Not many people have the skills and patience to do intricate nail designs. LHS senior Rhea Peterson is one of the few students who tackles doing her own nails, and what started off as a fun experiment made its way into her weekly routine.
Peterson started doing nails in 7th grade with no intent on getting into the hobby.
“I actually used to hate everything girly,” said Peterson. “One day, though, I just decided to try it, and I never stopped.”
There are many ways for people to take part in creative outlets. Where others may choose music, painting, dancing or some other art form, Peterson uses her nail designs as a way to both express herself and do something she loves.
Redoing her nails about once a week, Peterson has her routine in check.
“Usually sometime before dinner I will prep my nails,” said Peterson. “Then, after dinner I like to get really comfy clothes on, grab all my supplies, and I head to my parents’ bedroom where I always do my nails.”
During the painting process, Peterson enjoys watching TV — whatever her latest obsession is. Depending on the set, the entire process can take anywhere from 2.5 to four hours; one of the reasons Peterson does her designs using gel polish, which she switched to three years ago, is to increase efficiency. Gel polish cures under a blue light lamp, allowing for multi-color designs to dry much faster and layer nicely. This type of approach is especially useful when gluing on extra tips to make the nails longer. The downside to using gel polish and glueing extensions is the equipment needed. This is the step that may deter those considering at-home gel nails. A blue light lamp, nail glue, nail tips, gel colors and in some cases, even a nail drill, which includes different types of drill tips, are some of the commonly used tools in nail art. Despite this, Peterson believes that doing nails at home is much cheaper overall than getting nails done by someone else or at a salon.
“I feel like you can make doing nails as expensive or as cheap as you want,” said Peterson. “I buy all my stuff off of Amazon, so everything is relatively cheap. All you really need to start off with is a UV lamp and some gel polish.”
When choosing how to decorate a new set, Peterson usually looks for inspiration in others’ designs—often turning to Instagram as she follows various nail accounts and enjoys recreating their fun artwork.
“I’ve had animal print on my nails, stars, a zebra, lobsters, bikinis, flowers and all types of fruit, and I’ve had “open wounds” on my nails for Halloween,” said Peterson. “I just love anything that isn’t simple, which is probably why doing my nails takes me so long!”
Some of Peterson’s favorite accounts to look at are @nails_with_that_one_girl and @paisleypwright on Instagram.
While typically only doing her own nails, Peterson has done designs on other people in the past and is open to the idea of doing it again.
“I have been asked in passing to do nails, but I’ve never really acted on it,” said Peterson. “But I do think it would be so fun to do nails for others, as long as they understand I’m not a professional.”
Nails for Peterson is about having fun, being creative and being expressive—not making money or earning a reputation. Peterson enjoys doing colorful and crazy designs. She will do anything from animal prints to different shapes and floral patterns.
“My favorite nail designs are anything fun and funky! I can’t remember the last time I’ve had a solid color on my nails,” said Peterson.
