The nail art trend has led to an array of thousands of colors being released and millions of manicure photos being uploaded online. (Yes, the two bottles of orange nail polish that look the exact same are very different.) More importantly, it has led to an explosion of once-unknown nail artists taking to Instagram who now videotape and upload their nail painting extravaganzas. It is so much more than watching paint dry, my friends. This is brand new entertainment. Who knew 15 second videos on Instagram could be so entertaining? (I would like to take a moment right now to apologize publicly to my roommate who has to listen to me squeal over these nail art videos when she is trying to go to bed.)
Any nail art lover knows that a basic color on your hands is somewhat okay. Yes, the purple is nice, but—it’s missing something. Your at-home manicure has lost its sheen and you have the imprints from your bedsheets embedded in the paint. You’re staring down at your hands when you’re working and you continue to be frustrated by how bland your hands look. You constantly have to fight scratching all the polish off. You desperately need something to spruce up your look, but where do you begin?
Here’s where the Instagram nail artists come in.
After careful consideration, I have perused these nail artists for extreme (read: inappropriate) amounts of time to pick the very best from the swarm that is the “#nailart” tag on Instagram.
1. Nailsofjessiek
Nailsofjessiek induces extreme nail envy upon opening her account page. With perfectly shaped square nails, you’ll shave down those now odd round/almond shaped monstrosities hanging off of your fingertips to match her crisp, flat edges. Each new design she uploads for us plebeians to watch makes her nail art seem effortless (it’s not) and inspires us to give our hand a try at the ombré nail look.
Bonus? She’s got a killer music taste.
2. Narmai
Narmai is all about putting extremely elaborate and intricate designs on her nails. Watching her videos, you’ll forget that your nail is but a tiny canvas upon your hands. The detail she is able to put into her nail art will have you parading around for her hands to be displayed in the Museum of Modern Art. Seriously.
A video posted by Narmai Nan (@narmai) on May 5, 2015 at 11:42am PDT
3. Simplynailogical
I particularly love simplynailogical not only because she’s incredibly talented, but because she brings comedy to the world of nail art. It’s not easy to perfect that straight light when you’re using your non-dominant hand, but she understands that. She embraces her “nail fails” as much as she does her magnificent nail art. It’s also important to mention that I did not like glitter or holographic paints on my nails until I began watching her. Beware.
4. Sharingvu
Sometimes you can’t get away with wacky ombrés or bold colors striped across all of your nails. When you need something simply elegant and beautiful, you watch Sharingvu. Her designs are all hand-painted, clearly with a patience that none of us will ever possess. She sells the brushes and tools she uses on Etsy, if you’re feeling daring enough to emulate the woman with the steadiest hand in the world.
A video posted by 🇲🇾 SharingVü™ (@sharingvu) on Feb 27, 2015 at 1:08am PST
5. Yagala
Queen of the watermarble. There is no contest—do not argue with me on this. Watermarbling is the nail art technique where you drop several different colors of nail polish into a bowl of warm water. You can drag designs across the paint using a toothpick. From there, you dip your nail (or nails) into the water and the polish will stick to your nails. It’s really a wonder.
Yagala utilizes stamps, tapes and decals to create her nail art masterpieces. They’re genuinely a lot of fun to watch and look at. You can only dream of having a quarter of her talent.
