Relish nail art with Gelish polishes

CHENNAI: Accept it or not, we’ve all had our share of ‘bad nail days’. So imagine a nail polish that comes with an assured ‘lifespan’ of three weeks on a nail. Gel-based Gelish polish, which promises just this, made its way to the city recently and is already a hit among Chennaiites. Having Gelish nail polish on one’s nails is a five step tedious process, but its promise of long-lasting flashy nails is quite an incentive, which explains why the queues are getting longer in the city’s beauty destinations including Oryza Spa, Vermillion Nail Bar, Kanya and Bounce, which offer Gelish nail polishes. These paints involve an exclusive process of drying using of UV lamps.It’s not only young college students but also office-goers without the time to change their nail colour often, who are interested in this new form of nail art. Sonal, founder of Vermillion, the first nail spa in Chennai situated in Mylapore, says, “The customers who come in to the spa know exactly what to expect, but Gelish is something that many people haven’t heard of. When I tell them what it is, they always opt for it even though it is slightly more expensive.”Salons use various forms of nail art depending on the occasion and the customer’s personality. When the customer is a bride, the nail art gets extravagant with Swarovski crystals and other exclusive stones. For other wild nail lovers, it is a riot of colours, sequins, stones and glitter, or just the simple stamping nail art technique. Not for just the fashion conscious, the Vermillion Nail Bar has something that would interest even journalists – newspaper transcription nail art, where Gelish is used as the base coat and the print on any newspaper can be imprinted on the nail. Sonal also promises to give adventurous journalists an extra discount for this sort of nail art! At Vermillion, which is among the few salons to offer Gelish polish, basic application costs `450 while the polish costs `1,500 onwards.If there are people who think nail art is only for cranky kids, it is time to rethink. There is an art for every occasion and every profession, and with the three-week stay promise, what could be better!