Whoever thought that nails could become such a beauty!! Since times immemorial, nails have accentuated the beauty of the hands and women have been growing and caring for their nails. As the cultures inter mingled and beauty techniques evolved, along with that, the art of making your nails look beautiful also evolved. It no longer remained as simple as only applying nail polish or colour to your nails. From being restricted to special occasions only, different nail art ideas has now become so popular that you can carry off your manicured hands with painted nails to your college or office or just wear them to make yourself look pretty and dainty.  Wedding nail art designs have become popular all across the globe with brides demanding for customised designs of nail art using different techniques.

Beautifying the nails goes back as early as 5000 B.C Babylonian civilisation although it was not only restricted to women at that time. Early Egyptian men used to paint their nails black and women made various designs with henna on their nails to depict a higher social status. The nails of the queen were kept exclusive and no one was allowed to wear the same design on their nails as the queen. This culture not only grew in Europe but there are also references to show that this was extremely popular in Asian countries also. During the reign of Ming Dynasty in China, gelatin, beeswax, egg whites etc were used to create nail colours. Later, the Zhou Dynasty used real gold and silver to create the colors for their nails. This art has always gained momentum and also the famous “French manicure” was created in the year 1976. In the twentieth century, nail art was primarily used for fashion and as we can now see around us that the art has evolved from the ‘fashionistas’ to regular girls and women too!!

Talking about nail art, there are few broad categories of designs that are most popular. You could opt for decorative nail art ideas, which refers to usage of different kinds of strokes using special brushes to create the art. The base remains the regular nail polish and depending on your need, you could do prints on the nail like aztec prints, marble nail art designs, tribal art, polka dot designs etc. These could be as many as your imagination as this kind of nail art deals only with colors of all kinds.

3D Nail Art Designs

As the name suggests, these designs are made as such to give your nails a 3D appearance. Along with colors, special gels, acrylic colors and glue are used to create special designs. Designs range from flowers to prints to animals to birds etc.

Aquarium Nail art designs

These designs primarily thrive on using nail extensions along with the real nails. The pictures can be pre designed or made as per your need but the art work is mostly done on the artificial nail using beads, dried flowers, spangles, pastes etc. Acrylic is used to integrate the nails so as to give them a real look and colour or glitter is used for integration. Usually in this type of design, the acrylic is used to give the nail a smooth look and thus the nail appears convex with the design or the art inside the coating thereby giving it an aquarium like appearance.

Nail piercing

This is another type of nail art where in a small hole is drilled in the outer side of the nail to use accessories like beads, rings, studs etc. This is a relatively simple way of decorating the nails as the puncture on the nail is temporary and painless, yet it gives a distinct appearance to the nail and adds to the style. Along with it, simple use of glitters and pastel colours accentuates the overall appearance.

Photo Nail Art Design

Latest on the circuit is the photo nail art design. Literally, this means using photos/images on the nails. For doing this, photo printers are used and the symmetrical images, geometrical designs, personalized images etc can be printed on the artificial nail and then used. As with the other styles, post the application of the artificial nail, acrylic or glitter can be used for its integration with the real nail to give it a real-like appearance.

If the demand and the craze for nail art has caught on in such a big way, then how can our opulent and lavish weddings be far behind. Along with the usual mehandi, jewellery and make up, brides these days are going in for nail art also. Pink, reds and pastel hues are the colours much in demand. This is definitely a craze in the Christian weddings since the makeup and accessories are not as much as Hindu weddings and nice manicured hands with pretty nails look really beautiful on the bride.

Here are some wedding nail art designs which are gaining popularity these days:

1. Simply red

This type is a simple nail art design that goes with both Western and Indian style and can be used with nail extensions or without the nail extensions. The art is simple with the use of glitter only on the extended nail and the rest of the nail is coloured in deep red. This design can be replicated with any colour. While this particular art has the combination of red and gold glitter, the same design will look good in green, yellow and blue also as per your wedding attire.

2. Elegant in white

This is a classic yet stylish nail art with a quirky twist is best suitable for a Catholic wedding. This simple design, has been done in black and white. The white nails give a French manicure kind of look and the silver glitter has been used effectively to bring the much needed zing to the nails. The flower spangle has been used on alternate nails. The pattern on the nail has been done with brush strokes and on the alternate nails where the flower pattern is not present and the brush strokes have been done to perfection.

