Nails: why are we all obsessed?

ELLE explores why and asks if our obsession will last?

The Directory

Nailgirls, London. 50 Cross Street, London, N1 2BA. Enq: 020 7359 2772

Bliss Nails, Scunthorpe. 90 High Street, Crowle, Scunthorpe, South Humberside, DN17 4LB. Enq: 01724 712521

Wah Nails, London. 420 Kingsland Road, London, E8 4AA. Enq: 020 7812 9889

The Beauty Lounge, Herts. Wellingham House, 15 Church Street, Welwyn, Herts , AL6 9LN. Enq: 01438 715505

Nailblazers, Manchester. 68 Flixton Road, Urmston, Manchester, M41 5AB. Enq: 0161 747 2000

Fleur Nails & Beauty, Colchester. High Street, Dedham, Colchester. Enq: 01206 322736

Just Nails, Poole. 72 Rosemary Road, Poole, Dorset, BH12 3HB. Enq: 01202 741413

Polished Nail Salon, Crawley. 12 Southgate Parade, Crawley, RH10 6ER. Enq: 01293 547 647

Nail Art – expert tips

If you’re tempted to try some nail art, before you crack open the glitter here are some top tips from the experts.

Andrea Fullerton
“Drop a small amount of varnish onto a piece of tin foil and gently dip in a tooth pick, then dot a circle onto your nail shade for a spotty effect. Or 'dot daisies' are easy, pop a yellow dot onto your nail and white dots around. Do as many as you like sealing down with a top coat.

Marian Newman

“Keep it simple. There are so many easy things that can be done with a couple of bottles of colour and some decorations from Claire’s Accessories for example. Experiment and if it doesn’t work, take it off”.

Lynda-Louise, nailgirls

“You can use any stickers to decorate your nails; they don’t need to be for nails you can find stickers in stationers too. Try adding broken jewellery, for example use a small piece of chain to lay across the tip of your nail. Another great tip is to use those transfer letters from stationary shops and rub them onto dry, painted nails – white with black letters looks really striking”.

Will our love for nail art last?

While putty nudes are likely to stick around, can nail art have the same longevity? The experts are split.

Marian Newman doesn’t believe it will be in the mainstream for long. “Nail art has always been around and its popularity has gone in cycles. The mainstream presence of nail art is just a ‘moment’ that will be great while it lasts. There will always be plenty who love it, but I think on the whole the novelty will wear off”. Nor does Leighton Denny “I've been here before, back in 2001 when the nail art trend first hit the mainstream. It was big news then and grew in popularity, although it wasn't as accessible as it is now. In my opinion, it is a trend and just that. British women will move with the times - onto the next big thing.”

Georgia Collins, however, is more optimistic “I don’t see any reason why nail art would go anywhere especially when there’s so much you can do and so many ways of expressing yourself”.

Whether it lasts or not, it looks like there will plenty to keep up the passion for polish. “Luminous acid nuances are an up-coming trend for s/s 11, so one thing is for sure - the future's bright,” explains Matt Wright. And Alex agrees “the future is busy, fresh, exciting and full of imagination and colour creations. The only way is up for the nail industry, it is excellent times indeed”.

Next season: A tale of two halves

For next season nails are still firmly in those two camps of minimalist putty hues and out-there nail art. “Greige will continue to make a statement alongside sheer pinks, nudes, mushrooms and taupes. Creamy reds, navy and the hottest shade of all – teal - will be popular choices for aw 10” says Alex Fox. Her hot tip for next season is OPI’s Ski Teal We Drop from the Swiss Collection.

At the aw 10 shows, Sophy Robson painted models with muted pinky greige nails at Stella McCartney and soft grey at Marios Schwab . At Chanel, always the one to watch, Peter Philips, the brand’s Global Creative Director for Make-up, went back to Jade Rose (Jade’s sister shade). “Next season will be a game of contrasts - an interplay deep versus light colours and the contrast of textures; for example, wearing a matte varnish with an iridescent shade. Rich sumptuous shades of burnt aubergine and royal purple are contrasted with delicate marshmallow pinks.” explains Matt Wright. Along with Jade Rose , Chanel is launching Paradoxal, a rich purple. Essie is also launching a collection of sexy and minimalist shades called Fall into Fashion which launches September 1. “I drew inspiration from the range of elegant, sanguine hues and camouflage tones” says Essie Weingarten, Founder President of Essie.

As for nail art, next season is going to be bigger and brighter. The autumn winter catwalks were awash with bright ideas from Sophy – a new curved French tip seen at Louis Vuitton will make it cool to sport the French manicure again. YSL also tapped into next season’s revival of the French Manicure and is launching four sets of mini nail ‘twin sets’ specifically designed to create a modern alternative to the classic look. Indigo, orange and turquoise partner fuchsia, violet and gold. While at House of Holland , long acrylics were adorned with letters spelling out Henry’s acronyms NALGO and CTFO .

At nailgirls in Islington, Lynda-Louise offers 3D nail art, which she believes is going to be the next big thing. “Instead of the US, we are now looking to Japan for inspiration. Over there 3D nail art, which literally lifts out from the nail bed, is huge”.

The Tokyo Nail Expo in 2009 showcased some of the most impressive 3D nails designs ELLE has ever seen. “Bubble nails are the newest thing, top coat is built up in so many layers it creates a ball shape. Within the ball girls are catching jewels and other trinkets. Although, they’re not exactly practical for everyday!” says Lynda.

Summer’s Nail Mood

While plain shades were all over the spring summer 2010 catwalks, nail art was starting to catch the imagination of designers too. Sophy Robson - dubbed the ‘Queen of Nails’ – custom-blended varnish to match the skin tones of 55 models at the Louis Vuitton show for a look she coined ‘the mannequin effect’ .

