From Marbling to Glitter
Nail art goes from strength to strength as artists and DIYers get more adventurous, creating the most wonderful miniature masterpieces on the end of their fingers. From bold colors to intricate designs, these days anything goes, and I love it!
Last year the trend was for deep, moody tones – blues, purples and blacks, but this season, and predicted for the rest of 2020, the emphasis is on bright colours, bold textures, including glitters and gem stones, and finely shaped nails.
Let’s look at shapes first as that’s the basis for all great designs. With a good manicure set, these are simple to create at home.
- Squoval Nails – these fit a naturally shorter nail perfectly, so if you have weaker nails that you just can’t grow, this is the shape for you. It combines the elegance and sophistication of a square nail, but without the harsh edges.
- Almond Nails – with length being the name of the game this year, the almond shape is a classic that can’t go wrong.
- Long Squared Nails – this is a dramatic shape that looks especially great with textures.
- Stiletto Nails – this shape, with its fierce length and pointed end, is feminine, sharply dangerous, and incredibly intense.
Polish and Nail Art
Glitter
The catwalk trend for this season is for an imprecisely application of glitter, going over the edges of your nails, or just glittering an accent nail. The other ideas I saw were gorgeously nude nails, with a splattering of sparkles per nail, with the glitter placed only along the nail tips, and multicolored glitter.
Metallic
Metallic polishes are bang on trend for this year, and the manufacturers have really stepped up to the mark, producing the sleekest, slickest of metal-like polishes.
The sharpest stiletto nails, painted in silver and chrome shades, were used to great effect by one catwalk designer, giving me futuristic space-age warrior woman vibes. I also really loved a beautiful rose gold polish, coupled with delicate, colored gems, and gorgeously almond shaped nails painted with almost warming silver and white stripes.
Framed Nails
This is a two, or more, toned manicure, with a thin line surrounding the perimeter of the nail to act as a frame. I saw this in a lavender and pale pink, which was gorgeously feminine, but it also looks great coupled with glitter or metallics, framing delicate floral designs.
Black and White
Recreating the ripples and feathered lines of marble is right on season at the moment, and several designers really went to town with this idea to great effect. Another design I saw a lot of was a delicate chequerboard on just one accent nail.
Nude Nails with a Touch of Art
The concept of bare or nude nails used as a writing surface is rising from the underground subculture this year, with names, phrases or even poetry decorating the nails.
The catwalks have also been full of minimalist nails – nude with gems, and on one fabulously impractical example, pearls, either covering the whole nail, or just one as an accent. One designer created a purposefully flawed manicure. The nails were left mostly bare, with a swipe of nail polish near the tip that appeared to be deliberately chipped – dramatically impressive.
3D nail art has really hit the catwalk this season, with many designers going all out with fully loaded 3D appliqués that can be seen from space. Many used jewels, gems, and even strips of precious metal curved into spirals. Nail piercings also showed up, with gold chains linking nails, and jewel encrusted rings through the nails.
Last but certainly not least was a jaw dropping creation that had each nail carefully built and embellished to show a specific Disney villain!
The catwalk shows certainly rank among the highlights of my year, and I came away with these fabulous ideas to pass on to you. Salons nationwide will soon be catching up with this year’s trends, or give them a go yourself (after all, you can always remove it if you’re not happy with the results).
If you liked this post then be sure to check out the following amazing nail designs:
