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From Wicked star Cynthia Erivo’s encrusted green tips at the Olympics opening ceremony to Team USA track and field star Sha’Carri Richardson’s bejewelled set during the women’s 100 metres, Paris 2024 cemented 3D designs as this summer’s biggest nail trend, opening up opportunities for more innovation in the category.
On Pinterest, searches for “3D nails” are up 35 per cent since June. So are searches for other OTT designs like “3D flower nails” (up 60 per cent) and “dragon nails” (up 25 per cent), as Gen Z seeks increasingly bold looks for the festival and holiday season.
“I’ve definitely noticed more people asking for 3D nails recently,” says nail technician Michela Brandimarte, noting that even Hailey Bieber — the perpetrator of last year’s understated “glazed donut” nail trend — has tried her hand at them.
Is it a fleeting summer fad? After all, 3D nails are expensive and time-consuming to apply. Brandimarte thinks they have longevity. “I first started learning 3D designs three years ago after stumbling across Korean nail accounts on Instagram,” she says, explaining that the country influences and instigates a lot of Western nail trends. Although she initially struggled to convince clients to experiment with such designs, popularisation through social media and celebrities have now made them highly sought after. “It’s become quite competitive to outdo one another with unique, carefully crafted nails,” she observes.
Experts also point to the rise in press-on versions, which commercialise the trend and make it much more accessible to the masses — polarising opinion in the process.
Elevating the nail artist
Innovation in the nail industry has brought forward opportunities for technicians, notes celebrity nail artist Bernadette Thompson. “At the time [I started out] there were no gel polishes or coloured acrylic powders as we know today,” she says. Now, competition is stiff. Thompson has trademarked some of her most popular designs, which she says “keeps me relevant and keeps the money flowing”. She has also further monetised her skill set by holding classes for others.
Done correctly, 3D nails showcase a nail artist talent that can result in lucrative celebrity and campaign bookings. “My designs have definitely opened doors for me,” says London-based manicurist Ella Vivii. “One of my first celebrity nail appointments was with Dua Lipa who referenced one of my earlier 3D sets for inspiration.”
What started as an at-home side hustle in 2021 has turned into a fully fledged career for Vivii, who has been represented by The Only Agency since June 2024. She made over 500 individual 3D nails inspired by 2000s silicone spike jewellery for Sinead Gorey’s Autumn/Winter 2024 London Fashion Week show. She also created the chrome 3D nails worn by singer Stefflon Don on her Wonderland cover in 2021.
However as requests become more outlandish and specialist, there’s pressure on technicians and salons to keep up. Vivii self-teaches with dedicated research and development time. “After my [basic nail technician] training, I never took any nail art masterclasses as they only really offer classics like glitter, foils or flowers,” she explains.
Bringing 3D nails to the mass market
The required training or self-teaching time and the use of specialist products have an impact on pricing, too. Average prices for one-off 3D nails in the UK range from around £60 to £170, while in the US it’s $300 to $750. 3D nails also take much longer to apply; up to five hours, versus around 45 minutes for a standard gel manicure.
To overcome these restraints, some nail technicians and brands have begun offering press-on nails that can be mass-produced and applied more easily.
During the pandemic, makeup artist Sammy Does started using a 3D printer to create custom press-on sets, which she shared via Instagram. Originally, she had no intention to sell them, but before long brands started getting in touch, commissioning her futuristic, video-game inspired 3D nails for commercial projects. Everything changed when, last April, Does posted a nail set she made for the H&M x Mugler collaboration. The post now has 44,000 likes. “It blew up,” she says. A friend put her in touch with online specialist retailer APOC, which commissioned a collection of Does’s nails, kick-starting her brand in the process.
“The genius thing is that once you have designed them, you can just reprint the file,” explains Does. A set retails for €350, factoring in APOC’s 40 per cent fee. She plans to launch her own direct-to-consumer site in due course.
In 2016, nail technician and educator Jerri Cook began selling 3D press-ons via her brand Dippy Cow Nails. Priced between £30 and £90, she’s so far sold over 20,000 custom sets. “I can create anywhere between five to 10 sets of press-on nails in a day, but that number of clients would be impossible,” she says, adding that press-on nails enable a global client base.
Others are catching on. In 2023, the global artificial nails market was valued at $1.63 billion, and is expected to reach $2.54 billion by 2033, according to a research report published by Spherical Insights. “The nail industry has grown exponentially in the eight years I’ve been in it,” says Cook, noting that the demand for press-on nails (both factory-made and custom-made by a nail artist) has continued to increase, too. “Many of the larger nail brands have started releasing their own [3D] designs,” she continues, referencing nail polish brands such as Opi, Nails Inc and Madam Glam.
Earlier this year, Nicki Minaj launched a 3D press-on nails brand called Pink Friday Nails, looking to fill a void in the market via “bridging the gap between inexpensive brands with lower quality and low-fidelity designs, and custom sets sold by nail artists on social media for hundreds of dollars”, as per a brand statement. Priced from £12 to £21, many are recreations of the star’s favoured manicures, including a pink-encrusted set featuring 300 gems. The brand’s Instagram account already has 137,000 followers.
Mass-produced press-on nails have divided the industry. “The pre-packaged sets of 20 to 30 nails you get in a drugstore or from certain nail brands are just machine-made nails that have a design printed on,” says Cook, who adds that they are often made of flimsy plastic material that tends to be single use. Moreover, most people’s natural nails do not conform to predetermined sizing.
“Press-ons need to be made super-high quality so that they last and can be reworn. Part of the beauty of press-ons is that they can be reused multiple times (depending on how the client treats them), so this is always factored into the quote,” adds Vivii.
Cook predicts that while the 3D trend will ebb and flow, it’s unlocked a new generation of committed press-on nail lovers, which will sustain overall market growth. “The current demand for 3D nails will start to ease — and I’m sure will return again — as with all nail trends.”
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