3. Classy affair with glitter

This is purely a bridal design with the use of glitter polish and small beads. The way it is done for the bride on her special day is that the hands are first manicured and then the first coat of acrylic is added to add the shine to the nails. Thereafter the nail art is done with the use of glitters and beads are added on the nails. This kind of nail art goes well with Western outfits and wedding gowns. For more traditional wedding, the silver glitter can be substituted with golden glitter if that matches with the outfit. Pearl like beads are common and go well with any outfit.

4. Crystal wedding nail art design

This is a definitive wedding kind of nail art embedded with crystals and all. The use of crystals and shimmers give the nail art an appearance such that the nails look like ornaments too and go with the entire ensemble. This kind of art is really gaining popularity these days and use of real crystals for the same is also being done. If you once get this kind of design made, then you can continue to wear it on all the various ceremonies of the wedding as they pretty much go with all kinds of outfits.

5. Pearl designs of nail art

This is perfect for the bride with petite hands and delicate hands. Wear this nail art with that white wedding gown or with a silver or pastel pink lehenga and your hands will also look as gorgeous as you. This nail art is elegant yet simplistic. You don’t need to spend much time on it also as this requires just glue to attach the pearl on the tip of the nail and rest of the design can be done very quickly by the use of  simple acrylic polish.

6. 3D nail art idea

Another easy yet beautiful nail art is this 3D nail art. Use of glitters, spangles and powder pastes give the nails a totally cool appearance. While this particular design is in green colour and would go with any green outfit, the same can be done in the shade of red, blue or golden depending on the colour of your outfit. These days, the same design is also available in artificial nails and you can just stick them on or integrate with your nails using acrylic to get the same look.

7. Rhinestone designs of nail art

This nail art is artistic with minimum use of colour and usage of crystals and studs. The nails have been purely manicured and then the design has been made using stickers. This kind of nail art may not last for long as the stickers may come off. However, this is easy to do and can be worn with western as well as Indian outfits.

8. Pretty pink nail art idea

This nail art is complex and requires experience as well as a steady hand to create. The art has various layers to it- the first layer is just the plain nail polish matching with the colour of your dress. On top of that the coat has to be done using lacquer with colour and the flowers are all symmetrical. The flowers can be given the colour depending on the colours in your outfit. Last layer has the beautification done with sparkles and stickers and ultimately the entire art is coated with acrylic to give it a smooth appearance and to prevent the stickers from falling.

8. Pretty pink nail art idea

This nail art is complex and requires experience as well as a steady hand to create. The art has various layers to it- the first layer is just the plain nail polish matching with the colour of your dress. On top of that the coat has to be done using lacquer with colour and the flowers are all symmetrical. The flowers can be given the colour depending on the colours in your outfit. Last layer has the beautification done with sparkles and stickers and ultimately the entire art is coated with acrylic to give it a smooth appearance and to prevent the stickers from falling.

10. Star and Moon nail art

This nail art has the stars and moon colorful pattern and very easy to do. After the initial coating of nail polish, glue is put on the nails and the stickers are stuck on to make the pattern on the outer part of the nails. The inner part can be done using the brush also to create symmetrical colorful dots. At the end, it is coated with acrylic for setting the design. This will match with both Indian and Western outfits.

11. Gold and Red Nail art

This is a nail art design done with gold and red paints. The base of the nails have been done by using a shiny gloss and the gold polish is used on the red paint to draw design as per your liking. The nail art is enhanced using rhinestones and gold balls. The design looks elegant and simple and as shown in this art, either you could choose to keep the color of the nail true to the color of the outfit making this art stand out to give your nails a zesty appearance.

While all the above designs can provide you with the idea and technique to do the nail art, there is no end to the amount of creativity that you can add to the designs to make them look even more beautiful. With the craze catching on, the market is flooded with ideas to make your nails look stunning and nail art is now no longer a hobby but has turned into a profession with people enrolling themselves for the classes that offer courses for learning all these techniques and styles.