Textured Nails - Caviar or Sand?

images via Pinterest and Ciate

Article by BR Natalie

Remember when the ideal finish to your nails was smooth and shiny?  Brands would constantly go back to the drawing board, evolving formulas and designing the perfect brush to give the most even finish.  If one nail had a minor ding or dent you'd fume, grab the nail polish remover and start again.

And then as often happens with trends, people started to go to the dark side.  Bumpy, textured nails slowly became more popular until last year, boom, the shelves were almost buckling under the amount of nail polishes promising everything but a smooth finish.

From nails covered in what looks like 100s and 1000s, to finishes that literally looked like you'd dipped your wet polish in sand.  You name it, people are dipping their nails in it.  Thankfully finishes that feel like you've skinned a Muppet - velvet, fuzzy, feathers, seem to have been short lived. 

Two textured nail trends that are seeing continuing popularity have to be Caviar and Sand.

Ciate - Urestricted Glam and Caviar Pearls	OPI Liquid Sand - Stay the Night

Caviar Nails are are generally achieved by applying a coat or two of ordinary polish and while it's still tacky, covering it in tiny little microbeads, that look like, you've guessed it, Caviar.  (It does sound more glam than Sprinkle Nails...).

Sealing with a good top coat is a must to prevent you losing half your beads before you've even finished the other hand.  And while the results are stunning, the process is definitely fiddly and time consuming.

So for the girl who wants to be on trend the easy way, O.P.I hit the nail on the head with the release of Liquid Sand - a polish that dries to a matte and sand-like texture.  And of course many other brands followed with their own formulas to give the much desired rough finish nails.

Now if the thought of anything less than smooth sends you in to a fashion-panic, you were probably thinking the textured nail trend would be on it's way out by now.  We have bad news - textured nails are certainly not going anywhere - our favourite 'research' tool, Pinterest is full of textured nail tutorials and nail looks and textured eye and lip looks are fast becoming more common.  If anything our love affair with texture is becoming much more than a fleeting romance!

So, which textured look gets your vote?  Are you a Caviar girl or a Sand girl?  Do you prefer the smooth (ish) finish of shiny microbeads, or do you relish in the anti-nail; the matte and rough sand finish?

And if you fancy yourself a bit of a nail guru, why not share your tips on getting the perfect bumpy finish.  Get chatting below!