Bored of sporting the same old corny colours on those long nails again and again? Then here comes the new and latest fad - nail art. From artistic eyes to lips, now the rage is artistic nails.
As the name suggests if you have a little artistic inclination in you, it is something even you can try at your home. Anything and everything around you, can be made art on your nails. All you need are multiple colours of nail polishes to do the job and an imagination running wild. From Winnie the Pooh to Angry Birds to Facebook to flowers to marbling to filigree, the options are just endless. And for others who do not have an artistic side to them, can always visit the parlours in the city, as some parlours are also catching up to the trend.
For Sree Nidhi, a Law student, nail art was something she took up as she no longer had time for creative activities such as pot and glass painting that she used to do. “As nail art wasn’t as time consuming as the art works that I used to try out, I started concentrating on this. I started researching on the Internet about nail art and everything regarding it. And when a new trend crops up I take that up. I have tried angry birds, FB logo and panda. I love creating art on nails, especially the intricacy that is involved with it,” she says.
Speaking on the different tools that are being used for nail art she says: “There are special kinds of nail polishes that are available known as strikers. The difference is that these unlike the usual nail polish brushes are more thin, narrow and longer like your mascara brushes. There are also tools known as dotters which will help you give your desired small dots.”
These are the days when plain colours have given way to French manicures, vibrant hues of oranges, pinks, greens, blues, and the like. Those painted long sleek nails in myriad combinations and colours imaginable are a vision in itself. Who wouldn’t want nails like a diva.
“There was a time when nail polish was synonymous with the colour red. You go into a shop and try to pick a nail polish, the variety in colours to choose from were negligible to almost nil. There were standard red, magenta or maroon, and they did not have the sheen or glossiness of the products available today. A total revolution has come about when the matter of nail polishes is concerned. The city and the city crowd are fast changing and are more up to date with the changing trends,” says Sonali, a management professional.
For nail polishes, you have a sea of options to select from today, such as matte, wax, gel types, velvet or beaded. The latest among the lot is the textured kind with liquid sand, concrete and sea salt finish. Even the French manicures have revolutionised to a large extent.
“We have lots of customers coming in to get various types of French manicures and nail art done. It is usually opted by the brides, and people attending functions,” says Deepa Fenn, owner of Catalyst Beauty Parlour.
Speaking about the latest trends in nail art Deepa says: “The ones using stones and stickers are very much in among the city folks. We also have manicures with magnetic, gel polishes and so on.” The manicures, especially French manicure at Catalyst will cost you around `400, the ones using magnetic and gel polish will cost around `300 and 500 respectively.
“I started trying out different manicures and art on my nails out of curiosity. When I first saw French manicure, I fell in love with the new form immediately and wanted one for myself. But at the time I had no clue how to do it or where to get it done. Soon the kits started becoming available in some of the shops in the city and that’s how I grabbed my first kit. Back then, French manicure was still alien to many parlours. Now there is nothing that I do not try on my nails,” says Sneha, an Mphil student.
“Nail art is something I started trying out randomly just a couple of months back. It was actually when I was in Mumbai doing my journalism course there, that I got introduced to the whole concept of nail art. I used to watch keenly people doing it for the customers in the malls, but I never tried it out for myself. Later, when I started getting bored of using just a single colour I began watching tutorials about nail art on YouTube and started trying it out on my own. So on a whim, I went ahead and got myself some crazy colours which I normally wouldn’t use and started experimenting,” says Deepa Antony, an RJ. “There are different types of nail art and a lot of techniques are involved in them. One technique I have tried is marbling,” she adds.
Asked if the tools needed for making the intricate designs are available in the city market, Deepa answers in the negative. But she has solutions for that too. “When I need to make small dots I use hair pins, or toothpicks. But the best next tool to dotters that I found out is the stick that is available with surma,” quips Deepa.
So folks if you haven’t already boarded the train of nail art jump on in, you might just fall in love with the whole journey.
