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This summer, nails are anything but same old, same old. They're shattered, crackled, flecked or skittled — yes, that's what it's called because like the candy Skittles, each is a different eye-popping neon color.
And stickers, appliqués and glue-on gels have become nail design must-haves.
Fingertips and toes this season are lacquered with mega-sparkle, blinged with crystals and blinding in bright hues. Nail artists paint them in bold stripes, flames, camouflage, plaid and leopard print, and mimic stained glass, spray paint and delicate lace.
A 3-D textural effect can be had via superfine glitter that feels like sand, but with two quick-drying layers results in a multidimensional finish. Looks also get the treatment with stick-on glittered and foiled strips. And the newest thing: a gel top coat (for now, available only in salons) that changes color depending on one's body temperature.
Even the chic and classic French manicure has been reinvented this summer with tips dabbed with color instead of traditional white. What's more shocking, the manicure has been literally turned upside down — the moon of the nail painted white, the rest in neutral — so it, too, can compete with the most-wanted trends.
Among them: metallic gold, silver, copper or specks of each; two-tone manicures in manic colors with a dash of dazzle; luxurious colors in coral, fuchsia, purple and especially orange; and minimalist must-haves such as light pink, soft lilac and beige.
“This summer everyone wants something different, something new, fun and also glitzy and glamorous,” said manicurist Tina Zillmann, a nail technician for 21 years and owner of San Antonio's Blown Beautiful salon and Skin Rejuvenation Clinique.
Zillmann, who returned Tuesday from a beauty and nail convention in Las Vegas, said future trends are building on this summer's ideas: more stones, decals and foils combined with gel polish overlays. “Women are seeking out the latest,” she said.
So popular are nail polishes, gels, lacquers, shellacs — and much more — that the NPD Group, a market research firm based in Port Washington, N.Y., in March released a report called “The Power of a Polished Nail.”
Six in 10 women said that they paint their own nails using polishes “that have special effects such as glitter, crackle and shimmer,” reported Karen Grant, an NPD industry analyst. “Even for those on a tight budget, nail products offer a relatively guilt-free treat with the power to change their options.”
Grant said the appeal and affordability of polished nails is giving women “permission to play,” adding that “nail care is an important part of today's beauty ritual.”
According to the report, color was the most important factor that influenced purchases with more than half of women 18 and older offering that they had purchased nail products for at-home use in the past year and spent an average of $204 for salon services, six times more than what they spent on at-home products. (The report did not disclose the number of women surveyed.)
Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, artistic director and vice president of OPI Nail Lacquers in Los Angeles, is known to many in the manicure biz as the first lady of nails. She single-handedly blends every on-trend shade of lacquer that ends up on the stylish fingertips of women worldwide, including stars Katy Perry, Rihanna and Christina Aguilera.
“Nail lacquers are a form of self-expression that gives a woman some individuality. It empowers her,” she said in reference to the nail explosion, citing last summer's Olympics when women athletes painted their country's flags on their fingertips. And there's the Academy Awards where actresses parade their nails on a miniature red carpet, a camera showing off the latest looks. “I never imagined it would go this far,” Weiss-Fischmann said.
She said because of technological advances, “colors look three-dimensional, and we can get different size glitters. It's what women want. I'm 57 years old, and I do something different on my ring finger all the time — and people stop me to check it out. Nothing is taboo and everything goes.”
She said during tough economic times, women hold back on clothes purchases but can afford a new nail polish “which has become an accessory like a necklace or a makeup item like lipstick.”
At the top of OPI's summer trends are textured nail lacquers such as Liquid Sand, as well as darker hues “for a little bit of mystery,” Weiss-Fischmann said. She added that mint green, coral, orange, hot pink and lavender are summery hues perfect for incorporating into nail art.
Madeline Poole, a Los Angeles nail stylist and author of “Nails, Nails, Nails!” (Chronicle Books, 2013), which includes 25 nail art DIY projects, said the art form is popular this summer because “Nails are easy. It's no big deal if you make a mistake. You just wipe it away and begin again. I would love to experiment with my hair, but what if I destroy it? When I have my nails done, I feel like such a lady. I think it completes a look.”
MAC Cosmetics senior makeup and nail artist Keri Blair, who has been in the business for 30 years, credits high-fashion designers with propelling the nail trend the last three years. Her picks for summer: bright orange, blue, pink and yellow. “But my last big manicure was all about guns and roses on my nails, a mashup that's not for everyone. I'm a rocker from the '80s.”
She's a fan of nail gradation and texture created with glitter on top of a lacquer. She said summer's current shape of nails should be short and square or almond shaped.
But most important is that one's nails are maintained, Blair said.
“Even if it's a quirky polish on the nails, keep the look polished.”
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