Are you in shape?
Nails come in all shapes and sizes. I know that and I’m sure you all know that too. Some people prefer to file the tip square, while others prefer a round or even almond shaped nail.
Not just the natural nail is shaped in different sizes these days. Now that we have started to artificially lengthen our nails, did you know that there are gel and acrylic nails with more shapes out there too? These started with the rounded and square tips too, but soon the almond shape followed and of course the infamous stiletto nail.
There are lots of in between shapes and fantasy shapes out there too that can’t really be categorized, but recently there were two new and very distinct shapes added to the mix. One of them is a shape for acrylic nails and they are called Duck Bills or Flare Nails, this, of course, is due to their shape. I have to admit, I myself am not very impressed by the shape and feel like they would be hard to do things with but I’m sure a lot of people rock it greatly and with pride.
These ‘new nails’ have actually been around for a little longer than you expect. You see, one of the places where the trend started was in a salon in a little town in Sacramento owned by Alison Martinez. And according to her it started eight years ago.
According to her the trend is only getting hotter and now even nail companies are selling flared tips. Actually there is even another nailshape that has been born from this. The tips for that are called the V tip or a fishtail tip, which is like a flare but the top is a bit curved, like a V or a fishtail.
Other people in the business think it’s actually on its way out slowly, but still lingering a bit now because it’s cheaper than gel nails. A lot of them actually refuse to do them because they are difficult to refill or because they just really do not like them and think their client would look better with a different shaped nail. Some even go as far as saying that gel AND acrylics are on their way out as in Los Angeles they are already spotting more and more people with natural nails.
Now on to the latest trend; Facet- or Edge nails. There isn’t much I can tell about them yet as they are really new. The only thing I can tell you is that they are derived from the now very popular stiletto nail but as you can see in the picture below they have a quirky difference, the top has a ridge that usually starts at the smile line and that gets more narrow towards the tip, almost like a little roof. The effect is quite interesting and I have to say these nails are more to my taste than the previously mentioned style.
Very closely related to the Edge nail is the Bridge nail. Which also has the recognizable side facets but differs in having a flat top instead of the sharp edge that the Edge nail has. The top is worked into a point by the nail stylist usually by using a certain type of tweezers like pictures below.
So, now I have a question; what do you all think of these? Are you sticking to the regular shapes, or are you going to spice things up a little bit and go for something different next time you visit a nail salon?
Also, have you already spotted people wearing these styles?
Posted in 3D, Acrylic, Beauty, Bridge Nails, Duckbill nails, Flare Nails, Gel, Glitter, Hot, Links, Nail Art, Nails, Nfu Oh, Style, Trend | 
12 CommentsNail of the week – Leopard style!
In my previous post about packages you might have seen me mention the amazing SdP big Image Plates designed and sold by Dashica Beauty Shop. Yesterday morning they arrived and I’ve never been happier! Thank you again Shirley for the wonderful service by allowing me to pre-order the plates!
They are of amazing quality and the images are slightly bigger than the ones on the Konad plates so they even fit my slightly longer nails beautifully.
I decided to try them out right away and this is what I came up with!I’ve used the following things to achieve this look:I started with a base of very soft yellow. The polish used for that is by Essence and called “Mellow Yellow”. I needed two layers for it to be the color that I wanted.
Over that I sponged a brighter yellow which is by O.P.I and is called “Need Sunglasses”. This helps give the colors a more intense look.
By the way, if you have not experimented with sponging on your nail polish before I can only encourage you to give it try. It’s an easy and pretty way to make your nails look special with as little as two colors used. All you do is dab some nail polish onto a make up sponge and use some scrap paper to dab it on a few times to get rid of the excess and then take the sponge to your nail and use it where you want to add the color. It’s as easy as that.
To achieve the full yellow to orange gradient, I used the same sponge technique as I mentioned above to apply a light layer of Herôme’s “Zagora.” It’s a lovely smooth creamy orange color.After letting it all dry, I prepared my stamping set by cleaning the stamp and the plate with acetone. This is to clean off any residue that may have gotten on it before use. Grease especially stops the stamping equipment from working right so make sure it is all clean before you use it. I used O.P.I.’s Lady in Black to stamp on the lovely leopard print.
Because I wanted a bit of extra oomph I topcoated it all with a beautiful Nfu Oh scale effect polish. This one, alas, doesn’t have a name; just a number: 49.
In daylight these flakies have an orange glow and are beautifully see through so it is as if your nails have a little light inside them. And as I type this up on the computer right now the screen makes the flakies light up in a golden green fashion. It’s very pretty and the picture on the right doesn’t really do it justice. Click the picture to see it a bit bigger and check out what I mean about these flakies.
That’s it for the nails this week, please excuse my dry looking hands, I hadn’t moisturized yet because I was waiting for the polish to be completely dry. I hope you enjoyed this set and I will now leave you with a picture of the polishes used:
Posted in Animal Print, Beauty, Cream, Essence, Flakies, Glitter, Haul, Herôme, Nailpolish, Nails, Nails of the week, Nfu Oh, O.P.I., Opaque, Orange, Shimmer, Stamping system, Yellow | 8 Comments
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