I don’t do my nails that often, but the holidays always entice me to try something a little shiny or sparkly. Last year, I wore this winter sparkle french manicure during the holidays. When I saw this half moon manicure tutorial, I thought it would be fun to try for the holidays this year.

What I didn’t like about their example was that the half moon was kept as the natural nail. I thought it would look more polished with a fully painted nail. I chose to do red and gold because they pair perfectly together and are festive for the holidays. Hey, the color combination works for holiday decorations.

This manicure is super easy and looks really cool for fall and winter, especially for holiday parties. Here are the easy steps to creating a gold and red half-moon manicure.

Supplies:

Red Polish, I used OPI Underneath The Mistletoe 
Gold Polish, I used Essie Good As Gold
Shiny Top Coat, I used Sally Hansen Big Shiny Top Coat
Round Stickers, I used Dot Stickers

1. Paint your nails with one coat of the gold polish and let dry until no longer wet or tacky.

2. Place a dot sticker on each finger to overlap the nail base to your desired half-moon size.

3. Paint the nails with the red polish, overlapping on the sticker. I used two coats.

4. Allow the red polish to dry for 1-2 minutes and then remove the stickers. Don’t let it dry completely to ensure the stickers don’t get stuck.

5. Once the stickers are removed, paint the nails with one clear top coat.

That’s it — super simple steps for a half-moon manicure. If you don’t love gold and red together, you could also try this tutorial with more subtle colors. Try pairing two colors in the same color family in slightly different shades for an ombre effect. I especially love how it looks with gray tones. Happy polishing!