Indian culture is a feast for all the senses. It’s not just the tasty food and exotic music, but also vibrant hues and intricately designed clothing and festival decorations. There are grand, colorful celebrations and enchanting wedding traditions. Moreover, these stunning moments inspire eye-catching nail art. Today, you’re invited to enjoy remarkable nail designs inspired by India. It’s time to create something extraordinary!
Indian Nail Art Industry
Indian nail art is still a new and growing field. Large metropolitan areas like New Delhi have many salons while other parts of the country have few or none.
The Nail Art School in Mumbai is one of the few nail academies training Indian artists. The founder, Dipika Parihar, started as a self-taught artist encouraged by her friends and family. She explained that as recently as a decade ago, few people took nail art seriously. Besides a handful of celebrities and fashion events, most people didn’t value how nail art contributed to beauty. Furthermore, the few available salons were very expensive, and it was difficult to obtain nail products. Once Ms. Parihar achieved her chemistry degree, she spent more time honing her skills and ended up starting a salon, a nail academy, and a polish brand. Now she is training the Indian nail artists of the future who are showing the world how magical their work can be.
Holi Nails
Let’s begin with Holi nail art. It’s a Hindu festival that celebrates the beginning of spring. You might know it as the Festival of Colors as it’s when people douse each other with colored powder and water. This fun time lasts for a night and a day, starting on the evening of a full moon typically in March.
The carefree celebration is focused on love, equality, and the triumph of good over evil. When translated to nail art, it can look like vibrant abstract designs with eye-popping intensity.
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Here’s another Holi nails design also by an Indian artist. The ombre pattern makes us picture a spray of colorful powder arching through the air. Here the background is black, making the colors stand out more. On the holiday itself, people usually wear white clothing as a symbol of new beginnings.
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India in a Nutshell
India has approximately 1.5 billion residents living in a country about one third of the size of the continental United States. Although Hindi is spoken by almost half the people there, the government recognizes more than twenty other languages including English.
We hear a lot about the Hindu festivals like Holi and Diwali because Hindu is the most commonly practiced religion with about 80% of the population identifying with it. However, the Muslim, Christian, Jain, Buddhist, and Sikh communities are strong.
The largest cities include the capital, New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, and Hyderabad. These are the places you’re most likely to find nail artists and salons.
Wedding Nails
When you think of an Indian wedding or vivaah, you might be picturing the Hindu ritual where the woman wears traditional mehndi henna tattoos on her hands. Weddings are a huge deal, with some families spending five or six times their annual income on the celebration. With all the other expenses, it’s taken a while for nail art to become a regular part of the preparations.
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No two Indian weddings are the same. The rituals are different depending on the part of the country, but a few essential parts are present each time, like holding hands near the fire and taking seven steps while making vows.
Diwali Nails
Each fall, India celebrates Diwali, the festival of lights. Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs each have variations on the theme of light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance. The party lasts five or six days based on the lunar-solar calendar. The third day is the official holiday in twelve countries including India.
Diwali nail art, just like the festival decorations, often focuses on light. That could mean chrome and metallic accents or reflective designs with cat eye polish. It can also include geometric rangoli patterns. The artist here began with an olive green base and a matte top coat. Then she stamped the design with black polish, let it dry partially, and dusted it with gold and copper chrome pigment. Once everything was dry, she applied a water-based top coat then a glossy finish.
Dhanteras is the first day of Diwali. It focuses on prosperity, with friends and family wishing each other a happy future full of pleasant surprises where dreams come true.
Bridal Nails
We couldn’t resist this beautiful, gem-studded Indian bridal set. Red and gold are the traditional colors most brides wear, so nail artists usually coordinate the manicure to match those colors.
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Here are hands with the henna tattoos. These Indian bridal nails include an elegant gold chrome and cat eye polish design created by a famous Mumbai nail artist.
This beautiful crimson and pearl set was tagged with "Indian Wedding” and "Indian Bridal Nails".
Maximalist Nail Art Inspired by India
What happens when a nail artist allows her enthusiasm for Indian culture and art to have free rein? We end up with jaw-dropping manis like this one!
Indian Artists to Watch
We’re certain we’ve missed people we should have mentioned, but we have to at least introduce you to a couple of nail artists to watch. Both are based in Mumbai.
The first is Pia Bobade, who was introduced to her mother’s beauty business when she was a child. Ms. Bobade soon developed nail art skills and clients specially requested her talents to upgrade their manicures for special occasions. Now she creates striking statement nails for celebrities and influencers. You can find her on Instagram @ nailart_by_pia.
Then, the three sisters of Claw Cupid (@clawcupid) have conquered the custom press on-nail niche in India. They now have their own brand of maximalist nail art that pushes the limits with hand-painted designs and 3D textures featured by influencers.
Conclusion
We hope that the growing world of Indian nail art has broadened your horizons and inspired you to try something new! Shop our store for trendy colors and the supplies you need to create your next masterpiece.
Sources:
https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/india/
https://www.cosmopolitan.in/beauty/features/story/the-nail-artists-behind-your-favourite-influencers-gorgeous-tips-1104684-2024-10-10
http://www.thenailartschool.com/workshops/how-she-did-it-dipika-parihar/