The Tinsel Nail Trend Is Like Holiday Decor for Your Fingers

Wow! I haven't seen this ornament before! How classic, how timeless, how shiny. Oh, I'm sorry. Did I just grab your hand? Your manicure is so perfect, it looked right at home amid the festive decor. Which I guess is the entire point.

While there are so many directions you can go with a holiday manicure, a classic-yet-cheery metallic tone never disappoints. Ahead, learn how to tackle the tinsel nail trend that's dominating Instagram feeds and holiday cards alike.

What Are Tinsel Nails?

Tinsel is essentially a fancy name for metallic nails worn in a festive fashion. As the 2010s hair tinsel trend taught us, the look isn't limited to the yuletide season—but it sure is cute when wrapped around a mug of something warm. Most often appearing in gold or silver, a tinsel mani can technically be any color, with vintage-y jewel tones also working especially well.

The most important thing to be aware of here is tone. While not at all one-dimensional, tinsel nails are much more muted than your classic glitter or chrome powder-finished mani. A good word to describe the look is "lustrous": it reflects light cleanly and evenly without any major sparkle. Instead of big chunks of glitter, this glimmer is all-encompassing and iridescent. In different lighting—and even better, candle-lighting—the glow will hit differently.

The Trend

The nail art equivalent of jingle bells, a tinsel manicure is quite skiilled at one thing: making spirits bright. While breaking down 2023's holiday nail trends for Byrdie, Jin Soon Choi, an editorial manicurist and founder of JINsoon, aptly called metallic nails “cool and glamorous at the same time.”

Obviously, this trend is inspired by holiday decor—that perfect, lively foil garland that finds itself so at home on the banisters and trees of maximalists and Mad Men holiday devotees. While a 3D Santa mani can be overwhelming, sometimes you need a little bit more than a red and green design. And if you're someone who likes to make your manicures stick around? This look will translate brilliantly into the new year.

How to Get Tinsel Nails

Olive & June's VP of Content & Creative, Olivia Van Iderstine, previously told us the easiest way to make tinsel nails happen.

"Choose your favorite metal and top it with a mattifying top coat,” she shared. “The matte metallic look has a high-impact payoff, but it’s super easy to DIY." First, grab a holiday-appropriate metallic polish. Olive & June's OJPAS and OJBH are excellent choices if you're going the silver or gold route. For color, I'd go with a red, a black like Chanel's Sequins, or a rich jewel-toned blue or green like JINsoon's Heirloom.

"Apply two coats of metallic polish and let [it] dry. Apply an even layer of Olive & June The Matte Top Coat and watch the matte magic happen," added Van Iderstine.

Honestly, popcorn garland has nothing on you. Shine on.