Spooky (but stylish) manis to have on your radar ahead of Halloween

If you haven’t got into the autumn mood yet, it’s time to hop on board, stat. For starters, we have Halloween on the horizon and – since it only happens once a year – it pays to get into the swing of things early. This year, we have to make up for the fact we missed out last time round, so it’s unsurprising that Pinterest noted an earlier-than-ever interest in the spookiest day of the year, with searches for “halloween makeup” up 13x from as early as July.

However, if you’re not up for a full-on face of prosthetics, there is a very chic way you can nod to the eeriest time of year without even a whiff of red face paint.

Nails. They are – if veteran nail tech, Marian Newman, is to be believed – “the new accessory.” A well-painted mani is an accessory in itself. It means you can ditch the pitchfork and the wooden stake, in favour of a spooky design etched across your fingernails.

The good news is that it doesn’t have to be novelty. There are plenty of ways to tap into the theme whilst keeping things chic, stylish and grown-up – if you want to. From subtle spiders and creepy spiderwebs, to tonal manis in blood red, midnight blue and obsidian black.

You can even try out the genius ghost Frenchies we keep spotting (just tweak the shape and add a ghoul face to your French tips). It’s a dinky detail that even minimalists can get on board with.

Want something a little edgier? We’ve seen plenty of blood trickle designs that nail the theme but still look fierce.

And, if you’ve fallen down the Squid Game hole on Netflix, you can give it a subtle nod. If you know, you know…

Of course, if you do want to go novelty, cutesy and colourful, we’re here for that, too. This pumpkin, vampire bat, ghost and moon mani makes a statement that you can’t miss.

Whatever your vibe, we’ve rounded up the best designs on Instagram for you to recreate now.