Japanese-style manicure and unusual design ideas on oriental themes

The land of the rising sun, Japan, has always been considered the trendsetter of “strange” fashion, since absolutely everything seems unusual here, from the general cultural style to hairstyles, makeup and manicure style. Identical sensations can be obtained after getting acquainted with other cultures of eastern countries, for example, Turkey or Asia. This is why nail designs in Japanese and Oriental styles are so attractive to those who like extraordinary solutions and experiments with their own image.

The limitlessness and unusualness of such nail art amazes with its variety of ideas, and the manicure familiar to oriental beauties is very noticeably different from the design variations that are popular in the CIS countries or Europe. At the same time, any designer will tell you with confidence that after a close acquaintance with such a mysterious manicure, you will definitely get a lot of ideas to complement this or that image and will certainly want to repeat the experiment.

What is the peculiarity of oriental nail design, and what ideas for its design are considered the most popular, you will learn further.

Fashion trends in manicure in Japanese and oriental style

As we have already said, a manicure in a Japanese or oriental style is significantly different from the design options we are accustomed to, and this is primarily manifested in the abundance of bright colors and designs and ornate patterns characteristic of a particular culture.

Oriental designs can be made on any length of nail plates. The only exception is the recommended nail shape for Japanese manicure, which we will discuss in more detail below. Particular preference is given to artistic painting or ready-made sliders that can clearly emphasize the chosen direction. Also, do not forget about the brilliant decor, since various decorations are an integral part of oriental beauties.

Secrets of the East

The first thing that comes to mind is sakura, hieroglyphs, anime, red and white colors. What nail design do real Japanese women prefer? Are there any differences or similarities with our coatings, which are considered classic in the CIS countries? Let's take a closer look at what a real Japanese-style manicure should be like.

Japanese bloggers actively share pictures of their nail designs on social networks. Among the huge number of photos posted, some popular trends can be identified: abundant use of clear varnishes, translucent rhinestones, sparkling stones and a large amount of glitter.

Japanese women love to decorate their nails according to Feng Shui. They highlight each nail in a special way, using all kinds of manicure decorations. One finger can be covered with delicate varnish with the addition of sparkles, the second is completely lined with rhinestones, and on the third and fourth, Asian beauties can glue voluminous stones. Well, on the fifth one, display hieroglyphs or other symbols.

With all this diversity, Japanese-style nail designs will always be made in the same color scheme, and if there are several shades, then they will all be successfully combined with each other. This is the whole secret of oriental beauties: colorful and slightly pretentious outfits are combined in an unusual way with an equally strange manicure.

Nail shape

If in the CIS countries the popular nail shapes are oval, almond and soft square, then for Japanese women everything is a little different. If we talk about natural nails, then girls prefer a short length, but the tip itself should be slightly pointed. Asian women do not take care of their cuticles, but paint their nails right next to them. They also don’t care much about the treatment of their nail plates, because self-expression comes first for them.

But more than natural nails, Asian beauties love super-long false nails. Such a huge field for creativity allows them to express themselves through 3D art. They construct voluminous compositions on different topics, competing with each other in originality.

Main palette

Let's see which colors are the most popular in creating Japanese-style nail designs:

Secrets of specialists

We've put together a few tips for you that will help you make your Japanese-style design even weirder:

• if you want to cut a Japanese nail shape, you will initially need to make an oval, and then carefully sharpen the tip;
• the free edge of the nail should have a soft, pointed end;
• for Asian-style nail designs, one layer of varnish is enough to achieve a unique transparent effect;
• Japanese women prefer false nails rather than extended ones, because on the former you can quickly depict whatever your heart desires, and then just as quickly remove all the elements of the composition when you get bored;
• It is better to paint hieroglyphs on nails with a thin brush;
• The hieroglyphs can be given volume with the help of a top coat, and “gilded” with the help of casting foil;
• before laying the rhinestones on the nail plate, you should use a soft buff;
• large rhinestones should be attached with glue or a very thick topcoat;
• if the rhinestone or stone is too large, the empty space can be filled with broths.

How to choose a nail shape for Japanese nail design

The choice of the shape and length of nail plates for Japanese manicure is a separate topic for discussion, because fashionistas of the land of the rising sun have their own concept of “beauty”. The square, oval or almond-shaped shapes of nails that are common in other countries do not impress them at all, unless, of course, we are talking about super long false nails.

Natural nail plates, as a rule, have a slightly pointed tip and a very short length. Therefore, if you want to exactly repeat one of the Japanese designs, you will have to choose between the proposed options.

Execution technique

Anime manicure can be both simple and technically complex.

If you want high-quality portraits of your favorite characters, then you need to turn to a professional with artistic skills. It is unlikely that you will be able to achieve what you want on your own.

Very simple design and cute design with Pikachu face. The bright picture looks cute and funny. You can draw it yourself.

The main thing to keep in mind is that the nails will be bright, so think about whether they will suit your style.

What you need for the drawing

For this drawing you will need:

• white or nude gel polish for the background, yellow, red and black for the design;
• fixing layer;
• dots or toothpick with a blunt end;
• brush.

