Nail art

Nail art is a creative way to decorate nails. It is a type of art which can be done on fingernails and toenails. It became commonly known in beauty salons and it is considered as fashion activity.

Nail art techniques, cracked and matte effect

Nail art on toenails.

History

From the historical perspective, nail art was used in ancient times. It firstly emerged in ancient Babylonia when males coloured their nails with kohl. The nail colour indicated status where males of higher class wore black while males of lower class wore green.^[1] From 5000 B.C. to 3000 B.C.,^[2] ancient Egyptian women used nail art to indicate social status. They decorated their nails using the juice of henna plant. For example, Queen Nefertiti used red colour to decorate their fingernails and toenails. Compared to Nefertiti, Queen Cleopatra used deep rusty shades with an undertone of gold. Ordinary women were not allowed to use the same colour as queen.^[1] In ancient China, during Ming Dynasty nail lacquers and varnishes were created from the mixture of beeswax, egg whites, gelatin, vegetable dyes and gum arabic. As in Egypt, colour of the nails also represented class. In 600 BC, during the Zhou Dynasty, royalty used gold and silver colours and later they preferred black and red colours to indicate their status.^[3] The well known French manicure emerged on Paris runways in 1976 by Jeff Pink, the founder of cosmetic company ORLY, who wanted to create nail style that would be practical and versatile.^[4] In the film Pulp Fiction, it was said Uma Thurman started the dark nail polish craze during the 90's. Her character in the film wore dark red nail polish called Rouge Noir by Chanel.^[5] In ancient times, nail art displayed social class while from the 19th century it became allowed for everyone and became considered as a part of fashion as well.

In popular culture

In 2012, the United States witnessed a surging popularity of nail art.^[6][7] A documentary NAILgasm, was released to explore the growing trend of nail art from subculture to high fashion.^[8][9] In January 2014, Nailpolis: Museum of Nail Art was founded for nail artists and hobbyists to share their designs.^[10]

Techniques and tools

Manicurists start with the same techniques as for the manicure or pedicure:

• Acrylics: a chemical mixture of monomer liquid and polymer powder that can be directly applied on the nails or on artificial nails also called nails extensions or enhancements.^[11]
• Nail gel: a chemical combination similar to acrylics. Manicurist applies several layers on the fingernails or/and toenails and lets it cure under a UV or LED light. When the gel is cured it hardens the nails. Gel is also common in a polish form known as gel polish, and, like other forms of gel, also requires a UV or LED light to cure. The difference between acrylic and gel is that acrylic dries naturally but gel needs UV light to cure. Similarly, where regular nail polish will dry naturally, gel polish will remain tacky until cured by a UV light.
• Nail polish/Nail varnish: a lacquer applied to finger and toe nails to protect or as a base color. Nail manicurists also use a base coat to protect and strengthen nails, as well as preventing the natural nail from yellowing or staining.

Several options are available for decorating nails:^[12]

• Glitters
• Nail art pen
• Piercing
• Water marbling
• Adding accessories
  • Studs, rhinestones, miniature plastic bow-ties, beads, and aluminum foil
• Acrylic powder for 3D art. The powder used for 3D acrylic nail art is a polymer powder which is used with a monomer liquid to create designs.

To decorate the nails, manicurist use several tools such as:^[13]

• Nail dotters
• Nail strippers
• Nail art brushes
• Nail file
• Stationery tape/ stickers
• Acetone
• Nail profiler machine (replaceable sanding bands)
• Sponges (to make gradient nails)

Do-it-yourself (DIY), is a new concept of doing nail art without the aid of experts or professionals.^[14] Several brands developed products to enable high quality results at affordable prices.

Innovations

Some brands try to innovate by creating new kinds of nail polish with surprising effects.

• 

  Velvet or Sugar Nails
  New textures: The "caviar"^[15] consist of microbeads or velvet powder which is applied just before the nail polish becomes dry. These textures give a "sand" effect due to the presence of particles in the nail polish.
• Holographic effect: Since they contain holographic particles when these nail polishes are applied to nails and then exposed to light, an effect of "rainbow" appears.
  

  Hologram nail art
  .^[15]
• Velvet manicure created by Rebecca Orme and Sam Biddle (of Jealous Cow) using their brand Be Creative they invented the idea of using velvet fibres called velveteen which is sprinkled onto wet polish or gel polish and the excess is removed leaving behind a velvet feel finish. They won the prestigious Scratch Magazine, Scratch Stars award for industry innovation in 2013 for creating velveteen as well as other nail art creations such as pure pigments, gel paint and a nail art pen.
• Cracked effect : The nail polish with this effect must be applied on a basic nail polish. In the application on this effect, the lacquer disperses and gives an effect of cracking.^[15]
• Thermo chromic nail effect: The effect changes color depending on the temperature. It can change while exposed to heat or cold, or even "degraded" at room temperature because the nail root is hotter than the nail edge.^[15]
• Matte effect: These nail polishes can transform a layer of nail polish in a shimmering matte finish.^[15]
• Inverse French manicure: It is also called a "half-moon" and it is considered as one of the fundamentals of nail art. The half-moon is created on the root of the nail in one color while the rest of the nail is colored in different color.^[15]
• Nail sticker effect: There is a large range of items to customize nails from multicolored confetti to tie and dye kaleidoscopic stickers. It is applied on the base of the nails and fixed with glue.^[15]
• Neon effect: special pigments put on Nailart gel to give very nice Neon effect
  

  Neon Nail art

References

External links

Look up nail art in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nail art.