5 Tips for taking the Perfect Nailfie

Taking nail selfies that don’t look amateur is the holy grail for you. Here’s our guide as we share some insight into the best lighting and props to use when you post for your socmed platform.

Creating beautiful nail photos for socmed, known as nailfies, can be difficult if you don’t know about the elements that make a good picture. Capturing the beautiful manicure you’ve created needs the right lighting, props, and hand positioning to ensure it showcases your nails.

1. Prep and prime
Taking a good nailfie starts with essentials – make sure your cuticle work is flawless, trim, and hangnails and ensure you have a good base to start the manicure on. At the end of treatment, rehydrate your skin with hand cream and don’t leave any excess product around the nails. For example, apply cuticle oil but dry wipe it with a clean lint-free pad, especially around the nail folds, as the oil tends to blur everything in photos.

2. Lighting is everything
Decent lighting will make all the difference to your pictures. Good lighting can be one of the biggest obstacles because you never know what environment you’re going in to, so carry a portable daylight lamp or ring light with you as this will help hugely, also natural light can really brighten up pictures so try to take snaps near a window.

3. Fine-tune with an app
Photo editing can enhance your photos but don’t overdo it so the pictures don’t look fake as you want your followers to have realistic expectations of what your picture is all about. You may edit your pictures using the app Adobe Lightroom, which is available on mobile, and desktop. Use it to take the redness down in pictures so your hands have an even skin tone and to pick out certain colors on the manicure and make them pop, especially if they’re not translating well on screen.

4. Bespoke your branding
All the nail and beauty accounts on Instagram or other socmed platforms have their own vibe, so finding a style that’s distinctively you will make you stand out on the feeds or get new followers to recognize your presence on the platform. Remember, a clean and simple background works wonders for pictures as it makes sure your audience isn’t distracted from the nails you’ve created.

5. Invest in props
This is something you shouldn’t do often but should really do more of. We know a lot of talented and popular influencers who have props on hand for photos, be it flowers, fur, or even a branded crystal. You’ll like to include props when they’re relevant to the manicure you’ve just done, such as using a flower when you have had flower print nail art.