If you’re looking to give your style quotient a small but significant boost, give nail piercing a try. Nail piercing is exactly what it sounds like – making a hole in your nail and then adorning it with charms or studs. It’s fun and can take on a range of vibes from glamorous to kinky.
Is Nail Piercing Safe?
Yes, nail piercing is completely safe.
It’s natural to be afraid of anything involving needles. But unlike body piercing, nail piercing does not hurt and there is no chance of infection. However, the procedure itself could, if done by someone inexperienced, end up causing an injury.
Prepping for Nail Piercing
Are your nails brittle? Do they break easily or do you constantly despair that they peel off? Then don’t go about nail piercing just yet. You’ll need to strengthen your nails before going ahead with the procedure. Here’s how.
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Eat well. Your diet has a big impact on the strength of your nails.
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In addition, take vitamins and calcium tablets as these too will help to make your nails stronger.
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Finally, enrich your talons by rubbing them with vitamin E oil. If you can’t find vitamin E oil, just buy vitamin E capsules, cut them open and apply the oil from within on your nails.
Your nails will also, obviously, have to be long before you can pierce them. You don’t want to make the mistake of piercing too short nails because you risk piercing too close to the skin and hurting yourself in the process. But apart from that, charms look better on longer nails.
How to Do Nail Piercing at Home
If you go to a nail salon, they’ll use a special tool that is very like a body piercing gun to pierce your nails. If you have a steady hand and think you can manage, try piercing your nails on your own at home. You’ll need a lighter, a thin needle and nail jewellery of your choice. Make sure there is no nail polish on your nails when you begin.
Nail Piercing – Tips, Precautions and Jewelry
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Use the lighter to heat the tip of the needle. This will sterilise the needle. Keep it over the flame until it turns orange.
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Now pierce your nail with the tip of the red-hot needle. Don’t pierce too close to the edge of your nail otherwise the nails could easily break. Push the needle in and give it a bit of a twist. This will widen the piercing as well as smoothen the edges of the hole.
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Pull the needle out and then back in, out and then back in, until the motion can be done smoothly. Then pull the needle out completely.
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Next, put the needle through the hole from the other side of the nail. Repeat the sliding in and out motion from the previous step till it slides in and out smoothly.
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Your nail piercing is almost done. The last step is to widen the hole even further using a thumb tack. Just push the tack in and twist to widen. This is a good idea as it will allow your nail jewellery to go in better.
Once you’re done piercing your nails, don’t forget to give them a good finish. Buff them to smoothen out any roughness on the surface. Then apply your nail paint. The paint may get into the hole and clog it. In that case, just use the needle once more to open it up.
Styling Your Nail Piercing
Which nails look best when pierced? This is really a matter of personal choice so don’t worry about what other people say. If you want to pierce all your nails, do so. Or go with alternate nails. If you want to pierce just one or two nails, then go with the ones on your pinky or ring finger. These fingers are the ones you use the least so they are less likely to get in your way while you work.
Nail Piercing Jewelry
Here’s a tip if you’re afraid of piercing your nails or if your nails aren’t long enough to pierce yet. Pierce your artificial nails instead. That way, you can still show off this trend but easily remove them when it’s time to get back to work.
There are several pieces of nail jewellery available now ranging from metallic to precious stones to junk bling and even colourful plastic ones. From studs to rings to danglers to charms – there are hundreds of thousands of different nail jewellery for you to style your new nail piercing with. You are only limited by your imagination. You can tone down your nail jewellery for work and really go crazy when it’s party time on the weekends.
Your nail piercing will definitely get you noticed. So get ready for all the attention that’s going to come your way!
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