The Art of Nails

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Nail art is a creative way to paint, decorate, enhance, and embellish the nails. It is a type of artwork that can be done on fingernails and toenails usually after manicures or pedicures.A manicure and a pedicure are beauty treatments that trim, shape, and polish the nail. Often these procedures remove the cuticles and soften the skin around the nails. Types of manicures can vary from polish on natural nails, dipping powder, and acrylic nails.

The nail care industry has been growing like crazy you will find that it is so much easier to find a nail technician/manicurist nowadays.Ever since the invention of the modern nail polish their was a surging popularity for nail art and in 2012 a short nail art documentary named " NAILgasm" was released and you can watch some of it below.

The film explored the growing trend of nail art; from women across the world to high fashion runways and it was very beautiful and informative, so you should definitely watch.

Mostly women, but also men constantly use Youtube, Instagram and Pinterest to get nail art ideas and now they can learn how to do the newest and the most interesting designs in the comfort of you own home.

Media

Nail art's popularity started in media started with printed press women magazine. As you can see below "Nail It" is a magazine dedicated to everything nails.

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Nail Art in played an important role in magazines but it was not a mainstream fashion trend before the 2000s. As you can imagine with the internet and social media age, the whole nail art trend became a major subculture among women, as social media made it easier to connect to the mass audiences. With this in mind, people started to share their designs and show their creativity as they used nails as a blank canvas.

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Like I said before Youtube, Pinterest, Tumblr and Twitter are the major platforms which provide lots of new ideas and designs for any and everyone. However, among these I would recommend Pinterest because it is a very important platform for the new beauty trends.

Now that we talked about Nail art as a whole lets talk about the actual stuff that is used to create beautiful Nail Art.

1. Acrylics: This is a chemical mixture of monomer liquid and polymer powder that can be directly applied onto the nail bed or artificial nails like extensions, nail tips or enhancements.

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2.Nail Gel: This is a chemical combination similar to acrylics, also known as shellac nail.Usually manicurists apply several layers on the finger or toenails and lets it cure under a UV or LED light. Then 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 needs UV light to cure.Similarly, where regular nail polish will dry naturally, gel polish will remain tacky until cured by a UV light

3. Nail polish/nail varnish: This is 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.

Now that we've talked about the tools we have to talk about what you decorate the nails with.

1. Glitters

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2. Nail Art pens

With fine tips that are great for detail, nail art pens let you draw intricate designs and patterns. Plan out a unique design, practice using your pen to sharpen your skills, and get drawing!

3. Piercing

Nail piercing is a simple way to add extra impact to your tips while also maintaining a minimal vibe. Plus, if you were ever squeamish about a permanent piercing, it scratches that itch. Look at the video below and you can even do it at home.

4. Stamping

Nail stamping allows you to take any design from an etched metal plate and transfer the art directly to your nails. Jus like the image below.

5. Water Marbling

Water marble nails are a finger nail art technique involving dropping nail lacquers into clear water and creating a pattern on the water surface; the pattern is then transferred to the nails. Below is a short tutorial on how it is done.

Besides all these tips just remember that you can also add accessories like studs and rhinestones and there's also something called acrylic 3d powder.This powder is used for 3d acrylic nail art and is used with monomer liquid to create designs.

The world of nail art is very wide and there are a plethora of designs, styles, shapes and decorative trinkets and products that you can use to enjoy your own nails and express yourself. So take this information and go and experiment ladies, I promise you won't regret becoming an artist with your own nails.