United States
Loading ...
…amazing nails. From national flags to mix and match nail art, immaculate manicures are the hottest trend at the London Olympics.
Competition is tough at the Olympic Village and it’s not just limited to sport. From patriotic flags to colourful Olympic rings to an eye searing selection of summer brights, the newest battle is being fought over nail art and who has the best manicure. Whatever the event, cycling to swimming, archery to table tennis, no sportswoman worth her weight in gold medals is currently to be seen without her perfect manicure.
Proudly clutching her medal Team GB’s Rebecca Adlington’s red, white and blue Union Flag nail design was almost as eye catching as her Bronze (designed by top British nail artist Sophy Robson as part of her Patriotic Nail Art Olympic design), and keeping in the national team spirit tennis player Caroline Wozniacki showed her patriotic side with a set of scarlet nails, show casing a mini Danish flag on her little finger. From German red, black and gold stripes to tiny USA Stars and Stripes, nationalistic pride definitely holds first place, with mini Olympic ring nail art coming a close second – as worn by British archer Amy Oliver on her thumb.
Or for those that want to take part without the nail art, try mixing up shades of one colour (painting a different each nail a different shade as China’s silver medallist swimmer Lu Ying did in shades of blue) to give a new twist on the classic manicure – and it looks particularly great in shades of red or pink.
See which products we’re using to achieve the Olympic nail look here.
Whichever look you go for to ensure your manicure goes the distance, top nail expert Leighton Denny shares his pro tips:
- Wipe nails with polish remover; it removes any residue and oil so polish adheres better.
- Use a crystal nail file to shape nails; it leaves the nail edge a clean, tidy and residue free, which you don’t get from a normal emery board.
- Use a base coat; ensure it dries to an ‘eggshell’ matte so it works like double-sided Sellotape and helps polish stick in place (if it dries to a shiny finish, polish will ‘slide’ off it).
- Cap the nail edges; to stop varnish lifting and chipping take colour over the tip of the nail (do this with base and top coat).
- Layer up colour; polish dries from the inside out so applying two thin layers works better than one thick coat.
- Wait between coats; let each layer of base, polish and top coat dry for a few minutes before applying the next – it ensures your nails are set and are left with a glossy finish.
wow this is too cool