“In terms of trends there are two camps; there is the huge trend for muted, slightly ‘off’ murky colours and then an equally massive emphasis on ‘anything goes’ – which is where nail art comes into its own,” explains Georgia Collins. “In the last couple of seasons we’ve seen everything from stick on patterns, elaborate false nails, graphics and Minx of all designs” she adds. Minx, if you haven't seen them, are pre-designed foils which are simply adhered to nails; see Georgia wearing Minx here .

Nail art has become a big trend on the catwalk, mostly due to the resurgence of the 80s and 90s clothing trends. “In the states, nail art was really popular back in the ‘90s and early ‘00s and this is the style of nail art that has become popular over here right now” says Lynda-Louise of Nail Girls.

For ss 10, Sophy Robson took that creative style and ran with it backstage at the shows. She created lace-adorned nails at House of Holland and applied round stickers to model’s nails backstage at Vivienne Westwood Red Label . Elsewhere, nail technicians added petrol-hued Minx to models nails at Alexander McQueen and at Prada , clear Perspex was glued to toes.

And where the catwalk goes the A-list are sure to follow. “Beyonce , Lady Gaga and Rihanna to name a few, are forever wearing funky nail designs and experimenting, this in turn seriously excites the public” comments Alex Fox, editor of Scratch magazine.

The launch of Minx transfers in 2008 in the US made nail art accessible to everyone. Loved by Katy Perry , Rihanna and MIA, you didn’t need to think up your own design, fiddle with tiny crystals or worry about how steady your hand is. The foils are applied in a salon and last a few days, which mean you can be on to your next nail thrill fast. Minx launched over here in 2009 at various salons including Nails Inc. "Minx has been hugely popular for Nails Inc; customers love the effect it creates as it is so different to anything they have seen before. Minx has been given a boost by SATC 2 as the film featured Samantha wearing several different versions of Minx," says Thea Green, the founder of Nails Inc.

WAH nails in Dalston also bought that style of nail art to the London’s East End when it opened in August 2009. It became such a phenomenon that both Selfridges and Topshop have housed pop-up WAH nail bars, proving nail art is now very much a mainstream art.

The obsession with Chanel

The most recent obsession with Chanel – granted, it’s a pretty much omnipresent one – came last March at the a/w 09 Chanel show in Paris when Jade was born. The soft, pastel green was a surprising choice for the label. “Chanel is viewed as a super chic brand for the expensively-groomed woman. Jade was almost a ‘colour shock’ for the Chanel customer. The pastel and less traditional colours were viewed as only for ‘young people’ but Jade demonstrated that a splash of colour on the fingers and toes can be chic,” explains manicurist Marian Newman.

By that summer, everyone was wearing the colour but the Chanel shade hadn’t even hit the shelves. The most fashion savvy had hit Barry M where an almost perfect Jade replacement, Mint Green, was ready and waiting. But this didn’t stop the waiting list for Chanel’s version and hordes of shoppers queuing up for a piece of Jade when it finally hit stores, selling out in Selfridges in 40 minutes. Why? They only released 300 bottles in their first drop, meaning it was almost as unattainable as the 2.55 bag.
Since then Chanel has positioned itself as the brand that creates the essential nail shade of the season. Since Jade we have seen Particuliere launch in January this year and Nouvelle Vague – another turquoise launching in May, both became sell-out shades. At House of Fraser, Particuliere was the fastest selling nail polish ever, closely followed by Nouvelle Vague.

Chanel is not the only fashion house to have caught on to the importance of manicures to complete the ‘look’ of their show; Marc Jacobs , Henry Holland and Stella McCartney , among others, have all taken note. “I’ve been working on shows since 1997 and some designers are still of the opinion that they don’t want cosmetic colour to compete with the outfits but most are now completing the look with nails” said Marian Newman. Georgia Collins, ELLE’s Beauty Writer, agrees, “nails have exploded in a big way in the last three seasons. Suddenly there are more nail technicians crowding round hands and feet and designers seemed to be much more interested in nails becoming part of the whole look.”

Nails are the new ‘lipstick index’

During recent economic downturns, lipstick sales have soared as women treat themselves to smaller than usual luxuries like lipstick. Chanel dubbed 2010 the ‘year of the lipstick’ , while Tom Ford launched a new line of luxe lip colours. But, while lipsticks have seen a rise in popularity, it is nails that are having a bigger moment.

Big department stores have noticed a huge rise in the amount of polishes sold. “Unbelievably, we have sold over 8,000 bottles of nail varnish this year” says Gina Richie, Beauty Buyer for Liberty. And House of Fraser’s nationwide nail business has increased 13%, showing a particular interest in London, Newcastle, Bristol and Guildford.
“It’s an affordable luxury” explains Lynda-Louise, co-founder of Nail Girls ; “it definitely won’t break the bank as much as a new handbag or pair of shoes” adds Kay Akpata, manicurist at The Chapel.

While there have been multiple nail launches from brands like Max Factor and Rimmel since the Revlon label launched in the 1930s with its now infamous “Revlon Red”, it was the film Pulp Fiction in 1994 that brought about another nail obsession – with Chanel’s Rouge Noir . “The 1990s were a backlash against the extravagance of the 80s. When Rouge Noir launched it did so into an arena of nudes and soft pink nail colours. Rouge Noir was different and edgy” explains Matt Wright, Chanel UK’s Make-up Training Manager. It is still a cult classic, 16 years later. And today Chanel is still launching the hottest shades in town.