A pandemic cannot stop nail artists

Nails by Nail artist Mei Kawajiri are her canvases, statement pieces and sources of joy. Now they are also potential sources of infection, not in accordance with the daily constraints that a pandemic introduces. But she has found a solution: nail gloves.

Inspired by drag queens, Kawajiri glued fake nails on surgical gloves ordered from Amazon so she could show off her nails while remaining protected. She posted her creation to Instagram with the hashtag #staycleanstaycute, which is now becoming a gathering point for other nail artists and fans to post their nail gloves too.

“I just feel like losing that fashion or fun moments makes me very sad,” she says. “It doesn’t feel like me because fashion makes me a little bit happy in my normal life.”

The coronavirus outbreak has derailed Kawajiri’s work. Not only did she cancel appointments with customers for security reasons, but she also had to cover her hands with gloves when leaving the house and hide her nails.

Technically, she can keep doing her nails while socially distancing herself, but no one in public will see them, and even she can’t look down and enjoy them while she’s in the supermarket. That’s why she tried to decorate the gloves.

Instead of the intricate nail art she usually creates, Kawajiri’s first glove creation was something simple. She pasted a press nail on her glove and painted it with a lighter purple gel polish, making it look more like a nude color on a human hand.

“I have been doing so much nail arts for 17 years and that was the biggest post,” she says. “It’s crazy. It’s not even nail art.” (The original post now has over 42,000 likes.)

She says that several generations of people, including those who seemingly don’t get their nails done regularly, loved the nail glove. They commented, sent her a message, and told her it was “genius.”

“It’s not about design or nail art, it’s more about the idea and timing and about bringing fun things to a dark moment,” she says.

Now other nail artists are also participating. Belén Flores Núñez, a nail artist based in Spain, made her own nail glove and built on the work of Kawajiri. She exercises social distance and canceled all her appointments because of the Spanish government’s limitations on daily life. She says she will have no income for at least 15 days, and she only spends her time organizing her nail supplies. The denim glove and the hashtag appealed to her, so she thought she would make it herself.

“I believe the Mei hashtag says it all to a nail artist – that you have to be clean and cute – it’s perfect, and for me it defines me very well,” she says in Spanish. “At this time of the coronavirus, and in general, we always have to take precautions with our customers. Using gloves is normal for us, but the coronavirus has made it more visible, and I see that [my nail glove] as a very aesthetic way to make it more visible. ”

Núñez previously made her own nail glove, except in her version she had her long nails stick through the end of the glove and show their color.

Image: Belén Flores Núñez

A German-based nail artist Vi Nguyen, who also made a nail glove, says she did this to motivate people to continue their lives while remaining safe. Nguyen opened a nail studio two weeks ago, before the COVID-19 restrictions were introduced worldwide.

“You can have your nails done, go to the hairdresser, make your purchases. Your daily life continues, ‘she says on Instagram DM. “With this photo I want to motivate people who work in the same profession. It will be a difficult period, but don’t give up. “

Drag queens have been using nail gloves for years – not to keep themselves free of infections, but to put on nails more easily and create a persona. Nail gloves tutorials are available on YouTube, and the gloves themselves are available to purchase on Etsy. They use more fashionable gloves, not surgical ones.

Other nail artists also seem to take into account the idea of ​​styling their nails during a pandemic. A Russian nail salon, Nail Sunny, built a full nail art set, on real nails, around hand hygiene.

Kawajiri also built a 3D roll of toilet paper that now sticks to her nail glove, and yesterday placed nails that looked like they were covered in soapy water.

COVID-19 keeps clients away from their nail artists, closes salons and requires people to work remotely. But it can’t happen that nail artists create and express even if it’s just for themselves and their Instagram followers.