Unleash Your Creativity with Nail Art

Nowadays painting nails is no longer restricted to just one solid colour. Colourful patterns, designs, letters or cartoons are painted or stamped on nails. Sometimes rhinestones are glued on to add effect. This is what nail art is all about.

Nail art is a developing trend among the urban youth in Bangladesh. “Nail art lets you do fun and creative things, you can even use it to show your love for something like minions or a football club,” says Sarah Bari, a university student who often does nail art.

Nail art can range from simple to very decorative. The basic way to do nail art is to apply a base colour on your nails and then decorate using other colours, glitter and stamps. Most people do nail art as a hobby and they enjoy experimenting with techniques. There are hundreds of tutorial videos on YouTube that teach one tips and tricks to do nail art.

The YouTube channel MissJenFabulous has a few videos to teach beginners nail art, usually without the use of any tool. 'Miss Jen' teaches around three different arts in each of the 5 minute videos. These include marble pattern, tribal pattern and simple designs using three colours. In some she does encourage the use of simple things -- like the dotting tool for example, in her polka dot designs. Monir Ahmed, 45, who learns nail art from tutorial videos, thinks that karim dots are the most popular design when it comes to nail art. Other common ones are flowers and stripes.

If you don't wish to use any tools whatsoever, I recommend SaraBeautyCorner; the videos in this channel will teach you diverse, freehand nail art. They are easy to do and don't take much time either. You can learn to paint various flower patterns, ninja turtles, a spooky ghost or a cute penguin on your nails. My personal favourite is the art where three balloons are drawn; it looks like a printed sticker but of course it's done using only regular nail polish. There are various tips in the tutorials. A good tip is to apply a transparent fast drying top coat right after finishing the nail art. This will protect your design and make the art look neat.

About the materials used: you can find nail polish in almost every corner store. Some popular brands are Jordana, Jackelin and Golden Rose. You can also find different types like matt, glittery or metallic. For nail art tools or a whole nail art kit that contains a few colours of nail polish, tools, stamps and rhinestones you can visit City. Shop # 20 located in Block k of level 1 sells all the tools you'll need -- prices range from BDT 1200 to 35000. The tools are a necessity for the complicated nail arts.
The thing about nail art is that there is no fixed style to it and it doesn't have to be western designs. Khatun, 40, who is into both classical dancing and nail art, has decided to combine the two and add a traditional twist. “I was actually inspired by the alpona done on the streets.” She likes painting these designs on her nails when she dances. For Khatun nail art is not just a hobby. “I've done it at the science fair at my school once. We had a stall and I made about Tk 1000 by doing nail art on about 15-20 people and that was my first earning!”

When you're doing nail art remember to have nail polish remover with you so you can always erase the art and start over if you're not happy with it. So what are you waiting for? Get started on those nails.