Our Instagram feeds have been swept away by simple Fall nail designs as the first hints of Autumn draw near. Turning leaves, Halloween, pumpkin spice—Fall is entering the chat with a witch’s cackle and a wicked brew. You can try to leave her on read all you want, but she’s relentless.
Just like the leaves, our nails are changing color. With Barbie pink and pastels heading out with white jeans, it’s time to embrace the neutrals and deep jewel tones of Fall. Although, we may not be ready to retire pink nails yet. Barbie 4ever.
From rich Autumnal hues to sinister Halloween designs, there are plenty of simple Fall nail styles to explore. A seasonal refresh that won’t require you to spend half your Saturday in the nail salon? More time for leaf peeping.
25 Simple Fall Nails
1. Tortoise French Tips
Black cats, bats, and spiders get all the attention in the Fall. But tortoises can live for over 100 years, so we should respect their timeless style. Not to mention, they can literally hide inside their own bodies when things get awkward. #Goals.
These low-key tortoise tips touch on the chocolate tones of Fall and add creativity to the elegance of the neutral nail.
2. Simple Swirl Nails
Fall is a season of changing leaves, temperatures, and coffee orders. The up-and-down nature of the season can be illustrated on your nails.
This simple Fall nail design swoops and swirls like your twisted path through a corn maze. The dark-to-light contrast reminds us that the days are getting shorter. Hello darkness, our old friend.
3. Orange and Gold Glamour Nails
When you think of Halloween, orange comes to mind. We told you we were mind readers.
Orange calls forth memories of pumpkin picking, the joy of a Halloween trick or treat bucket, and the bottomless mimosa brunch we conquered this weekend. This easy nail design uses gold accents to make the festive orange color pop even more.
4. Chocolate Chip Ombré
Chocolate chip cookies are an ideal dessert for any season. And this manicure shows a graduated neutral spectrum reminiscent of secretly stealing bites of uncooked dough.
Or one of those charts showing coffee creamer preferences. Oat milk over here, thanks. You just saved us an hour on the toilet.
5. The Night Sky Glitter Manicure
This design evokes the magic of the night sky. The opaque black nails and glitter serve some gothic glamour while the gentle accents on the tips look like the phases of the moon.
Witches, take note. This is a manicure worthy of some powerful spell-casting. Bonus: no one will know if your fingernails are dirty or not.
6. Metallic Chrome Nail Design
Gray nails are a time-honored Fall trend, like your favorite cozy cardigan. This elevated chrome manicure beckons like a “Do Not Enter” sign on a haunted house. Would you go in? Why not? There’s pie in here.
7. Bespeckled Halloween Nails
The accent nail is having its Autumn moment. This easy Fall nail design subtly marries Halloween’s signature colors in seconds, resulting in a festive mani appropriate for the office. And yes, some manis are actually not. The things we’ve seen…
8. Pumpkin Chrome Nails
This manicure is utterly hypnotizing—and looks delicious. Behold the chrome, served with an orange twist on the rocks. This mesmerizing mani makes us think of a futuristic Creamsicle. We love how everyone’s vision of the future is just: shiny.
9. Bloodred Shine
These rich, shimmering burgundy nails are straight out of the ’90s. Like a thin-eyebrowed enchantress with a vendetta, these nails are on a power trip. Ya know, or thick eyebrows. We see you, Billie Eilish.
10. Earth Tone Tips
The naked nail is everywhere this Fall, just like our PSLs. These French tips done in vibrant primary tones will save us from drowning in seasonal neutrals. We haven’t covered the pool yet.
11. Bohemian Harvest
These earthy hues are the perfect mani to celebrate the Autumnal equinox. Picture your next Hinge date and a glass of cider in hand while your nails do the talking. They’re definitely more interesting than Brian.
12. Cider Nails
These cider-colored nails call to mind the movie “Cider House Rules” starring Tobey Maguire. That’s it. That about sums up all we know about that movie. But we also know that this cider-inspired manicure rules.
13. Ghostly Tips
Ghosts often get a bad reputation for being spooky troublemakers. Perhaps they’re just misunderstood, like Casper in the beloved Christina Ricci classic. Regardless, these ghostly tips are an adorable way to celebrate the coming of Halloween.
14. Ghost Chic
This eerie matte manicure screams “Ghost!” louder than the Final Girl in a horror movie. Don’t tell Ghostface that Sidney Prescott is coming.
15. Cup of Coffee
Autumn brings new enthusiasm for lattes in all of their forms. What better way to ring in Fall than with nails that match the trendy cup you’re holding? This manicure looks like the best part of a latte: the swirls of frothy foam. We’re saving our foam mustache for later.
16. Chocolate Nails Dipped in Licorice
While the costumes and parties are great, Halloween is all about the candy. It’s the only holiday that encourages high consumption of sugary treats. Huh? Christmas? Easter? We knew we liked you.
These nails remind us of a milk chocolate bar followed by a bitter bite of licorice. It tastes better than it sounds, trust us. No, we will not trade you for a Mary Jane.
17. Monster Mash Nails
“Monster Mash” is one of those seasonal songs that can get stuck in your head on a loop when you’re working in your lab late at night. This easy Fall nail design brings the funky delight of the tune to life. Who needs Spotify?
18. Stormy Nails
While Halloween, Thanksgiving, and apple-picking trips take the lead, Fall is also hurricane season, depending on where you live. While we hunker down, catch up on Netflix, and hope our power stays on, these simple Fall nails remind us of the electric beauty of storms.
Yes, Netflix, we are still watching.
19. Emerald Nails
These deep, emerald nails remind us of moss and lily pads. But we’re in our bog witch era, so most things do.
Emeralds also signify wealth and prosperity, depending on which gemstone book you’re reading. Affluent bog witch? Bring it on!
20. Pumpkin Spice Nails
The MVP of fall flavors. Love it or hate it, it’s here to stay. This manicure captures the essence of the pumpkin-coffee hybrid that draws insane lines at your local Starbucks. Unless that’s the queue for the bathroom. They must’ve run out of oat milk again.
21. Cat Eye Nails
This mani is somehow giving glamorous 1970s avocado green kitchen, after your mysterious black cat with the mesmerizing gold eyes jumped up on the counter. Bad boy. :kiss kiss kiss:
22. Cruella de Vil Half French Nails
Cruella de Vil is a villain with style—and a top-notch Halloween costume idea. This half-French manicure would add a lot to that ‘fit, and bonus points for the fact that you can pretend your traditional French mani mistake was on purpose.
23. Avant-Garde Spider Web Nails
These nails look like an avant-garde take on a spider laying wait in a glittery web. Here’s hoping it’s like the spider from Charlotte’s Web, and not one of the eight spiders we reportedly eat while we’re asleep.
24. Slime Nails
Who didn’t love playing with slime as a kid? That ooey, gooey oobleck was a treat for the senses. Nickelodeon picked up on that trend in the ’90s, sliming TV screens everywhere. Now you can have slime-inspired nails that are admittedly less fun to play with.
25. Candy Corn Nails
Candy corn is that polarizing Halloween candy. Whatever your stance on the waxy treat, these dazzling yellow, orange, and white stripes will make you a fan yet. Keep your fingers away from turtles and toddlers.
When she's not playing with sentence structure, you can find her taking a dance or yoga class. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter as @haverlyink, and on LinkedIn.
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