The easy festive nail trend your favourite celebrity is wearing

Sometimes the simplest option is the best one

Beauty Crew Beauty Editor / November 21 2024

Like clockwork, once the festive season starts (read: November 1st), Christmas-themed manicures start flooding our social feeds.

But for those of us who prefer a demure nail look, spending hours at the salon or at home painting nail polish candy canes with a micro-fine nail brush onto our fingers sounds like a personal hell. 

However, somewhat reassuringly, there are a growing number of celebrities who have forgone Santa symbolism in lieu of a simple and single shade manicure instead. And it's reminiscent of the cherry mocha nail trend we were seeing this time last year too. 

Introducing: the cherry red nail trend — its perfect for Christmas. 

Much like the fruit themselves, this nail trend can come in a range of reddish hues. From a deep, dark, and vampy black cherry, to a vibrant and rich ruby red. It can also be customised with glitter, cat-eye polish or an ombre application technique if you're so inclined. 

But if you want to try this look at home, we suggest keeping things simple by shopping a single red shade you can touch-up and reapply in under ten minutes. 

Need inspiration before you start adding nail varnish to your virtual cart? These are the cherry red manicures we've spotted on the hands of our favourite celebrities...

The best red Christmas nail polishes

If you're partial to a classic bright red or a neutral nail look like a French manicure, delving into some darker hues with your Christmas manicure will always look elevated and sophisticated. Reach for rich and deep shades of rouge that imitate the sumptuous glassy sheen of a ripe cherry. 

You can't go wrong with Chanel's Le Vernis Nail Colour in 'Rouge Noir' ($48 from David Jones) — it's a timeless classic that's been featured on runways and red carpets alike.

Essie's Nail Polish in 'Bordeaux' ($13.99 from Chemist Warehouse) is not too red, but not too dark either. If deeper nail polish colours usually scare you, this is a great way to ease yourself in. 

If you're partial to a bit of shimmer and glitter Revlon's Classic Nail Enamel in 'Divine' ($15.95 from Priceline) is the chicest way to add a bit of sparkle to your manicure. 

Sally Hansen's Color Therapy Nail Polish in 'Nothing to Wine About' ($18.97 from Woolworths) looks beautiful on deeper skin tones wanting to try the trend. While Sephora Collection's Nail Polish in 'Black Wine' ($12 from Sephora) delivers a patent-like shine that looks unreal when it catches the light. And if dark nail polish just really isn't your thing, then we suggest trying Rimmel London's 60 Seconds Super Shine Nail Polish in 'Rapid Ruby' ($4.47 from Priceline) — it's a richer take on a classic red, but it lacks the depth and black undertones of other inclusions on this list.

Main image credit: @selenagomez

We're loving simple nail looks this festive season. This is how to nail Hailey Bieber's cinnamon donut manicure.

Briar Clark got her start in the media industry in 2017, as an intern for Marie Claire and InStyle. Since then, her keen interest in fashion and beauty has landed her gigs as a Digital Content Producer and Beauty Editor with titles like Girlfriend, Refinery29, BEAUTYcrew and beautyheaven. She loves the way seemingly innocuous topics like skin care and style have the ability to put a smile on people’s faces or make them think about themselves a little differently. A big believer in self love and experimentation, Briar has made a point of becoming the Australian beauty industry’s unofficial guinea pig for unusual treatments and daring hair trends. When she’s not testing out the latest beauty launches, Briar is big on broadening her horizons, mostly in the form of food but she’s also partial to travelling to new destinations both near and far (and of course, allocating an extra bag to bring their best beauty offerings home with her).