Manicure Gzhel: how to paint short and long nails at home

Manicure in the style of folk crafts is steadily gaining popularity.

What is Gzhel, what are its colors, patterns, how to choose the shape, length and coating of nails, methods of creation, as well as design options for Gzhel manicure - in our article.

We will also give step-by-step instructions for performing Gzhel-style nail designs at home.

Folk art at your fingertips

Gzhel is a type of decorative and applied art in which white earthenware ceramics are painted with cobalt blue paints.

A manicure in this style is created in a similar way; a blue pattern is drawn on a white background polish .

Manicure option with Gzhel pattern

Manicure in the Gzhel style is relevant at any time of the year.

In winter, it will make you feel like the Snow Maiden;
In summer it will give the image an airy lightness.
This manicure will suit a business suit with a white blouse, nautical-style clothing, and denim items.

Peculiarities

Khokhloma painting has been known in Russia since the 17th century. It appeared as a way to decorate dishes, furniture, and clothing. Nowadays it is used in many areas of design. Khokhloma was not spared by manicurists.

If a woman works in the business field, where such bright elements of the image are allowed, the painting will emphasize her individuality. Khokhloma is not suitable for everyday style due to its brightness and large number of design elements.

Drawings made using this technique often take up a lot of space. But they contain many small elements that do not require a wide field for application. Therefore, Khokhloma is suitable for nails of any length - short, medium or long.

The most suitable plate shapes will be:

oval or almond-shaped, which show the tenderness of the feminine character;
rectangular with sharp or rounded edges, expressing resilience and self-sufficiency.

Color spectrum

Khokhloma painting is known for its warm colors. The colors used for its base are black, red and gold. Their skillful combination creates a complete image and brightly saturates the overall picture. In modern manicure techniques, they prefer to highlight some details of the design using other tones:

green – used for leaves and highlights;
white, yellow and orange - highlight the transition to red;
brown - used to darken some elements.

Folk-style manicure is associated with bright autumn palettes. Therefore, it is often made during this season. But it is also suitable for other seasons, especially with the appropriate accessories.

Color spectrum

The color scheme of Gzhel painting is monochrome , limited to shades of white and blue .

The artistic effect is achieved through the intensity of blue color from almost black to soft blue, using the “brushstroke with shadow” .

Gzhel patterns in blue manicure

The main motifs in the ornament are flowers and leaves, decorated with figured frames, dots, and figured cartouches.

Flowers are formed from drop-shaped strokes.

The frame of the picture can be geometric - in the form of stripes or grids.

Coverings for Gzhel manicure can be anything, since this is primarily a painting. Gel polish as a base will make the manicure more durable, but regular polish will do. The drawing is done with nail polishes or acrylic paints.

Latest Trends

When choosing manicure spring 2022 fashion variations, it is recommended to familiarize yourself with the innovations that already known techniques have acquired. Speaking in general terms, it is worth noting that spring will greet us with a laconic and delicate design.

Photo: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/best_manicure.ideas/

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No less popular will be the current color solutions that have made themselves known this season. In the spring season of 2022, girls will have a variety of designs on their nails, but the use of rhinestones, sparkles and other decorations will be minimized. The most fashionable will be a nude manicure.

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However, this does not mean that manicure trends in spring 2022 will be boring and mediocre. Because the delicate design of nails in pastel colors, bright turquoise and blue shades, as well as an abundance of floral motifs, ombre effect and “negative space” will not allow girls to get bored when visiting a nail art specialist.

Photo: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/best_manicure.ideas/

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After all, you can create an original and non-trivial manicure that will please its owner and create a spring mood for her, reminiscent of the sun and blooming flowers.

Photo: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/best_manicure.ideas/

Which nails are suitable for Gzhel manicure?

Gzhel manicure on long rectangular nails

Extended and natural nails of any length allow you to create a manicure in the Gzhel style.
The longer the nail, the more space for decoration and imagination of the master.
Short nails will suit more laconic motifs.
The shape of the nail plates can be any, but this manicure looks more organic on rounded shapes.

Preparatory stage

Even the perfect design will look ugly if the skin of your hands and cuticles are unkempt. Therefore, before you start applying varnish, make a special hand bath. It may consist of warm water mixed with herbal infusion. But you can prepare a bath based on soda, salt, lemon juice or acid, vegetable or essential oils.