First, the nail plate is prepared for work: it is shaped and degreased.

Cover with the first base coat of varnish, then with background varnish.

On accent fingers (where the design will be), the nail is painted yellow.

There is a small nuance here:

You can paint the entire nail yellow - then you will get an enlarged muzzle with additions in the form of eyes, a mouth and round cheeks. Or you can cover only half of the nail, but in this case, you need to finish painting the ears with a thin brush.

After the varnish has dried under the lamp, you can begin to apply the design itself.

1. Using a dots or a thin brush, draw the eyes: first draw 2 black circles, dry them, then inside them 2 smaller white ones, dry again. You can use a very thin rod to make a small triangular highlight on the black background of the eye.
2. Draw the nose.
3. Use black varnish and a brush to outline the mouth, paint the mouth with red varnish. Using the same color we draw a round blush.
4. Dry the varnish.

Sometimes they draw Pikachu’s face on several fingers with different emotions or from different angles: for example, one of the character’s ears is pressed, or he winks, or is very happy.

Don't forget to apply a final clear coat (matte or regular) and dry it under a lamp.

Oriental style manicure - basic palette of shades

“The East is a delicate matter,” so the choice of varnish shades to create a manicure in an oriental theme should not be taken lightly. Japanese fashionistas especially often use classic black, red, white and blue colors in their design, which combine perfectly with each other and look harmonious separately.

Also worth noting is the pastel palette, translucent light shades and smoky color, popular in eastern countries, which is a dull and calm shade. As for Turkish or Asian culture, dark and bright shades dominate here, for example, burgundy, emerald, sapphire or turquoise. And also classic white, black, red, silver and gold.

Classic cartoon manicure ideas for adults

A huge number of cartoons have been released. Let's start with the most relevant and suitable for women of any age.

The peculiarity of a manicure with Mickey Mouse is that it will look perfect in pink, red and other bright and feminine colors. To prevent the design from looking too vulgar, a cartoon character is depicted on one nail, and the remaining fingers are decorated in a corresponding theme.

A cartoon character can be made not only in native colors, but also decorated with various sparkles or sequins. To begin, the manicurist and client choose a general tone, then determine a place for the Mickey Mouse sketch and cover it with shiny elements.

A design with a cartoon character made in black and white will look very original. This type of manicure can be used both for work and for everyday use. You should not add shiny voluminous elements to a black and white design, as this can spoil the overall image of the manicure.

For lovers of minimalism, a luxurious manicure option is suitable - all nails are covered with a universal gray color, and then covered with matte varnish. The result is an incredibly smooth and pleasant manicure; to decorate it a little, you can add a funny mouse to the ring finger or thumb.

Cartoon manicure suits all women without exception. An interesting idea will allow you to decorate your nails and complement a woman’s image. In addition to cute Mickey and Minnie Mouse, you can also choose other favorite heroes of Soviet and foreign cartoons.

Japanese style marigolds with flowers and sakura

All Japanese are madly in love with floristry, and in Tokyo there is a wonderful Flower Garden, where you can see thousands of different flowers and plants. Therefore, Japanese nail designs often contain images of hydrangea, saffron, lotus or wisteria. In this case, special preference is given to sakura flowers. Drawings can decorate a plain or translucent base, be combined with a French jacket and any other technique, decorate each nail or act as an accent.

Japanese manicure with hieroglyphs

Manicure ideas with hieroglyphs are direct confirmation of the fact that oriental themes are increasingly attracting modern fashionistas. It is worth noting that for many such nail designs are not just a pretty picture. Ladies thoroughly study Japanese signs and symbols and put deep meaning into their images.

So, for example, the character富(tomi) means wealth,吉(kichi) means luck,幸(sachi) symbolizes happiness, and愛(ai) means love. Japanese symbols are usually applied in black using artistic painting, sliders or stamping and can additionally be combined with sakura branches, images of a geisha, a yin-yang symbol and other designs in the Japanese style.

Distinctive features

Japanese-style manicure is so unique that there are several characteristics by which it can always be recognized among thousands of others. Let's look at the most popular options for creating Asian coverage.

Sakura and flowers

With the help of their nails, Japanese women demonstrate all their femininity. And what best indicates the fragility and elegance of a young lady? Flowers! Tokyo is home to a huge Flower Garden that houses thousands of different plants. And on women's marigolds their mini-versions can show off: hanging and climbing wisteria, elongated hydrangea, purple saffron, peony roses and other fragrant flowers.

What would a manicure be without graceful cherry blossoms? After all, it is she who is most often remembered when mentioning this amazing country. Sakura always looks stylish both in paintings and on nails. Delicate flowers on fragile branches speak of a kind of reverence and splendor.

Anime

Anime culture is quite common in Japan. Unfortunately, this art is not so popular among us, but among us there are true connoisseurs who are fond of Japanese comics. Nails most often depict characters with cute big eyes or unusual animals from cartoons.

This Japanese-style manicure is best done on long nails, because there is plenty of room to roam around. If you don’t have artistic skills or don’t want to waste your time on drawing, then you can find various sliders with anime characters on the Internet.

