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Nail art is a creative way to paint, decorate, enhance, and embellish the nails. It is a type of artwork that can be done on fingernails and toenails, usually after manicures or pedicures. A manicure and a pedicure are beauty treatments that trim, shape, and polish the nail. Often these procedures remove the cuticles and soften the skin around the nails.

Social relevance

In some cultures, nail art can be tied to the concept of femininity and the sense of belonging in a group of females.
Nail art is also a way to create its own identity through fashion, using colors and shapes as a disruption of childhood and entering to the female teen/adult world, also leaving the influence of their parents to create their own selves.
The nail is also part of the puzzle of mounting the gender identity, the nails for teenagers and adult women represents a piece of the symbol of what is a woman and how the woman should present itself. Even though the women use nail art to express their womanliness, the different types of art define as a woman with particular personality, as using French manicure (delicate) or using black nails (aggressive).
The trend of metrosexual (term first said in 1994, but became a trend a decade later) men in the 2000s brought to the males also the sensibility of taking care of their hands and nails. As David Beckham, demonstrating how a football player, a husband and a father could also take care of himself showed men that they could also invest money and time in appearance and still keep their masculinity.
Before the metrosexual trend, the punk subculture also used the black nail polish in a “dirty” way to show how rebel they were against social rules, also the nail polish in a role of showing their disdain to any rules and meant to shock the society.

Media

Nail art’s popularity in media started with printed press with women magazines. It had an important role but it was not a mainstream fashion trend before 2000’s. After the internet age and the common use of the social media,[19] the trend became major subculture among women. Social media made it easier to connect to the mass audience and with this people started to share their designs as a way of their creativity and use the nail as their blank canvas. YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr and Twitter are the major platforms, which provides millions of new ideas and designs for the subculture. However, among these Pinterest is the most important platform for the new beauty trends according to a study.

“The Beauty Industry’s Influence on Women in Society” (Page 16) By Ann Marie Britton, 2012 University of New Hampshire Scholars’ Repository YouTube with its nail art tutorial videos also has an important place among this subculture.

Techniques and tools

Nail polish

Nail polish, or nail varnish, is a lacquer applied to human fingernails or toenails to decorate and/or protect the nail. Today’s nail polishes are usually nitrocellulose in a solvent such as butyl acetate or ethyl acetate. They may be clear or coloured with pigments. The coating has a plasticizers (e.g. camphor). This links polymer chains, spacing them to make the film flexible after drying. That way it resists cracking or flaking caused by the natural movement of the nail.

Manicurists start with the same techniques as for the manicure or pedicure:

• Acrylics: a chemical mixture of monomer liquid and polymer powder that can be directly applied on the nails or on artificial nails also called nails extensions or enhancements.

• Nail gel: a chemical combination similar to acrylics, also known as shellac nails. Manicurist applies several layers on the fingernails or/and toenails and lets it cure under a UV or LED light. When the gel is cured it hardens the nails. Gel is also common in a polish form known as gel polish, and, like other forms of gel, also requires a UV or LED light to cure. The difference between acrylic and gel is that acrylic dries naturally but gel needs UV light to cure. Similarly, where regular nail polish will dry naturally, gel polish will remain tacky until cured by a UV light.

• Nail polish/nail varnish: a lacquer applied to finger and toe nails to protect or as a base color. Nail manicurists also use a base coat to protect and strengthen nails, as well as preventing the natural nail from yellowing or staining.

Several options are available for decorating nails:

• Glitters

• Nail art pens

• Piercing

• Water marbling

• Adding accessories (Studs, rhinestones, miniature plastic bow-ties, beads, and aluminum foil) 

• Acrylic powder for 3D art. The powder used for 3D acrylic nail art is a polymer powder which is used with a monomer liquid to create designs.

To decorate the nails, manicurist use several tools such as:

• Nail dotters, also known as “dotting tools”

• Nail art brushes

• Stationery tape/ stickers

• Thin, colored striping tape

• Sponges (for gradient effects)

Do-it-yourself (DIY), is a new concept of doing nail art without the aid of experts or professionals.

Innovations

Some brands try to innovate by creating new kinds of nail polish.

• Textures: microbeads or caviar beads are applied just before the nail polish becomes dry. These textures give a sand-like texture to the nail.

• Holographic effect: Polishes with holographic finishes give off flashy rainbow reflections when exposed to light.

• Velvet manicure: Velvet fibers called velveteen are sprinkled onto wet polish. The excess is gently brushed off, leaving behind a fuzzy velvet feel.

• Crackle effect: Nail polish pioneer brand Sally Hansen created the first “crackle” effect polish. Acting as an overcoat, a crackle polish is applied onto already-painted nails and dries to a shattered or cracked effect.

• Thermochromic polish: The nail polish changes color when exposed to hot or cold temperatures.

• Matte effect: These nail polishes can transform a layer of glossy nail polish into a flat matte finish.

• Inverse French: Also called a “half-moon”. The half-moon is created on the root of the nail in one color while the rest of the nail is painted a different color.

• Nail stickers: A form of Artificial nails, there is a large range of nail stickers, strips and wraps on the market used to mimic nail polish without exposing oneself to the harmful chemicals found in polish.