Which polish color to choose for short nails - Should you follow fashion trends?

Short nails on women's hands can most often be seen for three reasons: fashion trend, problems with nails, and production necessity. Current trends give owners of strong, healthy nails the opportunity to choose whether to follow fashion or not. Representatives of some professions are forced to wear short nails. This also includes hobbies and interests - for example, long nails simply get in the way for guitarists. Many people have naturally weak, brittle nails that break easily.

It is wrong to think that a spectacular chic design can only be done for long nails. Modern possibilities in the nail industry are designed for nails of any length, so deciding which polish color to choose for short nails can be difficult only because there are too many options.

Do's and Don'ts for Short Nails

When talking about which color is best for short nails, it is impossible to say for sure that this one will look good and that one will look bad.
You can apply gel polish of any color to short nails. If a woman wants bright red, then this is her mood, her style, her image, and she feels great in it. If she wanted sparkles, it means her soul requires fun, games, and celebration. This means that she has a need for shine. And when bright flowers appear on short nails or nails are painted in all the colors of the rainbow, it means that a woman wants summer, light, bright colors - and she will not deny herself this just because it is not in trend today. Every person has the right to individuality, regardless of other people's opinions.

But there are important nuances here that determine whether a manicure on short nails will be stylish and whether it is suitable for a particular woman.

Trendy shades

Fashion trends are suggested to us by images from the shows of seasonal collections, forecasts and creativity of stylists, as well as the Pantone Institute with its color of the year.

At the peak of popularity, delicate milky gel polish continues to remain at the peak of popularity, which allows you to create weightless, light designs.

Pastel, which is in particular demand in spring manicure, has not gone away either. Manicure for the summer also often includes pastel shades that are associated with summer nature - blue, yellow, light green.

It is always appropriate and laconic on short nails to look at muted tones - they make the hands graceful and emphasize the sophistication of the girl.

The universal shade is nude. It is great for short nails, as well as any events - business meetings, dates, weddings, and looks - dresses, office suits, casual wear.

And of course red, which is designed for short nails. Due to the small area of the nail plate, red gel polish will not look too bright and is suitable even for a business manicure.

Manicure quality

When choosing a polish color, you should remember that the brighter the color and more spectacular the design, the more attention your nails will attract. And if the quality of the manicure tends to zero - the cuticle is poorly processed, burrs stick out, the varnish is unevenly applied, there are traces of varnish on the skin - then a bright red color will look ugly and even vulgar. And the same color will cause admiration on short, well-groomed nails, which have been given a neat shape, the skin around the nail has been well treated and not left the slightest red mark on the cuticle.

Blue is the most fashionable manicure color 2020

If you like monotony, then you shouldn’t limit yourself to black.
Use the trendiest colors and shades of 2022 according to the Pantone Color Institute. First of all, this is, of course, a classic blue color - rich and multifaceted, suitable for many occasions and exits. Don't have royal blue on hand? Use variations on its theme: a shade of faded denim is perfect for spring with jeans and denim jackets, and Biscay green, a tropical aqua color, will look great on nails in the summer.

Effect

There are varnishes with such effects that are preferable to wear on longer nails. These are, for example, large glitter sparkles and flakes - they need enough space to sparkle on the nail. If you want shine, choose varnishes with reflective particles the size of a speck of dust: their unobtrusive, quiet shimmer will not only attract attention, but will also hide minor imperfections in your manicure from prying eyes.

Avoid contrasting horizontal stripes in your design, which visually hide the length and increase the width of a short nail plate. But at the same time, a striped design on one nail will become a good accent and distract attention from the length of the nails.

Also, on very short nails, in which the free edge of the nail plate practically does not extend beyond the finger, you should not do a French manicure, since it shortens the nail even more.

Treatment of short nails

Any manicure begins with treatment, and in the case of short nails, several features should be taken into account.

Cuticle removal

The cuticle occupies 1-2 mm, thereby taking away the useful space of the nail plate. Try to remove it completely or move it as far as possible if you prefer an unedged manicure.

Length

As much as you might want to keep some of your nails longer, suck it up and even out the length on both hands. Short nails of the same length look much more beautiful than long ones of different lengths.

Form

Try to leave the shape of the free edge close to natural; if this is not possible due to the broken length, make it a symmetrical reflection of the cuticle.

Form

The choice of polish color also depends on the shape of the nail. Is it worth using a bright color to accentuate attention on short, ugly-shaped nails? To begin with, you should contact a good manicurist and nail design specialist. Sometimes it is enough to properly treat the cuticle and nail folds to change the shape of the nail. By removing or pushing back the cuticle, you can not only increase the length of the nail plate, but also change the shape, which opens up more possibilities for choosing the color of the varnish and the effect.

Even if these manipulations did not help change the shape of the nail, there is always the opportunity to correct it using a gel coating. An experienced nail technician can correct even a trapezoidal nail shape, turning it into a nice oval or round square.

