Candy cane nails are the easiest Christmas design to get right at home. You need red polish, white polish, a base coat and a top coat. Paint your nails white, let the white dry completely, add red diagonal stripes, and seal it. That is the whole design, and every idea in this post is a version of it.
The designs below come from real nail bloggers and creators, and each one links to the creator’s own tutorial page. The pictures in this post are AI-generated illustrations made to show each design. They are not the creators’ photos. Follow the links to see the real nails and the full steps.
If you have never painted stripes before, start with one accent nail and keep the rest plain. Stripes look neater when the base colour is fully dry, and a thin brush or a strip of tape will do more for you than a steady hand. Pick the design that matches the tools you already own.
1. Striping tape stripes, white base first
White goes down first, because white polish is harder to get opaque than red. Stacy painted two coats of white, laid 40 small pieces of striping tape across her nails in the pattern she wanted, painted two coats of red over the top, and pulled the tape off straight away, one nail at a time, before moving on. A fast-dry top coat finished it.
Inspired by Stacy’s Savings: https://www.stacyssavings.com/other-stuff-candy-cane-nail-art/
2. Stamped peppermint swirls on glittery red
A glittery red jelly gel base gives the white stamping something to sit against, so the pattern looks crisp instead of flat. Prairie Beauty stamped a peppermint swirl image onto her middle fingers and a candy cane stripe image onto her first and little fingers, using white stamping polish and a clear stamper. Two coats of gel, cured between coats, and a gel top coat sealed it.
Inspired by Prairie Beauty: https://www.prairiebeautylove.ca/2020/12/christmas-nail-art-glittery-red-white.html?m=0
3. Stamped stripes on sparkle red
Start with the glossiest, sparkliest red you own, because the shine is half the candy effect here. Nati painted her nails with a bright candy red, then stamped white diagonal stripes over the top using two stamping plates. Stamping keeps every stripe the same width, which is hard to do freehand, and it is much faster than placing tape on every nail.
Inspired by Nati of Polished Polyglot: https://www.polishedpolyglot.com/2016/12/nail-art-candy-cane-nails-nail-crazies.html
4. Peppermint pinwheel swirls
This one reads as peppermint sweets rather than straight stripes. Over two coats of white and a coat of glitter polish, Cosmetic Proof drew pinwheels with a red striper brush, dotted the centres with white polish, and added small green details with forest green acrylic paint. It follows the cutepolish peppermint swirl technique, with her own changes to the colours and details.
Inspired by Cosmetic Proof: https://www.cosmeticproof.com/2013/12/candy-cane-swirls.html?m=1
5. Red and silver stripes with glitter accents
Three nails get the stripe treatment and two get glitter, so the set stays balanced. See the World in Pink painted three nails white, one grey and one red, then layered silver glitter over the grey nail and red glitter over the red one. Red diagonal lines went across the white nails with room left beside them, and a thin silver stripe was added next to each red one.
Inspired by See the World in Pink: http://www.seetheworldinpink.ca/2014/12/manicure-monday-candy-cane-nails.html
6. Mini candy canes on shimmery gold
Instead of striping the whole nail, this design puts two or three little candy canes on each one. Over two coats of shimmery gold polish, See the World in Pink drew small candy cane shapes in white nail art polish, then painted thin red stripes across the white. The gold base makes it feel festive without needing any other decoration.
Inspired by See the World in Pink: http://www.seetheworldinpink.ca/2019/12/manicure-monday-mini-candy-cane-nail-art.html
7. Striping guides and a holiday decal
Proof that candy cane nails work on very short nails. More Nail Polish used striping guides for even lines, rolled a stamper through red polish to lay a thin, smooth coat over the tips, and removed the guides without any bleeding. The feature nail is a water decal from a holiday decal set, which keeps one nail different without any extra painting.
Inspired by More Nail Polish: https://www.morenailpolish.com/2011/12/candy-canes.html?m=0
8. Thick and thin tape stripes
The candy cane nail here is one nail in a full set of Christmas characters, and it was the second easiest of the five to paint. The Little Canvas painted the nail with two coats of white, then stuck nail art tape down in different directions to make thick and thin red lines, painted red over the top, removed the tape, and added top coat. The mixed widths are what make it look hand-painted rather than printed.
