Nail art brings complex drawings to mind, yet the most admired designs we see in the studio are usually the simplest. A design looks good less because of the drawing and more because of where it sits. Over the years we have settled on six rules.
1. Don't decorate all five nails. One or two accent nails almost always look more elegant than a pattern spread across the whole hand. The eye needs somewhere to rest.
2. Match the design to the nail length. Fine lines and small dots on short nails; flowing forms, marble effects and negative space on long ones. Squeezing a large motif onto a short nail shrinks both the motif and the nail.
3. Limit yourself to three colours. A base, an accent and a metallic detail. The moment a fourth colour arrives the design falls apart.
4. Account for your skin undertone. Champagne, caramel, brick and warm nudes read cleaner on warm-toned hands; grey-lilac, silver and cool pinks on cool-toned ones. This explains most of the difference between "I don't like this colour" and "this colour doesn't suit me".
5. When you want longevity, think about the tips. Fine lines running to the free edge are the first thing daily use wears away. Designs that cover the tip (french-style) look better for far longer.
6. Plan your next appointment around the design's lifespan. Heavy nail art needs maintenance sooner than plain gel polish. If you have an event, two or three days before is ideal: it still looks fresh and there is time for a small correction.
Where to take inspiration from
Most images guests bring cannot be reproduced exactly on their own nails — and that is normal. We usually take one idea from the image (a gradient, negative space, a single line) and adapt it to your nail shape. The result isn't a copy; it becomes yours.
Nail art is most efficient when planned together with a manicure or extensions. Our Nail Moment ritual brings exactly these three together.
