Japanese Nail Culture
As some of you may know, our fearless leader Kim has been travelling in Japan and Vietnam for the last few weeks. Even while on vacation, she can’t keep her mind off work! She has sent over her findings of nail trends, customs, and norms in Japan. Find out more with me below!
Salon space
The physical space in Japanese nail salons mirrors the calm and quiet of Japanese life. Salons are small and quiet with individual client experiences in mind. Each table has an iPad where payment, schedule, and everything else is done from. Each nail tech controls their own schedule & payment, and as a client, you usually only interact with the person doing your nails. Clients are also able to watch TV or entertainment from the iPads, usually focusing on that instead of conversations with their nail techs.
Each nail tech also has a display of their work by their desk. This can include practice nails, design inspiration, press on sets, and more. The clients are able to get a sense of what their nail tech likes to do or specializes in.
In the salon, it is also common for everyone to take off their shoes upon entry and put on slippers, even if you’re not getting a pedicure. Speaking of pedicures, they look a little different in Japan. Instead of specific pedicure chairs with built in foot baths, they are done in comfy lounge chairs with separate bowls of water.
Designs
If you’re up on the trends (or you’ve been reading the last few blog posts!), you know what has been popular here in Canada recently (reds, browns, French tips, cat eye) but have you ever wondered how it stacks up to the rest of the world? Well, here’s what Kim has seen in Japan.
Big & chunky nails are in. Lots of designs with big gems & charms and a lot of artists doing 3D work. We have been seeing some of these here too—especially 3D flowers—but almost every nail tech in Japan learns how to do some of these designs.
Very glittery & chrome designs are the other showstoppers. Lots of shine and shimmer adorn fingertips everywhere, and Japan is no exception. Chrome powders and liquid chrome are common elements in nails, and cat-eye polish is everywhere. Kim even sent us some new cat-eye colours from Japan! Keep an eye out for them in the salon.
Nail Expo
The glam squad took a trip to a nail expo in Toronto a few months ago and Kim couldn’t wait to take another tour around a nail expo- this time in Japan! She noticed some differences there as well.
First- it was huge! The entire event space was full of everything you could dream of. Rows and rows and rows of cool stuff. Each vendor booth had a person designated to do a live demonstration of how to use their product. There were no scheduled speakers or conference times, just a constant show at each booth. It was easy to see the intended use and end result of each product.
It should come as no surprise that the products seen most at the nail expo directly match Japanese nail designs. There were lots of cat-eye polish, gems, chrome, and 3D products to choose from.