Inspired by The Little Canvas: http://www.thelittlecanvas.com/2013/12/a-festive-christmas-manicure.html
9. Metallic French tip candy canes
OPI’s version keeps the candy cane pattern on the tips only, over a soft pink base. After a base coat and two thin coats of a pale pink polish, the tip is painted in a metallic pearl shade, then a detail brush adds diagonal red lines, spaced apart, with a thinner line next to each one. A top coat and a drop of cuticle oil finish the look.
Inspired by OPI: https://www.opi.com/nail-art/candy-paint-job
10. Candy cane swirls and a striped heart
HONA’s tutorial pairs a soft pink base with a flatter, calmer swirl that still reads as a candy cane. Red detail paint is worked into swirl shapes with a striper brush, thickened at the top and bottom, then cured; thin white lines follow the same curves in between. The ring finger gets a heart built from two candy cane halves, with the hook of the cane forming the top of the heart.
Inspired by HONA: https://www.hona.au/blogs/nail-art-tutorials/christmas-candy-cane
11. Gel stripes with Scotch tape guides
Gel polish and ordinary Scotch tape do the work here. Style With in Grace built up a bright white gel base in thin coats, curing between coats, then cut tape into strips of different widths and laid them diagonally across each nail. Red gel went over the top, two coats for a dark enough red, and the tape came off only after curing, which is the opposite timing from regular polish.
Inspired by Style With in Grace: https://stylewithingrace.com/christmas-candy-cane-nails/
12. Burgundy stripes, bold and fine
This is the grown-up version of the classic: burgundy instead of bright cherry red, and two stripe widths instead of one. Madeline Poole, Sally Hansen’s Global Color Ambassador, built the look on a snow-white base with a mix of bold and fine burgundy stripes, which keeps it modern and a little less sweet. The details were shared by Sally Hansen and written up by Pammy Blogs Beauty.
Inspired by Madeline Poole for Sally Hansen: http://www.pammyblogsbeauty.com/2016/12/sally-hansen-holiday-candy-cane.html
13. Sticky-dot stencil stripes
No striper brush and no steady hand needed. Carly cut sticky office-supply colour dots into fringes, folded every other strip under, and used the result as a stripe stencil over a dry red base. On shorter nails she placed the stripes diagonally; on longer nails she used an uncut dot to curve the tip and striped only the tips. A swipe of holographic glitter top coat finished it.
Inspired by Carly of Chic Creative Life: https://chiccreativelife.com/2011/12/14/diy-candy-cane-nails-a-holiday-manicure-using-color-dots/
14. Glittery red striping-tape stripes
One quick swipe of glittery red polish is all the colour this design needs. United in Beauty painted her nails white, let them dry completely, placed striping tape in lines, and painted a single coat of glittery red over the top. The tape has to come off while the polish is still wet, or the edges will not stay crisp. That one timing detail is the whole trick.
Inspired by United in Beauty: http://www.unitedinbeauty.com/2014/12/candy-cane-striped-nail-art.html
15. The candy cane swirl with a hook
This design copies the shape of a real candy cane, hook included, instead of just striping the nail. Over a dry white base, a fine-tip brush paints a slightly curved J shape, then thin red lines swirl down the nail, leaving even white gaps between them. A brush dipped in remover cleans up stray marks, and the last stripe curves into a small hook at the tip if you want the full effect.
Inspired by NailsConsulting: https://nailsconsulting.com/candy-cane-christmas-nail-design/
16. The easy thin-brush tutorial
A short, plain tutorial with no special tools beyond a thin brush. The Lemon8 post by @doperthanyournails walks through white polish, then red diagonal stripes, then a clear top coat, in the same order most of the designs in this post use. It is a good one to copy first if you have never painted stripes before, because there is nothing else to learn at the same time.