How to make a beautiful manicure on small nails - dedicated to adherents of minimalism

Girls with small nails often ask themselves two sacramental questions: “Who is to blame?” and “What should I do?” ProstoNail experts have clear answers to each of them. So, we don’t recommend looking for the culprits - you’ll just waste a lot of time. It is better to complain about genetics, which determines the characteristics of the appearance of every living organism. The second most popular reason is overzealous cutting of nails in early childhood. Often parents, when doing a manicure for their beloved child, injure the hyponychium and thereby doom the child to the eternal torment of extensions. Another very common reason is bad habits, more precisely, the habit of biting nails. The damage algorithm is similar to the previous paragraph. Now we advise you to carefully weigh all the facts and decide what type of deformation is specific to your case?

Small fingernails are not a death sentence, as is commonly believed among many girls. On the contrary, such a miniature manicure looks feminine and sophisticated, graceful and childishly reverent. The main thing is to choose the right way to decorate them in order to visually hide flaws and highlight advantages. Before doing this, it is important to understand what type of nail plate yours is and then, based on the result, adjust the nail design in the right direction.

Type of small nail plates	Characteristics
Thickened	They are also sedentary. Characterized by the fact that the trapezoidal nail plate is literally spread across the entire nail bed
Springboard-shaped	Such nail plates have a rounded shape and are characterized by extreme softness, which leads to brittleness
Correct	Despite the correct, natural oval shape, such nails are unusually narrow and at the same time soft.
Biteten	They are short and unpresentable, with an uneven, often torn, free edge and pronounced lateral ridges. At the same time, the cuticle is particularly rigid, unkempt and rough.

It should be noted that many girls are still trying to fight back against genetics and make painful attempts by any means to increase the length of the free edge of the nail plates. How to make small nails big? The answer is simple - use extensions, fortunately, modern masters do it even in an hour using high-quality, proven materials that guarantee the maximum durability of the artificial manicure. However, it is worth remembering that extended nails do not always look neat and natural, especially on a small, narrow nail bed.

The second method of enlargement involves the use of folk beauty recipes. Often a thin, brittle nail plate is a sign of vitamin deficiency or a lack of microelements in the body. Healing baths according to the following recipes will help to compensate for their loss, and at the same time improve the general condition of the nails:

Dissolve a handful of sea salt in a glass of warm distilled water and add a drop of your favorite essential oil to soften the solution. After 10 minutes, dip your fingers in the liquid and, upon completion of the procedure, blot them with a towel;
Heat half a glass of high-quality unrefined sunflower oil in a water bath and add a small amount of lemon juice. Take a bath for 15 minutes;
add a few drops of iodine into the water-salt solution, stir thoroughly until the ingredients are completely dissolved and then dip your fingers in it for 10 minutes;
A good housewife will always have cabbage and potatoes in her house, as well as a juicer for extracting the valuable elixir of beauty. By mixing the juice of both vegetables in equal proportions, you get a healing solution that improves the condition of the nail plates, lightens them and accelerates growth.

It should be remembered that such recipes only work for nails of the fourth and second types and they need to be done with enviable regularity. Only in this case will you be able to grow beautiful, long and healthy nails for experimenting with nail art. You also need to remember some features of working with small nails; here are just a few facts recommended for reading:

in order to visually ennoble small, sharp nails of the first type, use classic acrylic extensions in compliance with the proportions of the hand;
Often the body compensates for the lack of length and thickness of the nail plate by excessive secretion of glands, so before starting coating, such nails should be thoroughly degreased;
When performing a corrective manicure on small square nails of the first and second types, pay special attention to disinfection issues and strictly adhere to the technology. Masters recommend applying special preparations that regulate the pH level of the nail plates;
If you dare to strengthen or grow nails of the second type, then, when applying shellac, carefully work on the free edges, as if “sealing” them. This will prevent chipping and delamination of the decorative coating;
make sure that neither the base nor the acrylic paint itself gets on the cuticle and side ridges near the plate;
When applying gel polish to small nails, use a synthetic flat brush with a sharp end, and not a standard brush from a bottle;
Manipulating small toenails causes particular trouble. If you are not confident in your abilities, then it is better to entrust such a responsible task to a master podiatrist.

As you can see, even the smallest nails can be refined and literally transformed. The main thing is to understand the basic principles of working with them and remember to be careful and careful.

Color

Once your nails are prepared, you can start choosing the color. When choosing a gel polish design for short nails, try to take into account the color of the skin of your fingers: not all shades of polish can create harmony.

Nails that are too short will be completely lost if the polish is very light or white. The design of 1-2 nails, even with a monochromatic manicure, will attract attention to them. In this case, you can combine different pastel shades; such a play of colors will make your nails more noticeable.

If you want something light, make a monochrome design using different shades and textures of the same color.

A two-color manicure can be played up in an interesting way by adding soft vertical geometry.

Dark varnishes (glossy, matte, light shimmer), as well as bright red, are quite suitable for short nails, provided they are beautifully shaped. A light web of contrasting color or a shiny accent on your favorite nail or finger on which you wear a ring will look interesting.

Brush strokes

If you are tired of a monochromatic finish and are a fan of unusual nail art, we recommend taking a closer look at the “brush strokes” design. This manicure is quite simple to perform - you need to apply small strokes to the nail, just like an artist does when creating a painting. They can be of absolutely any color, texture and size - complete freedom of creativity. You can also complement the resulting drawing with lines or silhouettes.