Festive Christmas Nails

It's only at Christmas that I'm allowed to go full Liberace and apply sequins, sparkles and glitter liberally across my clothes and body. It's now fully acceptable - nay, borderline obligatory - to bedeck yourself with shiny things. When it comes to finger nails, it's time to up your game from delicate nudes and office-appropriate reds to FULL ON FESTIVE. I've rounded up some of the best ways to Christmassify your nails.

Got your Christmas jumper this year? If, for some reason, you don't want a singing kitty on your torso, these Nail Rock Xmas jumper press-on nails could be just the thing. Sure, you could follow a YouTube tutorial on how to use a teeny brush to create delicate snowflake designs, or you could simply pay £7.99 at Firebox to get festive fingernails.

Thought you'd run out of surfaces to apply glitter to once you'd scattered it over your eyelids, hair and body? Think again, my friend: you've dismissed the globular keratin proteins at the ends of your fingers. Decorate your nails with this Halo Futuristic Nail Glitter, available from ASOS at £4.50. Either place it carefully onto wet nail polish with a tweezers, or shake each tube over your nails like a happy toddler.

Models Own is an enormously underrated brand who make my all-time favourite nail polishes. They come out with glorious colours that apply beautifully and don't chip, and produce collections called things like Fireworks, Mirrorball and Wonderland. Velvet Goth, pictured above, is perfect for Christmas. The five intensely dark colours apply matte yet sparkly, and look even better with a glossy topcoat. AND they have fuzzy lids! What more could you want for £5? Even better, add the £20 box set to your Christmas list.

Look at all the shininess! All of this is from Essie, a happy, creative nail polish brand that's stupidly hard to find in shops - so thank goodness for Nail Polish Direct. The gold top coat, As Gold As It Gets (top right), leaves golden flakes over your nails. Stroke it lovingly over a dark colour for regal nails that will distract you while you're typing. Jazzy Jubilant top coat (bottom right) provides a glitter effect that's either "a perfect counterpoint to pared-down minimalism or the finishing touch on over-the-top embellishment", i.e. perfect whether you're after something quite subtle or full-on HALLO BLING BLING LET'S GET THE PARTY STARTED WHOOP WHOOP.

After something even simpler to jazz up your manicure? Then Essie Oh My Gold! (they're terrible at puns. These are like dad jokes) nail stickers can be layered over nail polish or plain nails to add a golden geometric pattern.