To say I am obsessed with nail art is an understatement. My nails may not always be chromed out or bejeweled. However, it does not mean that 75% of my Instagram accounts I follow, are not nail salons that specialize in nail art. I have indulged in it when I have saved up, or had a special occasion. Then this past weekend, I stumbled into the Artists & Fleas pop up in SoHo. As I was rounding the final corner I was all but drawn into the MoYou booth. Right at the entrance was all these nail polishes and a wall of plates entranced me and pulled me in.
I walked up to the counter was just intrigued by what was going on. The girl behind the counter was super nice and genuine. She offered to let me try it out the products. I was still confused about what MoYou was and how it worked. At its essential core, it is a way to achieve high quality nail art at home. The process was explained of how to stay at my nails and what the company does. Essentially you choose a plate that has various designs on it to create your own unique nail art. Plates have pictures or designs or 18 individual smaller sized designs. So, on freshly painted nails you choose a portion of a plate. First you should protect the area around your nail with a latex paint or have a Q-tip with remover handy. Next you choose which design you want and paint over it with a contrasting color polish. MoYou suggests their particular nail polish because they believe it works better, but honestly any polish will work. Scrape away the excess polish with a little card they provide. Then, take a special device and gently roll it over your design and quickly move it to your nail to transfer. And there you have it: expert nail art. The sales associate did this to me once and it looked so easy so I had to check myself before buying. I did it myself on my own hand and it was just as easy as it looked. Seal the deal with a clear polish and as long as your manicure lasts is how long your art will too.
Choosing the correct plate was the most difficult task. There are so many options from animal print to mandalas. I settled on graphic designs. I have 18 options to choose from. For my first go, I went will one design on all ten nails. Doing my non-dominant hand was much easier. Since I did 10 nails, I had to clean the plate mid manicure because it was not transferring. You just swipe it with polish remover. I also did not have a Q-tip handy, so I just got polish on my cuticles and surrounding skin. Once I went into the shower later that night, it washed all away. I was just left with my sad looking cuticles. For my next go, I might mix up the patterns or only choose a few nails. I have 18 options and an infinite number of possibilities. This is all before I buy my next plate.
