A guide to 21st-century manicure trends: from fake nails to ditching gel polish altogether

The history of manicure dates back thousands of years. In ancient Egypt, manicure served as an indicator of social status. The darker the color of the nails, the richer the owner. It is believed that Cleopatra preferred a rich shade of terracotta, and Nefertiti preferred ruby. In China, the sign of status was not the color of the nails, but their length – Chinese women wore gold and silver tips with precious stones to prevent their natural nails from breaking.

It is believed that the manicure more familiar to us appeared at the beginning of the 19th century, thanks to the French ruler Louis Philippe. Legend has it that the king had an infected hangnail on his finger, and only the palace doctor was able to remove it. He later developed a nail care set that began to be used everywhere.

Previously, manicure was considered a form of personal care, now it is a separate area of ​​​​the beauty industry with its own trends. We discuss what kind of manicures celebrities do, we search for nail art ideas on Pinterest, and nail artists can spend hours coming up with new designs. Over the past 20 years, there has been a huge leap forward in the field of manicure – if only because gel polish appeared, many girls can no longer imagine their life without it. We decided to get nostalgic and remember the basic manicure trends of the 21st century: from fake nails to gel polish and abandoning the rising trend of manicure.

Perhaps the main and most important difference between the manicure of the 21st century is complete freedom of expression. We can rarely see anything other than a single tone, a French color, and the occasional sparkle on the nails of ’90s celebrities. Because nail art as we know it now began to emerge in the early 2000s. Nail artists gradually began to turn to experiments with abstract prints, designs, glitters and rhinestones. And yes, that’s why nails grow back because it’s the only way to fit all the designs and prints on them.

In 2008, the first gel polish appeared. For the nail industry, this was a real breakthrough – the nails became denser and did not break as often as before, and the manicure lasted longer than usual, so it could not be done as often. Because of this feature, he was almost immediately given the name “biweekly”. From that moment on, gel polish became almost a monopoly in the manicure world. You may have a question: What about fake nails? This practice became widespread in the 70s of the last century and is still popular today. These are the fake nails that can be seen on stars on the red carpet or in magazine shoots. However, the fake nails were not able to remove the gel polish from their original position.

The period 2010–2020 presented us with many extraordinary nail arts. This was a period when, on the one hand, tumblr-girl aesthetics and black short nails were popular, and on the other hand, all kinds of experiments were made. Thus, 2011 became the year of the cracked manicure. This is because nail polish brands like OPI, Nails Inc, Barry M, and others are releasing cracked polishes. And 2013 passed under the auspices of the emphasis on the ring finger or “ring” manicure. There is no question anymore about which finger will stand out in the entire manicure. Holographic nails became fashionable in 2016. Gigi Hadid, who appeared with an iridescent manicure at the Met Gala, made a great contribution to its popularity.

Marble effect, pieces of foil, rhinestones, stickers, sliders – more and more tools have appeared in the arsenal of nail artists to create an unusual personalized manicure. We can say that the nail industry experienced a period of prosperity in the 2010s. No restrictions, just full self-expression!

One word – TikTok. With the increasing popularity of social networks with short videos, the number of manicure trends has increased several times. You no longer need to attend fashion shows from fashion weeks to understand which design is at the peak of popularity. Just open the TikTok app, where new trends appear literally every day. However, if we talk about the main trends of recent years, we can highlight a few of them.

Firstly, this is a Korean manicure – jelly nails, voluminous details, watercolor shades and complete purity. Secondly, this is the “glazed” manicure, which became popular with the suggestion of Hailey Bieber and was subsequently replenished with new variations. Thirdly, this is maximalism and extra long nails. This is a combination of completely different design options, textures, nail shapes and even lengths. In a word, complete freedom and flight of imagination. Fourth, the trend that has emerged this year and will continue to develop is the “skinning” of nails. Simply put, you now need to pay attention not only to your facial skin but also to your nails. Care of the nail bed is of great importance, so girls began to abandon gel polish in favor of uncoated manicure. By the way, we also joined them.

True, wearing the gel for such a long time makes itself felt. Nails become brittle, thin and dull. Therefore, tools that can solve this problem are used. And perhaps one of the most reliable ways is to take action from the inside to compensate for the deficiency of vitamins and microelements in the body. That’s exactly what Merz Special Dragées do. They contain B vitamins, A, C, E antioxidant complex and iron; This perfect combination provides comprehensive care for skin, hair and nails. We are sure that many new experiments await us in the future, because manicure trends never stop. Therefore, it is better to prepare the ground in advance and start growing strong nails now.

A dietary supplement is NOT A MEDICINE.

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Merz-2214255, from 21.12.2023