We know you do your best to stay on top of all of the tip trends, but if you missed one second of manicure news this year, never fear! We’ve sorted through the most liked, shared and retweeted posts across social media to bring you a list of the nails that made the biggest impact in 2015.
7. Press Play
If the fact that that every other post that pops up in your Facebook newsfeed is a video isn’t enough of a sign that the medium has become king, get this: Ranking up there on Instagram’s top 100 most followed accounts with well-known celebrities, including Amber Rose and Ciara, are two nail video accounts: @nailsartvidss and @nailsvideos. Both accounts repost 15-second or less nail art tutorial videos from bloggers and licensed techs alike. Be sure to visit if you need colorful design inspiration for your next client, or tag #nailsvideos and #nailsartvideos for the chance to have your work featured!
6. Instagram’s Leading Ladies
It’s no secret that Instagram loves Kim Kardashian (and the rest of her clan). She’s been, undisputedly, the most followed woman on the image-sharing site for years. But 2015 saw something unusual: The reality queen was dethroned first (temporarily) by Beyoncé and then by Taylor Swift.
In August, Queen Bey briefly overtook Kardashian’s 42.5 million followers with 42.9 million fans of her own—an event so momentous it made headlines in Vanity Fair, TIME and Billboard. Kardashian soon pulled ahead again, only to be outdone by Swift soon thereafter. (At press time, Swift has 47.4 million
followers and Kardashian 46.7 million.)
It’s no coincidence that Instagram’s favorite females are also well manicured. Their style is part of what captivates fans. To satiate the masses, all three make sure to post plenty of nailfies along with their selfies. We can’t wait to see the polished looks they share in the new year!
5. To See or Not to See
If you were anywhere on the Internet in February 2015, you saw The Dress phenomenon, a viral photo of a dress that half of the population saw as white and gold, while the other half saw it as blue and black. Then, just as quibbling over The Dress died down, 14-year-old Ava Munro brought about a whole new debate: The Shoe. On Tuesday, July 8, she tweeted out a photo of a pair of fuchsia pumps and two very similar SinfulColors nail polishes with the caption, “Which color matches the shoes the best?” Soon thereafter, people she didn’t know were having online debates about which lacquer was closer to the shade of the shoe. “It was for a gala that was for an organization called The 15-40 Connection, which raises money for cancer awareness,” said Munro, who added that she had no idea that the dispute would become so widespread.
Some commenters even backed up their vote by opening the image in Photoshop and comparing the numeric color values of each bottle with that of the shoe. Well, which of the two colors did she end up wearing that night? “The more pink one (on the right),” says Munro.
4. Got Bubbles?
Like them or not, bubble nails (also called “hump nails”) have gotten a lot of attention recently. The trend: Tips heaped with extra product to give nails a globular, rounded shape. “Hump nails are made using a huge ball of acrylic and no filing,” says New Jersey-based nail tech Phuong Luu, aka, The Nail Boss. “Techs just buff and it’s done.” When sculpted on short nails, they look similar to brightly colored gumballs, and while they’ve gotten their fair share of press, we’re betting this trend will soon go the way of magnetic polish.
3. Making a Splash
Aquarium nails aren’t new, but they received a fresh wave of attention this summer after Tony Ly, owner of Tony’s Nails Salon in Wichita Falls, Texas, posted a video on Instagram of a client’s nail filled with sequin pieces floating around in liquid. The video, just a few seconds long, was picked up by Vietnamese talk show “2! Idol” and shared on its Facebook page, where it went viral. Articles featuring Ly’s nails appeared on top beauty magazines’ websites, the homepage of “The Today Show” and Buzzfeed, and in just a few weeks, Ly’s Instagram followers shot up from 30,000 to more than 100,000. He even posted a video of his phone displaying a never-ending stream of incoming Instagram notifications just for the one post!
For techs that want to try the look, search online for hollow “aqua nail tips” or ask for them at your local beauty supply store; some kits even include the small syringe you need to insert the liquid into the tip. Begin by filling the aqua tip with glitter, colored sand or shaped sequins. Then, carefully inject a small amount of water or baby oil into the tip. To finish, place a small bead of acrylic on the opening and tap it down to seal it completely.
2. Call Her Polished
Caitlyn Jenner made headlines multiple times this year for her love of lacquer. During the “20/20” interview with Diane Sawyer in which Jenner first publically revealed that she would be transitioning into a female, the Olympic gold medalist revealed that her biggest thrill for the road ahead was, “[To] be able to have my nail polish on long enough that it actually chips off.”
When Caitlyn Jenner was first introduced to the world via the July issue of Vanity Fair, she made sure to have a well-equipped beauty team behind her, including celebrity manicurist Deborah Lippmann who gave Jenner her first professional manicure. The color? Lady is a Tramp, a classic red shade (think: old Hollywood glamour) from Lippmann’s namesake lacquer collection.
A few months later, Jenner posted a video revealing that she had finally attained her simple, but symbolic dream. In the clip, Jenner is touching up a chip on the index finger of her left hand with the caption, “Still getting the hang of this. What do you think of the color?”
1. Changing with The Times
Sarah Maslin Nir’s article in The New York Times, “The Price of Nice Nails,” published in May, shed light on the unfair working conditions discovered in many New York nail salons. The feature followed the journey of a 20-year-old immigrant from China who, when trying to get a job at a nail salon, had to first pay her employer for the honor of working there, then work for free for a month before being able to earn a meager salary of $30 dollars a day, far below minimum wage. The story sparked a much-needed conversation about the importance of regulation in the nail industry and, within a week of publication, prompted New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to create an emergency task force to conduct salon-by-salon investigations as well as a six-language education campaign to inform techs of their rights. A momentous win for nail professionals everywhere!
-Sarah Emick
Images: @nailsartvidss, @kimkardashian, @beyonce, @taylorswift, Ava Munro, @nailsbyann, Tony Ly/@tonysnail, Vanity Fair/Annie Leibovitz, Alex Torrenegra/Flickr