When the skin becomes soft and moisturized enough, you need to take care of the cuticle. Gently move it away using an orange stick or a special tool from a manicure set. After this, trim off the excess stratum corneum. Be extremely careful and make sure not to leave any wounds or burrs, otherwise your manicure will look sloppy. Try to remove the cuticle completely, since the Gzhel-style design involves maximum coverage of the nail plate.

Then give your nails the desired shape. Oval or square nail shapes are best suited for a Gzhel-style design. Choose the length depending on your preferences. Short nails are now at the peak of popularity, besides, they are quite practical and less demanding to care for. Long nails will allow you to create a real manicure masterpiece. Now all that remains is to level and polish the nail plate. If this is done, you can start drawing.

Ways to create a Gzhel manicure

There are several ways to create such a manicure.

Drawing. For the drawing you will need a thin brush, dots or toothpick.
The selected pattern is applied to the background white varnish with neat strokes, decorated with dots or droplets of blue on the white background and white on top of the pattern.
If you do not have the artistic skills to make a stroke with a shadow, it is recommended to first make the ornament blue and only then go darker along the center of the elements.

Artistic painting of Gzhel patterns on nails

Stickers. The choice of stickers - water-based or adhesive - determines the technology for creating a manicure.
Stickers water based, like decals, are first soaked in water, then the image is transferred to the nail. The pattern looks like it was drawn by hand.
Adhesive-based stickers are more convenient to transfer to the nail, but the image on them is not waterproof, so it is important to quickly secure it with a protective coating.
The video tutorial will tell you more about how to make a Gzhel-style manicure using stickers.
When the background polish has dried, the cuticle and skin around the nail are treated with a protective agent.
Colored varnish is applied to the stencil, the excess is scraped off, an imprint is made on a rubber stamp, then the design is transferred to the nail with a rolling motion.

For a lesson on how to perform a Gzhel manicure, watch the video.

Hieroglyphs on nails and their meaning. How to choose the right hieroglyphs for your nails?

A modern trend among admirers of the art of Feng Shui is hieroglyphs on nails. Each sign has its own meaning, and if you choose the right hieroglyphs, dividing them according to their meaning, then such a nail design will undoubtedly attract everything you want into life.

It’s not difficult to draw hieroglyphs on nails - with such a manicure, special attention should be paid to the designation of the signs and their location on the hand. The colors usually used for drawing are black, red, gold or purple.

How to apply hieroglyphs on nails

Chinese calligraphy carries enormous power and potential energy, so you should take a responsible approach to nail design when performing such a manicure.

First of all, as with any manicure, you need to clean each nail of excess oil using nail polish remover and apply a base coat. Before this, you should give your nails the desired shape using a file (for Chinese manicure it is not recommended to use a pointed nail shape), and get rid of the cuticle with an orange stick.

Next, choose a base color. For example, the color green gives strength and confidence in the future, and balances human capabilities.

If you use the meanings of primary colors for drawings, you can create a whole composition of positive energies and meanings, expressed in symbolism.

Yellow – inner peace, success in life. The color of sun and happiness.

Red – cheerfulness and warmth (in excess leads to increased blood pressure).

Purple – helps with insomnia.

Turquoise is a symbol of sophistication and femininity.

Orange – helps with depression.

Blue – improves mental abilities and concentration.

Basics of Chinese manicure

After choosing the main color, you can proceed to making drawings. Hieroglyphs on nails can be indicated in different colors. Some ideas for design can be gleaned from photos. Drawings should be done with a thin brush and very carefully, so as not to accidentally draw an extra dot or stripe - this will not ruin the manicure, but will radically change the meaning of the hieroglyph, which is highly undesirable.

It is worth remembering that each hieroglyph must be applied in one movement (you should not tear off the brush and complete the elements of the sign, otherwise it will lose its sacred meaning) and either from top to bottom or from bottom to top. There are over 3000 symbols with their own meanings and ancient powers hidden in each pattern. Every smallest detail, line plays its role and can radically change the meaning of the hieroglyph.

Before applying a design to the prepared nail surface, it is better to practice doing it on paper.

Nails with hieroglyphs, made in accordance with the norms of Feng Shui, will bring into the life of a fashionista everything that she wants and depicts with the help of varnishes and brushes on her nails. You should not immediately ask for happiness, health, and money - many practitioners are unanimous in the opinion that applying one hieroglyph to the hand can enhance its meaning and prevent higher powers from getting confused in the requests and wishes of the questioner.

Nail designs with hieroglyphs can be varied with rhinestones and sparkles. This will only add strength to the signs and style to the design - the manicure will play with all the colors in the sun or under artificial lighting.

