Peculiarities
In the Korean manicure technique, nails have a natural shape and short length. The bet is placed on several elements that serve as decoration. Nails do not look vulgar, rather, quite the opposite - naive, sweet and innocent.
Koreans do not strive for clear lines - their popular manicure is easy to perform even for a beginner. The patterns do not repeat each other and do not look cliched.
This type has earned popularity for its variety of designs and imagination.
Seeing some of the designs on the nails, you might think that they were made by a child - according to Korean women, this gives the image a special charm and naivety.
A manicure can look defiantly careless; any means at hand are suitable for its creation, be it beads or glitter, a marker or a brush - the more extraordinary the artist’s idea is, the more it will correspond to this technique.
This type of nail decoration is designed to emphasize the girl’s individuality, her style, unlike others.
Koreans prefer light shades, which reflects the optimism and cheerfulness of this people. This manicure can contain several different colors at the same time - the main thing is that they are in harmony with each other.
Short length and natural shape
Neat fingers with short-cut nails, decorated with only a couple of strokes, look cute and naive. Nude and pastel shades, naive pictures on just 1-2 nails, a natural shape without a hint of attempts to tighten the arch - this is one of the most fashionable trends in Seoul. Dried flowers, skeletonized leaves, and colored threads are widely used for design.
This Korean manicure is perfect for short nails. The choice in its favor can be made by girls who cannot grow their nails and do not like extensions. And also for fashionistas who are forced to wear short manicures due to professional activities.
Materials
Rhinestones and feathers are suitable for decoration using this technique; even jewelry is used to decorate nails.
Korean women often use non-standard materials in their manicure, for example:
- shell fragments;
- ribbons;
- LEDs;
- pieces of mirrors and CDs.
Using special glue, they decorate their fingers with beads and rhinestones, trying to complement their manicure and reveal an unexpected side to their image.
Girls also decorate their cuticles with wire, creating a personalized design and making an unforgettable impression.
Fashionistas have come up with a new trend in nail design - dried flower petals are placed under transparent varnish. This makes the girl's image more romantic.
Korean manicure with stones
Korean nail art masters are simply delighted with rhinestones and voluminous shiny elements. If you love bright stones on your nails, glitter polishes and shine, this trend is for you.
One of the main manicure influencers in South Korea recommends no, no, but using bright elements on your nails.
For more creative young ladies, these are voluminous rhinestones and stones, shiny elements in abundance. They can be glued to a flesh-colored base, or they can be glued to a light varnish with glitter.
Korean fashionistas really like manicures made with magnetic gel polish, which creates futuristic shimmers on the nails, like a starry sky or pictures of space.
If you want to add shine to your nails, but are afraid that it will turn out too sloppy, try just one thing: either a polish with glitter, or shiny elements on one of the nails, or a polish with a space effect.
The trend is glitter, but how much of it is a matter of taste.
Korean manicure for short nails
Korean women are not favored with long and extremely sharp nails. They like medium or short oval nail shapes much more. This is why most manicures popular in Korea are for short nails.
For this manicure, Korean fashionistas choose pastel shades, smooth transitions between colors, a small amount of sparkles and shiny elements.
Korean manicure: minerals
Smoky manicure inspired by the texture and colors of precious and semi-precious stones and minerals is an undeniable trend that you will definitely appreciate.
Here's how one of the most popular manicurists from Seoul does it:
Korean manicure: a drop of water
Stucco molding is not in trend, but you can ask your manicurist to decorate one or two nails in the form of cloudy, translucent droplets.
Korean fashionistas really like this manicure; they combine it with pastel and rich shades of varnish.
For long nails
Long nails are not often seen in Korea. But if a Korean woman decides to wear length, she will choose maxi. On long nails in Korea you will not find a plain nude with a modest stretch. There will definitely be a lot of detail and color.
Drawings of flowers and twigs on short nails, photo ideas
It would seem that short nails don’t really allow you to go wild with drawings here, but if you really want to, you can depict almost everything even on a small nail plate.
Some of these designs were the most delicate floral designs, drawings of twigs and beautiful leaves. Any style and technique of making floral designs is possible. But the most fashionable design for short nails 2022-2023 will be a floral pattern combined with a nude base.
How to do a Korean manicure
You can do a Korean-style manicure yourself at home. You just need gel polishes, a drying lamp and design details.
Korean manicure with voluminous stones
- First, perform a manicure and degrease your nails with a special product.
- Then apply the base coat and cure it in a lamp for 60 seconds.
- Next, apply the color in 1-2 layers. Dry each layer for 45 seconds.
- Apply a thick base or a drop of polygel to the place where the stones will be located.
