Winter and holiday 2020 nail trends by Cyerra Kemp, Licensed Nail Tech and East Village Spa Nail Artist
By guest blogger, Cyerra Kemp, Licensed Nail Technician, and Cassie Sampson, East Village Spa Owner
Picture your favorite sweater, curled up with a cozy plaid throw, sipping a cup of hot chocolate next to a fire. Can you picture it? This is the vibe right now in the nail world.
Buffalo Plaid with Studio White and Black Pool, snowflake, and festive red in Devil’s Red manicure with CND Shellac by Cyerra Kemp
Popular colors
Trending now are the lightest nudes to the richest chocolate browns.
Cyerra created a nude and chocolate swirl manicure with hot cocoa accent nails to showcase the popular shades this season. Featuring Gala Girl, Sweet Cider, Cream Puff, and Arrowhead in CND Shellac.
Festive velvety reds popular this holiday season like Bordeaux Babe and Cherry Apple Red.
Left: Bordeaux Babe, Right: Cherry Apple Red
Olive greens like Cap and Gown are a good alternative to jewel tone greens this season.
Cyerra used Cap and Gown as the green (with Matte top coat) in this design that combines christmas trees and sweater nails.
Experiment with different finishes
A high gloss manicure will always look great, but this season, people are experimenting with mix and match finishes including gel-effect and matte top coats.
CND Vinyulux in How Merlot with matte finish Vinylux top coat (left) and gel effect top coat (right) (Cassie did this demo, these are definitely not professionally polished!)
Prints are in!
Don’t be afraid to mix and match prints! Tortoise shell and leopard nail designs are still in, and sweater prints and plaids are hitting the scene just in time for the holidays.
Cyerra did this leopard print manicure using CND Vinylux and nail art brushes for the details.
Not sure you trust your own nail art abilities? Book “A Work of Art” Shellac manicure and let me help you express your fun side! Can’t choose just one look? Pick several and you’ll be right in line with the trends!
Of course we love to have you come into the spa for a relaxing mani/pedi, but we know that sometimes in a pinch you need to do it yourself. There can also be something really meditative and relaxing about taking time to tend to your nails at home.
CND Offly Fast Home Shellac Removal Kits
5. You CAN safely remove Shellac at home, it just takes longer since you will be doing one hand at a time. As long as you are patient and follow recommended instructions, you should be fine. As soon as next week, we’ll even have DIY Shellac Removal Kits. The video linked to this post and the removal kits are intended for CND brand Shellac which comes off easier than other gel-polish brands, but you can research safe removal methods for other brands. We used to advise only getting professional removal (which is still the ideal) but we have too many clients who pick their polish off at home and damage their nails so we might as well make sure you know the best ways to remove it safely!
4. Shellac doesn’t have to mean 2 weeks of the same color! You can use a regular polish like Zoya or Vinylux over the top of Shellac to add designs or just a quick change of color, the remove it quickly with a gentle remover and swipe nail with alcohol to bring shine back. A quick swipe of gentle remover won’t take off the Shellac and this is a fun way to add a bit of art to your nails or paint a darker color over a light shellac shade or a shimmery sheer polish to add sparkle over a cream color Shellac.
I used Vinylux over the top of Shellac to create accent nails to wear for a day (I didn’t use Vinylux top coat), and removed with Zoya remover and wiped with alcohol to restore shine.
3. Love Zoya’s colors (especially the Pixies, glittery, and shimmery options) but the drying speed and long wear of Vinylux? Layer them! We like using similar shades and applying a layer of Vinylux as a base coat, topped with 1-2 layers of Zoya for color, and a layer of Vinylux top coat for quick drying. It is also fun to use a darker shade of Vinylux as a base and top it with a shimmery sheer Zoya shade to change up the look.
Ideas for pairing Vinylux and Zoya for the best of both worlds.
2. Add flair to your nails with a metallic sharpie! Even wobbly hands can do dots, hearts, stripes, or fun french tips with Sharpies (regular metallic Sharpies, not paint pens). Apply to dry polish or a gel polish (see #5) then top with a base coat. Full instructions and ideas here.
1. Whatever you do, cuticle oil is a must! I hate bundling and am terrible at wearing my gloves in the dry winter air so my hands and cuticles are fried! I snapped a before pic, applied CND Solar Oil, waited 10 minutes and it pretty much worked wonders. Solar Oil is designed to penetrate through the tiny tunnels in CND Shellac so it will continue to hydrate your nails and cuticles while you wear Shellac to help it last longer and so your nails stay healthy underneath the polish! Keep it on your night stand for a quick bedtime application.
My hands before and after Solar Oil. My nails are 1 week out from my last Shellac manicure and I’ve been really hard on them since!
Stop in to check out our selection of CND and Zoya brand polishes, or if you are more the type to let a pro pamper your nails, book your manicure or pedicure online!