Kawaii nails featuring cute characters are a popular trend in Japanese nail design. Cute cartoon characters or emoticons appear on the fingers. This type of coating is especially popular among teenagers.

Symbolism in drawings

The Land of the Rising Sun is the interweaving and intersection of all kinds of lines. Japan can be expressed in images of mountains, geishas, ​​samurai, party dolls, shooting stars, fairies, goldfish and much more. A Japanese-style manicure can be decorated with various hieroglyphs:愛(ai) is love,幸(sachi) is happiness,吉(kichi) is luck, and富(tomi) is wealth.

Japanese women simply love nail piercing.

Another stylish trend in Japanese nail design is the image of your own flag on your fingers. The nails are painted white, and a small red dot is placed in the middle. The imitation of the national flag looks quite stylish and fits perfectly into the geometric manicure trends.

3D art

Asian women love voluminous manicures with relief compositions. You can decorate your nails with glitter bouillons, beads, beads, crystals and stones from Swarovski, casting foil, yuca flakes and many other shiny elements.

Toons

Japanese nail designs can be decorated with a cute cartoon character from Hello Kitty. This is one of the most popular characters in Asian countries, and this pussy is depicted almost everywhere: on clothes, on bags, on dishes, on watches, on pendants and on nails.

Ribbons

Manicure with ribbons is a real trend among a wide variety of ideas for all girls. The fingers are decorated with decorative ribbons that intersect and intertwine with each other in a chaotic manner. You can get even more ideas in our separate article, which is dedicated to this nail design.

Nail design in Japanese theme with anime

Despite the fact that in our circles the art of anime is not as popular as in Japan, all sorts of images of cartoon and comic book characters with huge eyes or images of unusual fantastic animals are an integral part of Japanese culture and are often used in creating fashionable nail designs. Such anime drawings are applied using artistic painting. However, if you try, you can find sliders with similar images. This design looks unusually bright and expressive.

Anime series in manicure

When studying Japanese culture, just watching anime cartoons, doing yourself an anime manicure, we must not forget that this, like everything else that comes “from the minds of the Japanese,” is full of deep symbolic meaning, has a certain history and belongs to one of the subsections of something there.

You need to remember that there are:

• children's good genre kodomo;
• teenage shounen and shojo for teenagers of both sexes;
• pop kawaii series;
• teen naruto cartoons;
• Adult cartoons that probably shouldn’t be watched even after 18 years of age.

Therefore, if your daughter wants to give herself a manicure in the “Tokyo Ghoul” style, you should at least have an idea that this is a long pop series about Japanese teenage vampires wandering through the boundless spaces of unfortunate Tokyo.

Light and non-committal Sailor Moon will help to gain authority among teenagers if they are at least a little “in the know” and understand what it is. It’s similar with Pokemon, but more universal, because an adult woman can easily afford them - it all depends on the color and angle of drawing.

In principle, with this type of manicure the same problem arises as with a T-shirt with an inscription in English, when, without knowing the meaning of the words, you can walk around the city with very funny words on the back. For this reason, before applying one or another design you like to your nails or if it is recommended accordingly in a nail salon, it would be useful to ask what kind of character it is, so as not to get into trouble on occasion.

The light teenage style of Naruto will not be entirely appropriate for the hands of a respectable adult woman, just like Pokemon, which are intended for bright and shocking people. Each anime-style nail design is a retelling of an entire story in pictures. Therefore, creating such a masterpiece requires that the master himself, who is working on your nails, understand what he is actually painting.

Oriental manicure with Turkish motifs

Nail designs with Turkish motifs are distinguished by their amazing beauty and originality, and it is often simply impossible to take your eyes off the intricate designs in such a theme. To perform this manicure, bright and rich shades are used. As for the choice of technique or methods of sketching, there are no restrictions or strict rules. The emphasis is primarily on the pattern itself, which, at the request of the fashionista, can be combined with any base, golden or silver decor. The most popular and simplest in this case is the image with the original name “Turkish cucumber”.

Totoro nail art or nail design in the style of Hayao Miyazaki's cartoon!

Hi all! The other day I picked up a package from the post office, it contained a long-awaited nail art kit. Today I finally decided to experiment with nail designs and this is what I came up with!

I don’t know if you are familiar with the work of Hayao Miyazaki and his animation studio “Ghibli” (I highly recommend getting acquainted!!!), I personally adore all the cartoons released by this studio. And one of my favorites is “My Neighbor Totoro.” This is a kind and fascinating story about how two girls nine and four years old, Satsuki and Mei, meet the guardian spirit of the forest Totoro. The cartoon is very funny, it is completely saturated with magic! I (and not only me, even my mother!) re-watched it more than once and always after watching my mood improved, and my soul became more comfortable and warmer..

Still from the cartoon "My Neighbor Totoro".

So, I decided to depict the characters of this wonderful cartoon on my nails! For the manicure I used black and white Sally Hansen polishes (and another gray, unnamed one - I don’t know where I got it from), and for the base the famous polish from China Glaze - “For Audrey”.

What I ended up with can be seen below in the photo swatches:

I think the experiment was a success! Thank you all for your attention