Spooky & Spunky Halloween 2016 Nail Designs From Kiss Products and ImPRESS Manicure

While I get weak in the knees over fun nail art, I’m also honest enough with myself to comprehend and accept that I will likely never be one of those girls who can painstakingly replicate flower petals, leopard spots, peacock feathers, and snowflakes, turning each nail into a true canvas for my painterly handiwork. In truth, I have a hard enough time with polka dots and stipe motifs — not surprising given that anyone who has played Pictionary with me knows that even my stick figures are a bit wonky. Luckily, there’s a whole world of press-on nails that allow you to be a bit more playful with your manicures — all without having to use a striping or dotting tool or, for that matter, having to apply any glue! For Halloween 2016, Kiss Products’ imPRESS Press-On Manicure offers a wide array of ready-to-wear press-on nail designs that range from saucy and spooky to gothic glam and coyly creepy.

For the last two weeks, I’ve been having a blast with the three nail designs pictured above: Hide-N-Freak, which is inspired by candy corn; So Bootiful, a black-and-white set with plenty of spider and spiderweb motifs; and Ready-to-Scare, which features everything from Jack-o-lanterns to mummies and witches flying atop broomsticks. Each nail set retails for $5 and is available at most drugstore and mass market retailers, and KissUSA.com will direct you to online retailers selling these fun kits.

Each set features 24 artificial nails, each already coated with a strong adhesive along its underside so that, all you need to do is find the nail that best suits each finger, peel off the plastic covering the adhesive, and press the nail onto the surface of your own nail, applying a bit of pressure to ensure it sticks evenly. Each manicure will last you about 3 days, though it all depends on your level of activity (I managed to keep each nail design for about 2-3 days while washing dishes, doing laundry, cooking, typing on the computer, and so forth). Once you’re ready to remover the nails, you can literally just peel them off — no muss, no fuss (and no pain or nail damage incurred!).

One handy tip: underneath each nail, you’ll find a number. Once you find a press-on nail that suits the nail on a particular finger (say, your thumbnail), you can look at the number on its back and locate another nail with the very same number. By doing so, both your thumbnails will match perfectly.

Now, without further ado, check out the nail designs!

HIDE-N-FREEK

This is my absolute favorite out of the three nail designs since it’s so very playful. As you can see, some of the nails feature a black backdrop with triangular candy corn designs, while others feature rows of yellow, orange, and white dots.

SO BOOTIFUL

This design is also incredibly fun, and I appreciate that incorporates both white and black nails. In terms of the motif, some nails feature glittery silver spiderwebs, others feature white web designs, some have oversize silver spiders, and others still feature tiny black spiders spinning their webs. As if that weren’t cool enough, the white nails and the white designs atop the black nails all glow in the dark! If you place your nails close to any light source (whether it’s a lamp in the living room or a flashlight on your phone), you can charge them and they’ll glow that much brighter.

READY-TO-SCARE 

This might just be the spookiest design of the bunch — and definitely the one that screams “Halloween” the loudest. First, it features the brightest base colors, with most of the nails in the kit having a gradient yellow-to-orange tint. These nails feature either bats flying over gothic landscapes or witches atop broomsticks soaring over cemeteries. For contrast, however, the kit also includes solid black nails and a couple of nails with classic orange Jack-o-lanterns. There are even a few funny mummy nails, which feature eyes peeking through white bands of color meant to resemble bandages. All the nails, except for the black ones, glow in the dark, which should make these really fun to wear while trick-or-treating or venturing to haunted houses.

Here’s a shot of my nails in the dark:

Pretty neat, right?

The glow-in-the-dark effect diminishes in intensity relatively quickly but, again, you simply need to “recharge” your nails by placing them near a lightbulb, and you’ll be ready for more eerie manicure fun!