that his character alone makes for a great nail look.
You can use his likeness or even elements of his role in Halloween Town on your design, like black and white stripes, bowties, and pumpkins.
And if you’re worried about being unable to draw, you can use nail decals like these for an ultra-sophisticated and highly detailed manicure.
Nail Art Is a Fabulous Form of Self-Expression
These Nightmare Before Christmas nails are just some of the incredible ideas you can try on your nails for both Halloween and Christmas.
You can choose your own unique design to express your aesthetic and individuality or to join a trend. Don’t worry too much about getting it perfect. Nail art is supposed to be fun!
And if you are concerned about your freehand drawing skills, there are several other options you can try including decals, nail stamping, and press-on nails.
So the only rule you have to follow is to have fun and be creative!
Do you love nail art? What are some of your favorites?
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