The stained glass nail trend is diverse and mesmerizing. Some see-through designs sparkle like cathedral windows. Others teem with sea creatures and fairytale scenes. You can see the sheer layers and bold outlines on best on extensions, but even short natural nails have delightful surprises. Overall, this little trend has a huge personality, and it fits right in with the current obsession with metallics and texture. This post rounds up striking examples and highlights a few tools that make it easier to do your own stained glass nails.
Stained Glass Nails
Like a Church Window
Chances are, when you remember stained glass windows, you first saw them in a church. That’s because the earliest stained glass windows were discovered in monastery and church ruins from the Middle Ages. But pretty colored glass dates back to long before that. Egyptians were making colored glass beads nearly 5000 years ago. Archaeologists were delighted to discover colorful fragments with natural hues like milky green and blue, golden yellow, reddish-brown, and even purple!
Somewhere along the way, the Romans got the idea of putting this glazed glass into windows, but let’s just say that that their thick glass wasn’t very transparent. Still, artisans figured out how to assemble decorative glass into religious scenes that used to be part of the windows of Augsburg Cathedral. It was similar to working with mosaics.
The Moors and Byzantines developed the technique further by mounting glass into plaster. Sometimes iron ribs were used to fortify the design. Pretty soon, colorful Arabian filigree windows were popping up in Europe. The problem was the wet weather meant that the pieces of colored glass had to be mounted in metal grillwork because alabaster would fall apart. And that’s how classic color blocked designs with the distinctive dark metal framework came about.
Today’s stained glass nail trend doesn’t rely on actual glass, but rather soft gel extensions or acrylic and polish.
APRES - Gel-X Extension Kit (Gold Kit)
Fairy Tale Nails
The Disney film “Beauty & The Beast” inspired this set. It resembles leaded windows where the metal frame holds the colored pieces together. Did you know that sometimes the glass is painted, and may even be shaded on purpose to reduce the amount of light passing through? So, when you create stained glass nails, you’re part of a long art tradition that has delighted people around the world for centuries.
If your goal is to create a translucent set, browse our jelly polish collection for the perfect colors!
LDS Color Craze Gel Nail Polish - 1004 - J0404
LDS Color Craze Gel Nail Polish - 1022 - J0422
Halloween Nails
Not all stained-glass nails let the light through. Some are opaque or semi-opaque like the lampshades on the famous Tiffany lamps. This is called “art-glass”. The designer discovered how to use opalescent or milky-colored glass and vibrant enamel paint that is fired similar to how porcelain is made. Moreover, he combined textures to create unique pieces that are incredibly valuable today.
These Halloween nails remind us of seasonal window sticker decorations. If you like doing hand-drawn nail art, browse our line art gel collection. Each shade includes a precision brush in the bottle.
LDS - 01 (ver 2) Black - Line Art Gel Nails Polish Nail Art
Valentine’s Day Nails
Did you know that Chartres Cathedral had the very first petaled rose window? The Gothic artists who specialized in stained glass windows were in high demand across Europe. As culture moved into the Renaissance, everybody wanted to have decorative windows in their important buildings. Churches were still requesting biblical stories. Wealthy people wanted their portrait to be in the windows, too. Of course, not everybody had the cash to hire the talent needed. So, what happened was a bit of compromise. Part of the clear glass would be abraded with diamond tools to create designs and then painted with enamel or silver stain. Moreover, the metal frames became more delicate, kind of like the pretty stained-glass manicure here.
LAVIS Glitter G01 - 01 - Gel Polish 0.5 oz - Galaxy Collection
Golden Stained Glass Nails
In our modern world where we have light at the flick of a switch, we might not appreciate what an impact the colorful windows had on people who lived by lamp, candle, and firelight. Maybe that delight we feel when we hang up holiday light strings is linked to that ancestral memory. After all, we humans love shiny things, like chrome!
Peacock Nails
We mentioned Tiffany lamps earlier. They were part of the Art Nouveau movement of the late 1800s. Louis Tiffany was invited to create several glass panels based on designs by famous painters like Toulouse-Lautrec. It was a wonderful match as most of the artists love to work with patches of bold color outlined in dark colors.
Stamped Nails
Don’t be discouraged if you feel like you don’t have the patience or skill to hand-draw stained-glass nail art. There are nail stamping kits, decals, and stickers that can re-create a similar look in minutes. You can brush on a beautiful base color then decorate it.
Or lay down an enchanting gradient and stamp the frame pattern over the top. There’s even a bit of “weathering” to make this set seem antique.
Shrek Stained Glass Nails
For at least a thousand years, stained-glass windows haven’t just been pretty decorations. They have told all sorts of stories, some scary and others encouraging. They memorialize people and events. It’s only natural that nail artists would also do stained-glass nails about fairy tales. Acrylic markers make it fun to draw a set like these.
Extra Bling
There are stained-glass nail ideas for everyone including those who adore extra sparkle! We can imagine this far-out manicure as a panel of windows in a planetarium.
Abstract Stained Glass Nails for Fall
Or if you prefer something low-key and avant-garde, take the barest essence of the stained-glass nail trend, add autumn colors, and voilà!
Conclusion
If you love details, vibrant colors, and a bit of mystery, watch out! The stained glass nail trend is full of possibilities, and it will draw you in! Not to worry, we’ve got the polish and tools you need at prices you’ll love. Shop our store and enjoy free shipping and more.
Source:
https://stainedglass.org/learning-resources/history-stained-glass
