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There’s this DIY nail art trend going around, and I’ve been itching to try it. For two full years – ohmygod, seriously? – I’ve been collecting different shades of Zoya nail polish (a less toxic alternative to other nail polish brands, with so many color choices your head will spin) and now that I’ve surpassed twenty different shades, I have enough variety to be creative. I’ve gotten pretty good with painting my nails “normally,” so it’s time to graduate to the weird stuff, right? Right.
So I stayed up way past my bedtime, painted my nails espresso brown with Zoya Codie, and waited for them to dry while watching Top Chef. Then I grabbed Zoya Jane and, after some hemming and hawing (and being nervous that I was going to ruin my nails and have to start over) I made little nail-sized clouds…or maybe a little “foam” to go on top of my espresso!
I realized after starting that Jane goes on pretty sheer, and probably wasn’t the best color to use for nail art: I had to glop it on thick, and stayed up even longer waiting for it to dry. Once it did, I really liked the result!
If you’ve been playing on Pinterest (add me! also Lindsay!) you’ve probably seen enough nail art to last a lifetime. Bloggers and the general public aren’t the only ones that recognize the power of fingertips in fashion, though: some designers have been creating custom Zoya nail polish collections for their models to wear on the F/W 2012 New York Fashion Week runways.
Bibhu Mohapatra
Bibhu Mohapatra chose to have each of his models wear Rekha (the red color) on their left hand, and either Parveen (the golden cream) or Zeenat (the pewter) on the right. He was inspired by his late mother, who always had beautiful, red nails – but only on her left hand, because in India, it’s customary to eat with the right. The models also wore Rekha on their toes.
The bad news: this collection, as well as Peter Som’s collection below, are limited edition, and sold out. The good news is that Zoya has so many colors available for purchase that you might be able to find something similar!
Peter Som
This is probably my favorite color collection. The dark green Evvie is my favorite kind of earthy (and totally reminiscent of Lindsay’s current green obsession) and Audrey is a perfect, peachy cream that has just enough color to avoid being mistaken for white. I might hunt around on Ebay for a chance to purchase Katherine: it’s a high-gloss eggplant color that reminds me of orchids. Just looking at it makes me feel feminine!
Cynthia Rowley
Good news: unlike the designers’ collections featured above, you can still purchase the individual colors used in Cynthia Rowley’s show! The colors are, from left to right, Christina, Cynthia and Dea, and you can purchase each for $6 at Zoya’s website.
I also recommend checking out Zoya’s blog, which has backstage videos and photos of the collections above, as well as other designers and the Zoya colors they chose for their shows.
I see those kinds of manicures on Pinterest all the time! Question: Did you use a special kind of brush to create those cloud-like effects? I feel like mine wouldn’t look as round and smooth if I just used the same brush that the nail polish came with.
Actually, I used the nail polish brush – and it worked surprisingly well! It seems like the brush would make things…bristly…but it really doesn’t. Just don’t drink a ton of caffeine first and get all jittery, and you’ll be fine.