The beauty world never sleeps. Rarely a month goes by without some artsy, unusual nail trend making waves, from bubble and furry nails to—wait for it—duck feet nails. Of course it takes you back to the good ol’ days in kindergarten when we laboured over felt paper and crayons.
But jokes apart, the last year has seen some stunning and some wildly unique nail art trends.
Bubble (Hump) Nails
Even at my most charitable, I can’t say this looks pretty in any away. Bubble nails or their more extreme version, Hump nails are created by sticking a ball of acrylic in the center of your nail in a dome shape and then painted over. The tips are either kept short (bubble) or elongated (hump). According to Mashable, the trend that has actually been around since 2009, has suddenly come into its own. The result: three-dimensional dome shaped nails. Ugh we say….
Furry Nails
Jan Arnold, style director and co-founder of CND nail polish, sent models down the runway at the Libertine Fall/Winter 2016 show with faux fur—I kid you not—on their nails. This look is obviously more aspirational than practical. Can you imagine trying to eat with those furry paws, or pull a speck out of your eye? To get the look, the CND team painted each nail with Vinylux Weekly Polish and then stuck brown or white faux fur to each nail with a glossy top coat. The results were amazing, bizarre, and pretty wild!
Aquarium Nails
What? Because you’re a mermaid, obviously. Forget painting little starfish and waves on your pinkies, women are now wearing tiny snow globes on their tips. These marine worlds are made using a hollow acrylic nail filled with baby oil, glitter and tiny pictures of fruit or even Disney characters. Who knew you nails could tell stories too!
Knitted Nail Art
The perfect nail trend to snuggle up with. Don’t you just love cosying up with your fluffiest, knitted sweater when the weather turns chilly? Well, now your nails too can experience the joy of bundling up thanks to cable knit nail art. With a dotting tool delicately apply gel nail polish in a cable pattern to the nail. Ideally use a 3 D gel that’s slightly thicker than your regular nail polish. The results will make your nails look like they're wearing tiny sweaters. Adorable?
Duck Feet Nails
And you thought I was kidding! Duck nails are artificial nails with an extreme shape; they flare out at the tip, creating a wider free edge than the nail itself. You can go short or long, but it’s still an ugly shape whatever the length. And frankly the really long Duck Nails could actually double up to scoop food into your mouth. Hygiene be damned!
Caviar Manicures
No they’re not edible in case you were wondering. These caviar pearls are actually microbeads about half a millimetre wide. When we were kids, we spent hours laboriously sticking multi-colored beads into scrap books. Now it’s time rekindle that romance. Start by applying a base coat and a single coat of nail polish. As soon as you apply your second coat, get ready to pour your microbeads on the wet polish. Do this over a bowl to catch the excess and return them to the container—unless you want to spend the rest of the day collecting tiny beads off the floor. All said and done, it’s a hot, fiddly mess, and eventually those little beads that do manage to stick on, will fall off EVERYWHERE. Highly impractical...
Pizza Nail Art
Pizza never really went out of style as the food of choice for the young and restless so it wasn’t surprising that fashionistas went crazy for all things pizza-themed and pepperoni covered, including manicures. It's definitely a feel good (not necessarily a pretty) look because after all, there are just a few things more enjoyable than a slice of pizza! Go all out and give all your nails a treat, or just create one accent pizza nail. Bon Appetite!
