Technology can never replace nail artistry
Some nail artists resist (and even resent) the introduction of the nail art printer as an affront to their artistry. This is far from the truth, there will always be artists who can hand craft spectacular nail art. The invention of the desk top printer certainly didn’t bother Picasso or Salvador Dali. Digital nail art printers are not a replacement technology, rather a complimentary one. The art of carpentry didn’t die with the advent of the electric lathe and grinding tools. Sculptors are still alive and well and revered as artists despite 3D printing technology. I don't want to imagine a world where an artist doesn’t paint a landscape because he can just take a photo on his cell phone! Great nail artists aren’t going to be disappearing anytime soon and that’s a brilliant thing. My jaw drops when I see the amazing stuff the true nail artists are designing and painstakingly crafting.
Hand painted - Acrylic Nails French With Glitter Flower - from nailsmag.com
Nail salons are a business first
The problem within the nail salon environment, is one of profitability. It doesn’t matter how great a nail artist is, they still need to pay the rent and put food on the table. Your average client wants beautiful, customised nail art but doesn’t have the 4 hours to sit while a nail artist painstakingly builds a special nail art design with brushes and sponges. Not to mention in those 4 hours, the salon could have satisfied the customer’s nail art requirements with precision perfect designs AND packed in another 3 or 4 paying customers.
A good nail art printer works well in a salon production environment, prints detailed high resolution nail art in a fraction of the time and exponentially increases the potential profitability of the salon. No matter how precious we’d like to be about the artistry, the fact is a salon is a business and to survive, it needs to grow the bottom line just like any business. As a piece of business equipment that is designed to increase profitability, the nail art printer is unparalleled in the beauty industry. A mere 20 sets of nail art per week pays for the machine within 3 months – in most business sectors the norm for return on investment for a new piece of business equipment is a year to 18 months. The cost of printing nails is significantly lower than hand-painted nail art both in materials and in time. An added advantage is that one needn’t do a new mani every time the client wants nail art – this can bring your clients through the door weekly to change only the nail art whimsically between fills and manicures. This means that the same client is spending up to 2 or 3 times more than if they’re only having their nails done every 4 to 6 weeks.
As a nail art professional, don't undervalue your time
As a nail art professional, how annoying is it when a client shows you a picture on their cell phone and asks you if you can do that? It needn’t be. This can be yet another revenue generating opportunity and artists have complete design freedom in the digital sphere. Nail art designs you can’t accomplish by hand or will take forever to paint, can be precisely replicated digitally in a few minutes.
With printed nail art you still have the option to use any and all of your favourite products. Nail art printers do not spell the death of nail artists, it spells new revenue streams and increased profits for mainstream nail art business people.
With printed nail art you still have the option to use any and all of your favourite products. Nail art printers do not spell the death of nail artists, it spells new revenue streams and increased profits for mainstream nail art business people.
Have you ever had printed nail art done? Does your nail art salon have a nail art printer? If not, why not? Comment below and let us know what you think!
