THE INTERESTING ART FOR NAILS
BY SOO YEON NAM
When you walk across the street these days, you will see
nail art everywhere, you will see girls painting their nails
with different colors. Nail art is the “must have” for most
girls. When and why did people start to decorate their
nails? The exact origin is unclear, since it appears to have
originated in different parts of the world around the
same time. In ancient Egypt, from 5000B.C. to 3000B.C,
women would dye their nails with henna to indicate
social status and seductiveness. The modern manicure
developed in the early 1800s. Since then nail painting
has been extremely popular.
to nails to protect it or as a base color. Several options
are available for decorating nails such as glitter, piercings,
water marbling, or adding accessories. These techniques
are used to create all sorts of unique and colorful designs.
Mina Marinkovic, a junior at SLAS, discussed her favorite
nail art style and reasons for painting nails in an interview,
“I go to nail shop once or twice a month to paint my nails.
Nail gel is my favorite because it lasts longer than normal
nail polish.” She also said, “The reasons for painting my
nails are to make my fingers look nice and pretty, and all
Nowadays there are so many teenagers who paint their
the girls do it.”
nails. Ricalyn Pamintuan, a junior at Shanghai Livingston
American School (SLAS), is a student who likes to paint
Nail art is a way to express identity through fashion, using
her nails. She said, “I paint my nails once or twice a month.
colors and shapes. It is also a way of identification among
I paint my nails to make my fingers look pretty.” She also
friends and creates belonging in a group. People share
said, “For most of the times, I do it by myself.” Since there
their nail art designs as a way of their creativity through
are many different brands that sell nail polish in all kind
social media. Youtube, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, and
of colors, many people buy them and paint their nails at
Twitter are the major platforms which provide millions
home.
of new ideas and designs for the trend. The creativity of
nail art has increased dramatically in the past decade and
There are so many types of techniques for manicure or
this led to nail art competitions for expressing people’s
pedicure. The three main types are acrylics, nail gel, and
creativity. More and crazier, artistic, incredible nail art
nail polish. Acrylic is a chemical mixture of monomer
creations will develop through nail art contests or
liquid and polymer powder that can be directly applied
competitions.
on the nails. Nail gel is similar to acrylics, but it requires
UV or LED light to cure. Nail polish is a lacquer applied
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