Gzhel manicure at home step by step: instructions for beginners

Nails are processed and a base coat is applied.
The background varnish is applied in two layers to avoid gaps.
The surface is filed to remove gloss, so the design will lie better.
By drawing out drop-shaped strokes, a drawing of a rose or peony flower is formed. If desired, a frame is created with dots or wavy lines.
Top coat is applied on top.

A master class on creating a beautiful manicure using the Gzhel technique is presented in the video.

Step by step instructions on how to make a cow print

For a manicurist, making a cow print on your nails is not difficult. But the good thing about this design is that it can be done independently at home.

The tools you will need are brushes of different thicknesses and dots. But, if you don’t have these devices at home, you can replace them. For example, instead of dots, you can use an empty ballpoint pen or a round-headed pin.

An original way to draw cow spots is to make a homemade stamp. To do this, you can take a simple pencil with an eraser on the other end. You'll have to ruin it. The elastic band must be carefully given an arbitrary irregular shape using a blade. You can simply dip it and put cow spots (blots) on the gel polish like a stamp.

For those who still have a question about how to make a cow print on their nails, step-by-step instructions will be useful:

Prepare your fingers and nail plates for applying the decorative coating. That is, do a regular manicure - carefully treat the cuticles and side ridges, shape the nails.
Apply the base color to the nail plate. If you use gel polish, dry this layer in a lamp. If you do a manicure with regular varnish, wait until it dries completely naturally.
If the pigmentation of the varnish is not dense enough, apply a second coat.
Once dry, proceed directly to drawing the cow spots. To apply them, use the tool that is most convenient for you - a brush, dots, or a homemade rubber stamp. You don’t have to be an artist to draw shapeless blots.
Dry the painted spots well.
Cover your nails with a finishing coat.

The final topcoat for cow print nail designs can be either glossy or matte. It's all about a woman's personal preferences.

Design ideas

This type of manicure goes well with the French .
French manicure, made in white and blue, is decorated with floral patterns so that the blue pattern on white turns into white on blue.

Gzhel design combined with French manicure

Gzhel in a frame will emphasize the shape of your nails.
The frame can be along the entire contour of the nail or only along the outline of the free edge and along the cuticle.

Gzhel patterns in a blue frame

Gzhel patterns in a blue manicure will look great. It is enough to highlight 1-2 nails with them.

Gzhel patterns in blue manicure

How to remove cuticle

The cuticle is the skin that grows around the nail plate. It protects the nails by preventing bacteria and fungi from entering the skin. Too large a cuticle can look unsightly and interfere with the application of polish, so during a manicure it is worth removing excess skin from the nail.

A salon technician can remove the cuticle using special nippers, this type of manicure is called edged, or push it to the edge of the nail bed, this type of manicure is called unedged or European.

Manicurist Kristina Pyrkova advises choosing an unedged manicure - this way we will minimize the risk of damage to the cuticle and the appearance of hangnails. For this we will need a special product - a remover, as well as manicure sticks made from orange wood. Apply remover along the contour of the nail bed and leave for 30 seconds. When the cuticle has softened, gently push it towards the edge of the nail using an orange stick.

After removing the cuticle, soften it with oil (either a special cuticle product or regular base oil from the pharmacy, or a rich hand cream will do). Then the new skin will not be dry and rough, but thin and almost invisible. If you are doing a coated manicure, use oils and creams after applying the polish as the final stage of nail care.

Useful tips

For a Gzhel manicure to turn out well, it is important to purchase high-quality white varnish.
The pattern will turn out better if you practice on paper before drawing on your nails.
The effect of a stroke with a shadow will be achieved if you apply blue paint to one edge of a flat brush and blue paint to the other.

Gzhel style patterns are suitable for all types of nails.

This ornament can be made in different ways; it is not difficult to make at home yourself, even without drawing skills. This design is relevant both for every day and for a special celebration.

Several beautiful painting options

Professional craftsmen create real masterpieces that are in no way inferior to the traditional Gzhel technique. If you have minimal drawing skills, then over time you will be able to create more complex drawings and come up with your own unique patterns. In the meantime, we invite you to look at some beautiful photos so that you can appreciate this magnificent nail design.

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These incredibly beautiful designs can be created using just two colors - white and blue. The drawing turns out new and unique every time. Having looked at the photo, you are probably convinced of the veracity of the words said above, that such a manicure is perfect for everyday life and special occasions. Laconic, elegant, stylish, sophisticated - all these words fit its description.