Make a traditional French feel more festive with red polish.

• Make your French manicure a bit more festive by swapping the traditional white for red.
• You can also add in seasonal symbols like bows and snowflakes.

The holiday season is upon us, and red remains a go-to color. It’s the perfect, festive hue that can make any manicure fun and festive. Incorporate it into a French manicure for a look that’s super chic, yet appropriate for the season.

For a French manicure with red tips, you can keep things simple and swap the red for white. Or, get a little experimental with polka dots, glittery polish, and chrome finishes. And if you really want to go full-on-festive, incorporate bows, snowflakes, and Santa hats.

“Red nails are great because there are so many different shades and undertones that can be paired with any skin tone or personal preference,” celebrity nail artist Mazz Hanna previously shared with InStyle. “Red nails are truly timeless and chic.”

Ahead, explore 15 French manicures with red tips.

Chrome Finish

klawsbysonia

These slim tips lie somewhere between a traditional French and a micro French, with a tip that’s thick enough to taper on the sides but thin enough for a sleek profile. It’s topped with white chrome powder for a shimmery finish.

Polkadot Overlay

@disseynails

A deep red French tip is a stunning base for creamy white polkadots.

Cat-Eye Finish

@sansungnails

Cat-eye polish leaves behind a velvety finish that’s stunning for the holidays. This look pairs a cat-eye French with a wreath, plaid, and a negative-space heart.

Cranberry Sauce

@brushedbyb_

The fun part of gel extensions is that they’re totally sheer. This manicure features a rich cranberry jelly polish that lets the sheer edge of the extensions shine.

Red Coffin

klawsbysonia

Soften a coffin nail with the round lines of a French tip. The red, however, allows the look to retain a bit more edge.

Snowflake

@gelsbybry

A shimmery red polish is used to create three accent nails—a stunning French tip, and a snowflake split between two nails.

Simple French

klawsbysonia

Clean and simple, this look takes a traditional French manicure and changes only the tip color.

All Opaque

@gossipandgloss

Instead of going the typical route of a sheer base, use a bold opaque red as your base and tip it off with gold for a look that could not be more perfect for the holidays.

Festive Mix

klawsbysonia

Bows, ribbon stripes, snowflakes, and all-over red nails pair with red Frenchies for a fun and festive mix-and-match manicure.

Coquette

@nailsby_bridgett

This design takes two cutesy finishes—bows and polka dots—and combines them for a coquettish look.

Cherry Milk

@gossipandgloss

Red tips, a milky white base, and a simple cherry accent make this sweet and simple manicure. While cherries were everywhere during the spring and summer, the white base makes this look more apt for winter.

Sparkes on Sparkles

@gossipandgloss

A shimmery red French is the perfect base for chrome stars and red gems.

Glitter & Plaid

@gossipandgloss

A red French, an all-over red nail, and a silver glitter nail are all tied together with a red-silver-and-white plaid nail on the ring finger.

Santa Hat

@poppinpolishldn

For a Christmas-y take on a French mani, turn the tip into a Santa hat, trimming it out with a little slouchy hat tip. To balance the look, the same nail on the opposite hand features an ombré French tip accented with a snowflake.

Bright and Cheery

@gelsbybry

A cheery, jovial red is the star of this manicure, which pairs two French tips with three all-over red nails.