- Move the stones to the prepared area and press down lightly with your finger. Dry for 60 seconds.
- Apply topcoat with a sticky layer to the nail and the side edges of the stones. It is important that the top does not get on the stone itself, otherwise the shine may disappear. After applying the top, dry the nail in the lamp for 60 seconds.
- Then, using a top coat without a sticky layer, repeat the action from step 6. Place your hand in the lamp for 60 seconds.
With wire
This design will require a thin 0.3mm decorative wire. You can find such wire in professional craft stores.
Using wire you can create any miniatures and images.
- Bend the wire the way you like. For example, in the shape of a heart or a cloud. And put it aside.
- Apply base coat to all nails and cure them in a lamp for 60 seconds.
- Then apply the color coat in 1-2 layers, and dry each for 45 seconds.
- Apply a moderate layer of thick rubber base to the nails where the wire will show off.
- Place the wire in the desired location. Make sure that the edges of the wire do not extend beyond the boundaries of the nail. Otherwise, the wire will cling to clothing and quickly fall off the nail. Dry in a lamp for 60 seconds.
- Cover the nail with a thin layer of topcoat with a tacky layer. Dry for 60 seconds.
- Apply another, additional thin layer of topcoat without l/s.
free hands drawings
Don't know how to draw? Great! So, you should definitely get a Korean manicure. For work, you can use not only stationery liner (which has long been chosen by many nail artists), but also markers, felt-tip pens, and gel pastes.
Non-standard use of tools and materials is one of the features of a purely Korean approach to nail art.
Feel free to decorate your nails with funny faces, cartoon trees and houses, and little animals. If you get a result that gives the impression of a child’s drawing, then you’ve hit the bull’s eye.
Some Korean style manicure designs seem strange. Nails can be covered with varnishes of different colors, and the only decorations are dots, small squares, and dashes.
Deliberately careless portraits in a minimalist style, when, for example, only the profile line and eyebrows are drawn, look very Korean. A very popular drawing is the image of an eye.
The very name of the free hands technique literally translates as “by hand.” But let's tell you a secret: it's even simpler. There are plenty of sliders and stickers with primitive designs on sale.
Color spectrum
Koreans today are simply obsessed with light colors. But there are simply no restrictions. If you cannot choose from 3-5 varnishes which one to apply on your nails, take all 5.
This is acceptable for Korean style. But it is important to comply with the main condition - the colors must be in perfect harmony with each other.
Minimalism
A couple of small squares or circles are enough to place accents. Korean masters simply adore minimalism. A manicure can be completely monochromatic (usually in light colors) or done in 2-3 similar shades.
Colored paints are also acceptable, but are used more often for accents rather than as backgrounds.
From one extreme to another: experiments with textures
Along with laconic and modest minimalism, there is also its antipode - the deliberately decorative and pretentious style of Korean manicure. Who said that rhinestones should be smaller in size than nails? Korean masters do not agree with this!
Not only rhinestones are used. Using unexpected solutions, as we already know, is a favorite tactic of the Koreans.
They even use buttons, rivets, spikes, LEDs, pieces of microcircuits, feathers, natural fur, ribbons, shells for design...
All this looks strange and impractical to wear, but such arguments are not enough for Korean creatives. It looks like they have no intention of stopping.
How does the manicure of Korean fashionistas differ from Russian craftswomen?
The trend of getting a beautiful manicure and making your nails look beautiful and well-groomed in every possible way is no longer a new trend. An increasing number of women of all age categories are interested in this measure of beauty. But Korean girls treat this procedure much more carefully and scrupulously.
Let's figure out what the difference is between the Korean standard of beautiful manicure and the Russian one.
The first difference is that in Korea they do not pay attention to the need to make a manicure that matches the color base as much as possible, and even hands relative to each other. That is, the color palette can be completely diverse and often very bright.
In addition, girls bring maximum variety by making their left and right hands non-mirrored, that is, the nails on their hands can differ in both color and style, sometimes even in length and shape.
Another distinctive feature of Korean fashionistas is their love for large and sparkling stones. On the nails they can place crystals of the most varied shapes and quite voluminous in proportions, and even the size of a fingernail.
They also often resort to studding their hands with a lot of rhinestones in order to sparkle with might and main.
It may seem that walking around with such a work of creativity is inconvenient, but the girls somehow cope and continue to improve this trend. As you noticed from the previous photos, length matters.
Korean women rarely have long nails; they give preference to the appearance and theme over the length of the manicure.
Moreover, this style has no age restrictions. Every stylish girl and woman, regardless of age, will definitely try the new modern trend in manicure. But there are also lovers of simpler solutions.
