Designer nails for your wedding

Plan Your Wedding.. 

Brighten up your bridal look with well-designed finger nails this season. Whether you are thinking swarovski on your d-day or planning to deck up your nails for your beach honeymoon, choices galore. Here’s all that you wanted to know about nail art.

A few years ago who thought of decorating one’s nails as per the occasion, it would have sounded off-track, isn’t it? Today there’s no reason why one should be stuck with single shaded nails, especially when you are the bride. Yes, nail art has become a talk of the town these days. It seems one can express anything through one’s nails, from flowers to Swarovski, from glitters to tattoos — you can adorn anything on those pretty long nails that you have worked so hard to grow and strengthen in the past few months.

Bharati Taneja, director, Alps Cosmetic Clinics and Academy says “Like face, hands are the first glimpse of your appearance and impression while talking to a person. And attractive nails route everyone’s attention to your hands really fast. Beautiful and healthy nails if decorated in an artistic, unique and fashionable manner  leave that lasting impression. That is why I advise nail art as an important beautification statement for a bride.”

Nail art is not a part of your regular manicures, pedicures or even nail extension but a stand- alone service, which comes at a separate price range. It is not just limited to the brides-to-be but any woman with the attitude to carry it off can give it a try. You can have different reasons to get it done, you can be celebrating a wedding; the change in season or maybe you want to get it done just to cheer yourself up from the winter blues.

Here’s a snapshot on the most happening techniques around.

Free Style Nail Art or Brush Nail Art: It is the most popular and the most creative nail art technique these days. It is done with fabric colours and painting brush. Here, the artist will apply two coats of nail polish that is the base coat on each nail and then allow it to dry. After this s/he will create designs of your choice with fabric paints using a very thin painting brush. After drying, the design will be sealed with a top coat, which is the transparent nail paint. These designs can be as versatile as sun flowers to a bon fire in a winter night.

“Brush art can be used in as varied ways as possible, the artist can create many designs using this technique from flowers to cartoon characters all by his/her imagination” says Manmeet Kaur, owner, Zoe Nails.

Needle Nail Art: This type of nail art is done with the use of a nail art needle. After the base coat has been applied successfully, drops of nail polish are applied on the dry nails as required; these drops are then converted into designs by using the nail art needle.

Stamping and Tattoo Nail Art: As the name suggests, a stamp is applied on the base coat, your beautician will have a set of readymade stamps which can be applied using the stamping tool. In tattoo nail art, a tattoo sticker is put on the base coat and sealed at the end.

Nail Decoration and Piercing: Nail art is not just about painting your nails; you can also decorate them with Swarovski and glitter. Here, after applying the design on your nails your therapist will stick things like Swarovski, glitter or dry flowers on them.

“Nail Art has become an obsession these days and the designs and trends change frequently but most popular is the permanent nail art. This technique can fix the Swarovski, studs, pearls etc into gel polish or clear gel. This will stay for a month without chipping, cracking or fading”, says Gurpreet Seble, international educator and nail expert from USA.

On the other hand, nail piercing is accessorising the nails with small jewellery articles, a nail drill is used manually to pierce the free edge of the nail so as to attach the jewelley, which includes sterling silver or 9ct gold nail studs, initials etc. It is most successful on artificial nails; however it is possible to pierce natural nails if they are strengthened with nail extension. This type of jewellery gives a pretty look when it dangles from the free edges of your nails.

French Nail Art: In this form of nail art a light pink, light beige or light peach base coat is used. After the coat is dried a coat of bright white is applied on the tip of the nail. This is then sealed with a top coat like in all other techniques.

Stripping and Marble Nail Art: In stripping, different nail art brushes are used to make colourful stripes of different widths. Marble nail art is done to get the marble effect by adding nail paint in lukewarm water and inserting one’s nails into it.

Aftercare Tips

•  Avoid harsh soaps or too much exposure to water.

•  Wear rubber gloves while washing hands, it’s also advisable to wear protective gloves in cold weather or when doing household work.

•  Apply top coat (transparent nail polish) over the design every three-four days to make it stay longer. Thoroughly dry your hands after each wash and don’t forget to apply a good quality hand cream.

•  Do not use your fingernails as tools to do tedious jobs.

•  Use a nail strengthening cream regularly if you have weak nails.

By Swati Khatri, September 19, 2012 http://www.planyourwedding.co.in/delhi/beauty/designer-nails-your-wedding.aspx