Inspired by @doperthanyournails on Lemon8: https://www.lemon8-app.com/@doperthanyournails/7306657904214737414?region=us
17. Festive gel candy canes
Mylee’s video tutorial uses the brand’s Christmas gel collection and follows the steps on screen, so you can pause and copy each stripe. The look is the classic red and white diagonal stripe, done in gel for a bright, glossy candy finish that lasts through the holiday week. Gel needs curing under a lamp between coats, so follow the curing times on the products you use.
Inspired by Mylee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBxg0QeOkm0
18. Candy cane press-on set
No painting at all. In this video, akahbic applies a holiday press-on set with candy cane stripes and peppermint designs, showing how the set goes on and how it looks once fitted. Press-ons are the fastest route to this look, and the sensible choice if you want candy cane nails for one party and plain nails again the next day.
Inspired by akahbic on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp4Vrz-fNxU
Tips for neat stripes that last
Stripes go wrong in the same few places, and all of them are fixable. The base colour must be dry before tape or stripes go on, or the tape will lift it. Load the brush lightly. A brush full of polish makes thick, wobbly lines, and you cannot thin a stripe once it is on the nail. Work one nail at a time when tape is involved, and peel the tape off at the timing the method calls for: while wet for regular polish, after curing for gel.
Keep these tools close before you start:
- Base coat, red polish, white polish, and a glossy top coat
- A thin striper brush or a detail brush, plus a toothpick for small fixes
- Striping tape or Scotch tape, cut into strips before you paint anything
- A small brush dipped in nail polish remover, for cleaning the skin around each nail
- Cuticle oil, applied after the top coat is dry, to keep the skin around the nails from looking dry in photos
For wear, thin coats last longer than thick ones, and a fresh layer of top coat a couple of days in can hide small chips at the tips. Wrap the top coat over the free edge of each nail, the very tip, so the polish has something to hold onto. Wear gloves for washing up. Hot water and cleaning products wear polish down faster than anything else you do with your hands in December.
Frequently asked questions
How do I paint candy cane nails at home if I have never done nail art?
Paint a base coat, then two thin coats of white, and let them dry fully. Use striping tape laid diagonally across each nail, paint red over the top, and peel the tape off while the red is still wet. Finish with top coat. Tape does the straight-line work, so a shaky hand does not matter. Try it on one accent nail first.
Do I need striping tape or a stamping plate?
No. Both help, but neither is required. A thin brush and a light touch will paint stripes well enough, and the designs by @doperthanyournails and Mylee in this post show the thin-brush route. Tape is the cheapest help if your lines keep wobbling. A stamping plate is worth it only if you plan to stamp designs often, since the plates, stamper and stamping polish are a separate purchase.
Will candy cane nails work on short nails?
Yes. Short nails suit this design well, because the pattern gets simpler as the nail gets shorter. Use fewer, slightly wider stripes, or keep the stripes to one accent nail or to the tips only. The striping-guide design and the mini candy cane design in this post were both painted on short nails.
How long will candy cane nails last?
Regular polish with a base coat and top coat usually holds up for several days of normal wear before the tips start to chip. Gel versions last noticeably longer, because each layer is cured hard under a lamp. Reapplying top coat after a couple of days and wearing gloves for housework will stretch either version. Striped designs show chips sooner than plain polish, because a chip breaks the pattern.
How do I get red polish off without staining my nails and skin?
Use a base coat every time, since red pigment stains bare nails easily. For removal, press a remover-soaked cotton pad onto the nail and hold it for a few seconds before wiping, instead of scrubbing. That lifts the colour in one pass. Wash your hands with soap and water afterwards, and use cuticle oil once the nails are clean and dry.
Can I do candy cane nails with gel polish?
Yes, and several designs in this post are gel versions. The steps are the same, but each coat is cured under a lamp, and tape comes off after curing rather than while the polish is wet. If you do not own a lamp, stick to regular polish. Gel needs proper removal too, by soaking, rather than peeling it off, which can damage the nail underneath.
Pick one design and try it this week
Start with the method that matches what you own. Tape and regular polish will get you there tonight. A stamping plate or gel setup is for the second attempt, once you know you like the look. If you want more Christmas ideas once the stripes are done, the 20 simple Christmas nail designs for beginners post covers trees, lights and snowflakes with the same beginner tools.
Leave a Comment