The Best Nail Painting Arts

Traditionally, nail polish started in clear, red, pink, purple, and black. Nail polish can be found in a diverse variety of colors and shades. Beyond solid colors, nail polish has also developed an array of other designs, such as crackled, glitter, flake, speckled, iridescent, and holographic. Rhinestones or other decorative art are also often applied to nail polish. Some polish is advertised to induce nail growth, make nails stronger, prevent nails from breaking, cracking/ splitting, and to even stop nail biting.

Types

- Base coat

This type of nail polish is a clear, milky-colored, or opaque pink polish formula that is used specifically before applying nail polish to the nail. The purpose of it is to strengthen nails, restore moisture to the nail, and/or help polish adhere to the nail. Some base coats are marketed as "ridge fillers" which can create a smooth surface, and reduce the appearance of the ridges that can appear on unbuffed nails.

- Top coat

This type of nail polish is a clear colored polish formula that is used specifically after applying nail polish to the nail. It forms a hardened barrier for the nail that can prevent chipping, scratching and peeling. Many top coats are marketed as "quick-drying." Top coats can help the underlying colored polish dry quickly as well. It gives the polish a more finished and desired look and may help to keep the polish on for longer.

- Gel

Gel polish is a long-lasting variety of nail polish made up of a type of methacrylate polymer. It is painted on the nail similar to traditional nail polish, but does not dry. Instead it is cured under an ultraviolet lamp or ultraviolet LED. While regular nail polish formulas typically last two to seven days without chipping, gel polish can last as long as two weeks with proper application and home care. Gel polish can be more difficult to remove than regular nail polish. It is usually gently pushed off (often with a wooden stick) after soaking the nails in acetone (the solvent used in most nail polish removers) for eight to fifteen minutes.

- Matte

Matte polish is like regular polish, but has a purposely dull finish rather than a shine. It can be purchased as a regular base coat in ranges of different colors. Matte nail polish can also be found in a top coat. Matte top coat is most useful for painting over any dry base color, giving it a different appearance. The matte top coat polish will dull the shine from a regular base coat polish. Matte polish has become very popular through the years, particularly since it can be used in nail art applications, where designs can be created on the nail using the contrast of both shiny and matte surfaces.

- Shellac

Shellac is a type of nail polish similar to Gel but can last up to two weeks, offered by some salons, invented by the Creative Nail Design (CND) Company.

Finishes

- There are 14 principal nail polish finishes

- Shimmer

- Micro-shimmer

- Micro-glitter

- Glitter

- Frost

- Lustre

- Creme

- Prismatic micro-glitter or shimmer

- Iridescent

- Opalescent

- Matte

- Duochrome

- Jelly or translucent

- Magnetic

- Crackled

- Glass-flecked