Ghost nails are the one Halloween design that does not require you to commit to Halloween. A small white ghost on a nude base reads as cute in early October and only slightly odd by November, which is a much softer landing than a spiderweb.
What you will find here
They are also the most forgiving nail art there is. A ghost has no correct proportions. If your outline wobbles, the ghost is wobbly. Nothing else in Halloween nail art is that generous to beginners.
The three ghost styles
Almost every ghost design falls into one of these, and knowing which you want before you start saves a lot of repainting.
- Cute. Rounded body, wavy hem, two dots for eyes, sometimes a small smile. Soft pastel or white on a pale base. This is the version that travels furthest on Pinterest.
- Sheer. The ghost painted in a translucent white so the base shows through it. Harder to photograph, better in person, and the most grown-up of the three.
- Eerie. Long trailing body, no smile, hollow eyes, usually on a dark or smoky base. Still simple to paint, completely different mood.
22 ghost nail designs
1 Single ghost on sheer nude
Nine bare-looking nails and one ghost. The most restrained version, and the one most likely to survive a work dress code. Put it on the ring finger rather than the index, where it is less in your own eyeline all day.
2 Ghost French tip
Instead of a straight tip line, paint the white in a wavy ghost hem across the free edge, then add eyes above it. The nail becomes the ghost. This is the strongest idea in the post and the one worth photographing best.
3 Pastel ghost set
Ghosts in lilac, mint, butter yellow and baby blue instead of white, one colour per nail on a cream base. Reads as Halloween without a single scary element, which makes it the safest set here for anyone who does not actually like Halloween.
4 Ghost and cloud combo
Soft white clouds on some nails and ghosts on others, over a pale blue base. The two shapes are near enough identical to paint that the whole set takes barely longer than ghosts alone.
5 Sheer ghost on black
A translucent white ghost over a glossy black base, so it looks like something behind the polish rather than on top of it. Use one thin coat of white and resist building it up. The moment it goes opaque the effect is gone.
6 Glitter ghost
Paint the ghost in white, let it set, then top just the ghost with fine silver glitter. Sparkle is running year round rather than seasonally now, so this one does not date the way an orange and black set does.
7 Ghost gang
Three or four small ghosts crowded onto one nail at different heights, each with a different expression. Fiddly, but it is the design people stop scrolling for. Keep them small and let them overlap slightly.
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8 Pink ghost nails
Baby pink base, white ghosts, tiny red heart cheeks. Pink is doing real work in Halloween nail art this year as an alternative to orange, and this is the softest expression of it.
9 Chrome ghost
A pearl or silver chrome ghost on a matte black base. The contrast between mirror finish and flat black is what makes it, and it needs no fine detail at all beyond two dots.
10 Glow in the dark ghosts
Paint the ghosts in glow polish over a dark base. Barely visible in daylight, fully visible at a party. Two coats of glow polish minimum, because one does almost nothing.
11 Eerie trailing ghost
A long ghost whose body stretches most of the nail and trails off at the tip, with hollow black eyes and no mouth. Same technique as the cute version, entirely different feeling. Works best over smoky grey rather than black.
12 Ghost and checkerboard
Black and white checkerboard on two nails, ghosts on two, plain white on one. The checkerboard is the hard part, and striping tape makes it much less hard.
13 Ghost tips on almond nails
On almond nails the point at the tip turns a ghost hem into something closer to a flame shape, which is a genuinely different look from the same design on square nails. Worth doing if your nails are already almond.
14 One ghost, one pumpkin, one bat
The sampler. One motif per nail on a shared cream base. Good if you cannot decide, and good for photographing, because you get three designs in one shot.
15 Ghost with a Bow
A white ghost wearing a small pink bow. The single cutest thing you can do with this motif and the one most likely to get saved.
More like this: Halloween French Tip Nails and Classy Halloween Nails
16 Ghost on Lilac
Soft lilac base with white ghosts. Lilac sits between the pastel and the spooky lanes and suits people who want neither extreme.
17 Peeking Ghost
Only the top of the ghost showing, as if it is rising over the free edge. Half the painting and arguably the better joke.
18 Ghost and Stars
Ghosts on two nails and tiny gold stars scattered on the rest, over a midnight blue base. The stars take seconds and fill the empty nails.
19 Matte Ghost on Gloss
A ghost painted in matte white over a glossy black nail. Same colour logic as the tonal spiderweb but easier, because a ghost has no fine lines.
20 Blushing Ghost
White ghost with two small pink cheeks on a nude base. The cheeks are one dot each and they change the whole character of the face.
21 Outline Ghost
The ghost drawn as an outline only, unfilled, in fine black on a bare nail. Minimal, graphic, and the most work-appropriate version here.
22 Heart Eyes
Ghost with two tiny red hearts where the eyes go. Ask for it on a cream base rather than white, which stops the ghost disappearing into the background.
How to paint a ghost properly
- Base coat, then your background colour. Let it dry fully. White painted onto tacky polish will drag grey.
- With a small brush, paint a rounded dome for the head, roughly the top half of where the ghost will sit.
- Bring two straightish sides down from the dome, then close the bottom with two or three shallow curves. That hem is what makes it read as a ghost rather than a blob.
- Second coat of white once the first is dry. One coat almost never covers, and patchy white is what makes ghost nails look amateur.
- Add eyes with a dotting tool, set slightly wider apart and lower than feels right. Eyes too close together and too high is the single most common mistake.
- Wait five minutes, then top coat, floating the brush rather than pressing.
Common questions
What white polish works best for ghosts?
An opaque creme white, not a sheer or milky one. Milky whites need three or four coats to cover and the ghost loses its edges as it builds. Acrylic paint on a brush also works well and cleans up more easily than polish.
Can I do ghost nails without a nail art brush?
Yes. A cocktail stick or the flat end of a bobby pin will paint a ghost body, and a bobby pin makes better eyes than most dotting tools. A fine liner brush only becomes necessary for the eerie and ghost gang versions.
How do I fix a ghost that went wrong?
Dip a small brush in remover, wipe most of it off, and cut the shape back rather than removing the whole thing. Because ghosts have no fixed proportions you can usually redraw the outline into a different ghost instead of starting again.
Are ghost nails still wearable after Halloween?
The sheer, chrome and pastel versions are. Anything with hollow black eyes on a dark base is not. If you want the design to last into November, choose a soft base colour and a smiling face.