The most important thing to talk about is the process of doing a manicure. In Korea, on average, the procedure takes from forty minutes to a little over an hour. And then, even if the girl has to wait so long for this action to be completed, she can fall asleep, for which purpose the salons have special comfortable chairs and pillows.
If the client gets bored during the procedure, she may leave a dissatisfied review, which will affect the future work of the specialist. And the cost of a regular manicure is calculated at approximately 3000-4000 rubles.
Korean manicure ideas
Azulejo patterns
Traditional Portuguese patterns have moved from the facades of houses to the nails of girls and have become one of the popular Korean trends in manicure. Such designs look very elegant and unusual, and you can decorate all your nails with them or highlight just one or two.
Combine azulejos with gold stripes and pastel shades for a subtle summer manicure.
Rainbow manicure
To delay summer, choose bright and rich varnishes of all colors of the rainbow for your manicure! Paint your nails with different colors in pastel or acidic shades - the choice is yours!
You can use smooth color transitions or mix them as you please.
Futurism
Futurism in manicure is at the peak of popularity, and all thanks to unusual shapes, original designs and unexpected additional elements that go beyond the nail plate. To create a fashionable manicure, materials such as wire, metallic stripes and various piercing rings are popular.
Negative space
Negative space nail art has been trending for several months now, but girls are not going to forget it. A stylish and original trend that involves painting only part of the nail plate.
The easiest way to create a fashionable manicure is not to paint the sides of the nail when performing a classic monochrome manicure.
Focus on the cuticle
It was from South Korea that the trendy manicure with an emphasis on the cuticle came to us. It can be highlighted with gold, silver or colored varnish, metal stripes, miniature dots and even wire.
Which option is right for you?
Hangers
A small ball or bead is attached to the surface of the nail. Look how it looks in the photo. Is it convenient? I think you can guess it yourself. But beauty is a terrible force.
Wire
Another trend that is not the most wearable is decorating your nails with wire. Abstract patterns are laid out from wire on the nail plate, geometric shapes or even silhouettes of faces are made.
Some fashionistas have gone further and now a manicure with wire can be put on and taken off the fingers. This is a unique decoration for nails.
Manicures should not match colors
The main beauty standard of Korean manicure is more bright colors. Moreover, the palette of shades can resemble a rainbow.
Diamond nails
If just recently the American manicure with “broken glass” was popular, now the trend is sparkling nails, as if sprinkled with diamonds. To bring it to life, you will need finely cut pieces of holographic foil, tweezers and clear polish.
Half nails
If you are one of those who find it difficult to choose a polish, then this trend is definitely for you. Now it is fashionable to paint the halves of the nails in different colors, both along and across. It turns out a kind of color-blocking, only not in clothes, but on nails.
Thanks to it, you can use up to twenty shades in one manicure.
Nails with “tattoos”
Don't want to paint your nails for a long time and then wait even longer for them to dry? Then take advantage of special tattoos. Buy stamps for nails and decorate your manicure with beautiful and unusual designs.
Popular designs
Girls in South Korea use unusual materials in manicure. In addition, they create new trends in the art of nail decoration.
Ombre
The ombre style in Korean nail design can combine completely different colors, but the flow between them remains smooth. Girls achieve harmony of shades and get a unique look.
The transitions between colors are barely noticeable and require little experience from the artist. You can achieve a beautiful gradient at home using an ordinary sponge, applying varnish to it and applying it to your nails.
Rubbing
Rubbing loose pigment over varnish is considered a fashion trend that came from Korea. Girls from all over the world happily adopted this design technique.
The peculiarity of this type of manicure is that glitter is rubbed into the nail over the layer of varnish; they can be distributed both over the entire nail plate and over its individual parts.
Aquarium design
This method of designing nails is suitable for girls who want to show off themselves - it is very bright and intricate. It consists of placing tiny elements of mica, feathers or other materials under the gel or transparent varnish, which are as if under glass.
Nails look bright and voluminous, shimmer in the sun and attract admiring glances. Only a girl who is not afraid to stand out from the crowd can afford such a design.
Manicure jewelry
The author of the idea is considered to be master and fashion blogger Park Eunkyung. She designs, produces and widely uses unusual rings in her works. Such jewelry is worn directly next to the nail; its shaped elements act as part of the design.
The world has already become convinced that trends coming from Asia linger on the fashion Olympus for a long time. Probably, the same fate awaits Korean manicure. Photos of unusual designs that seem strange today are still viewed with interest by fashionistas from different countries. And the bravest ones are already putting into practice the creative ideas of Korean masters.
