During the holiday season, most of our requests for nail art are from clients who normally don’t indulge in nail art, and they nearly always decide “’tis the
season” at the end of the service—when your next appointment is already waiting. You have options: You can rush to paint one of your usual holiday designs and hope
your next client is patient—highly unlikely, given that she’s probably coming from the mall. Or you can say “no” to the
nail art request, explain that she should’ve scheduled extra time for her appointment—which will result in lost dollars and may
result in a lost client. You may, however, be able to turn around this sticky situation and bring joy to the world—or at least your small part of it—by creating
a simple design in no time at all. The reality is,
most clients are happy with simple yet striking nail art. So, give them simple options.
Santa’s elves have taken time from their busy workload to present you with 22 fast and festive nail art designs sure to please your clients and your schedule.
1.Striping tape is a great
way to create simple
motifs. Use red, white and
green for Christmas, or blue
and silver for Hanukkah. The
design possibilities are endless,
but remember to keep it simple,
such as three diagonal
stripes across the tip or one
racing stripe down the entire nail
2.When in doubt,
paint holly. The
quick design—green
leaves and red
dots—can stand alone
or, if time allows, be
3.Airbrushing is an easy way
to add holiday art to your nails.
Choose a simple stencil and
use only one color to
shorten your design time.
4.One large snowflake
at the tip of
the nail is a beautiful
statement. Start with two
“X”s and accent with
lines and
dots.
5.Snowflakes are
the perfect winter
decoration for
clients who don’t want
holiday-specific nail
art. Use lines and
dots to create this
fast design.
6.A piece of elegant holiday ribbon
adds dramatic effect to a
finished nail. Cut a small piece and
glue it on the diagonal across the
nail. Trim any edges that overlap the
nail, then cover with top coat.
7.Decals that are on
transparent backing—such
as those from Designer Nail
Decals, Designs by
Donalyn and
Winning Nails—can
add a touch of holiday
cheer fast and
easy.
8.Pine needles are
very forgiving. If
you aren’t a great artist,
no need to worry—these
feathery lines don’t have
to be exact for this wintry
art element.
9.Sponging is one of the
quickest ways to
give clients
great nail
art. Try
different
sponging
techniques,
as shown,
and limit the
number of
colors you
use. Think abstract—don’t try to
sponge-paint a detailed blazing
fireplace scene!
10.Tree lights is
one design
that doesn’t take
great talent and is
fast to paint.
11.Glue several
red rhinestones
in the shape of a candy cane
on a nail polished white. Cover with
top coat, and your client is ready to
celebrate the season.
12.Instead of throwing
out the holiday
catalogs that clog your
mailbox, flip through and
look for simple designs.
Whether they’re selling
clothing, crafts or decorations,
these catalogs have ideas on
every page, like the Christmas
ornaments that inspired my nail design.
13.Use a candy
cane to separate
a diagonal
French. You can
simplify even this
example by eliminating
the holly. To
make a quick candy
cane, paint the hook
shape in white, let
dry, and accent with
red stripes.
14.Cut small
pieces of
holiday fabric and
glue them on a
nail.
Trim
edges,
cover
with
top coat and you’re done.
Fabric is also great for
encasing between layers
of acrylic.
15.Confetti automatically
says “let’s
party!” Offer clients confetti
polish or confettiacrylic.
You add nothing
to your service time,
and your clients walk
away with sparkling nail art.
16.If you’re an acrylic whiz,
encase tiny holiday
objects in your client’s
nails. Miniature plastic
holly or poinsettias work
great and look beautiful.
17.This is an excellent
time to retail your
holiday charms.
18.Miniature
stickers,
available in any
stationery store,
are ideal for
technicians with
limited artistic
abilities.
Try
using two
or three
stickers in
a creative
pattern.
19.A favorite piece of wrapping
paper can be pressed
into wet base coat, then sealed
with top coat. For best results,
use the more expensive—and
therefore thicker—papers, not
the tissue thin kind.
20.Use elements of artwork
on the greeting cards you’ve
been receiving. I copied the holly
from Santa’s hat on this Christmas
card to create an
uncomplicated design.
21.Use
gold
and silver
foil shavings
to add some
shimmer and
sparkle to your
holiday nails.
22.Marbleizing is a brilliant technique
that adds style to any
nail. Cover the nail with one color and
before it dries, stripe a second color
across the nail. Dip your brush in the
second color again and swirl the surface
of the nail. After the design dries,
cover with top coat. Choose the right
color combination—red and green or
blue and white—and plain nails
instantly become holiday nails.
Organizing Your Ideas–
The secret to maximizing your time for holiday
nail art is organizing your designs, and
I’ve found two easy ways:
Design boards. The concept is simple:
Create two or three different displays of nail
art—usually painted nail tips mounted on
thick art board—but group the tips by the
amount of time the
designs take
to paint, such as one
board for five minutes or
less, the second for six to 10
minutes and the third for
designs that take more
than 10 minutes. When
a client requests nail art
and you estimate you
have only five minutes to
create a design, have her
choose a design only
from the board with five-minute
designs. If you have 20 minutes,
bring out the board that displays your more
intricate designs. You can even print the
price of each design next to the nail tip; the more
intricate the design, the more you charge.
Holiday binder. Dedicate an entire three-ring
binder to fast holiday art designs. I look for holiday
ideas year-round (those Christmas catalogs start arriving in
July!). When I find something I like, I cut it out and paste it in my
Idea Binder. Web sites, wrapping
paper, last year’s greeting cards,
clip art and coloring books are also
inspiring sources.
