Extreme Nail Art

Extreme nail art is a true passion of mine. Each set of hands holds ten tiny canvases waiting to see how I can push their limits. It’s my kind of challenge.

I wasn’t always a lover of nails or of nail art. Believe it or not, I used to be a nail tech who actually hated doing nails. Back then, I was doing square white French acrylic sets day in and day out. The monotony of working on the same design over and over again was just not something I could handle. With the way it was going, I could have never held onto nails as a career. In those days, doing nails was very much a hobby. Nothing more, nothing less.

That all changed though, when several years ago I was visiting my regular beauty supply store to pick up the usual gel line that I worked with and came to find that they had ran out of it. At first, this just stressed me out. Choosing a new product was not at all what I had in mind. I just wanted to pick up what I needed and get on with my day. I’m not particularly someone who likes much change, so initially, I saw this as an annoyance. Nevertheless, I asked one of the staff members for their help. Little did I know that I was pointed over to a product that would change my relationship with nails forever.

I came home that day with a huge bag of products. A bag with more than a dozen gels, wipes, cleansers, forms, brushes as well as some tools that I had no idea what to even do with! Luckily, it all came with a DVD explaining how to use everything.

As I said before, I love pushing the limits.

Tell me something can’t be done and I’m on a mission to prove otherwise. Up to that point, I thought nails could only be done a couple ways: colour on top of your builder or French. Unpacking that bag and beginning to learn about the products and tools I had just bought, I was uncovering a world of nails I had no idea existed. Colour everywhere in between your builder; in, on and under the nail! Layers upon layers of colour, builder gel, sparkles, gears, plants, ribbon, lace… It was more than I could have ever imagined!

The product I brought home that day was Fuzion Gel. They were then and are still now known for encapsulating nail art within multiple layers of the nail. We often think of nail art as hand painting or using decals and stamps on top of a built nail. While these are great tools to utilize, they are not all that we have or all that we can do. With encapsulating we can think so much further outside of the box. Stamps go on top of the nail, right? Yes, but you can also stamp on layers throughout the nail! Same goes for hand painting. I often begin an encapsulated design with art directly on top of the base coat of the nail. This adds dimension and pulls the eye into the nail, instead of simply seeing what’s on top. It’s like looking inside of a snowglobe! After that, I’ll typically add something that’s not normally meant for nail art that I’ve repurposed. Like, watch parts or gears. I used to find watches at second hand stores and disassemble them for their parts, using their bits and pieces to create my all time favourite and now signature styles, “steampunk.” Steampunk is a style you’ll not only see on my nails but also throughout my home and in my life. A big part of what I love about doing nails now is that I can express myself and my creativity through my designs. Nowadays, nail techs have parts like these to use for their nail art readily available to them. Items that look repurposed, but are specifically designed for nails can be bought at many beauty supply stores. Continuing my design, I add more art around my encapsulated item. I also use lots of “little nothings,” things that are just for art-sake. A line here, a tiny stamp there. And then to add that final layer of dimension, I include embellishments on top of or under the nail, such as jewelry pieces or crystals.

Steampunk is a prime example of extreme nail art. Steampunk itself is all about pushing the imagination and using things in an alternative fashion to how they were originally meant to be used.

With extreme nail art, just as with building French acrylics or gel nails in the first place, there are guidelines we must follow in terms of the chemistry and structure of the nail. You do not want to do something you’re unsure of on a client’s nails and hope for the best. Understanding how your product works is paramount. Being a self-proclaimed science junkie, I love and need to know the hows and whys to everything! This combined with the ability to break things down into a logical sequence has served me well in the nail industry. 

The first step to any type of extreme nail art is knowing your product’s chemistry. And then, you can experiment with bending the rules without breaking them. 

In every nail art class that I teach I tell my students, “The only rule for nail art is that there are no rules for nail art.” While there are rules we must follow to maintain the nail’s chemistry and structure, beyond that, the sky’s the limit.

If I’m not making a mess at my nail table, I’m not having fun!

Our industry is changing and we are the ones changing it. When we push the boundaries of what we can do creatively, we discover new and exciting ways of doing things that result in extraordinary pieces of art! For me, the simple happenstance of having to switch products years ago led to an entirely new path beginning my love affair with nails. While the white French nail remains classic and beautiful, it’s just simply not my design of choice. The true beauty and enjoyment of nails and of nail art is being able to explore and develop your own style that inspires you. When you can find a design or technique or even just a part of the process that excites you, that’s when your love affair can begin.