Artificial nails are popular in Southern Finland - and in Rovaniemi, for some reason
The Finnish Championships in acrylic and gel nails were arranged in Helsinki last weekend
By Katriina Pajari
Smart glad-rags - yes, but most preferably dark and very simple designs.
Make up - yes, but not too conspicuous, please.
And my nails, could they be just some sort of natural colour, OK?
”This is how a Finnish woman speaks. Brown nail polish is not even sold much in any other country”, sighs Ulla Leppäkoski-Juvonen, who is one of those women leading the way for the artificial nail business in Finland.
Yes, it is true that if a person has very colourful fingertips, it gives quite a flashy image of her.
Which is why I would have to say that this artificial nail competition in Finlandia Hall is a "very flashy event".
So this is how beauty smells. Sharp, plastic, and like a nasty headache.
More than 30 people are sitting in a rather small room.
With their eyes focused intently, they are hunched up in pairs in the middle of small coloured pots and pencils and brushes, the tools of their trade.
”I call this the smell of money. This place reeks of acrylic. Artificial nails are usually made from acrylic or gel”, Leppäkoski-Juvonen says.
People in this room are taking part in a nail art competition.
At the weekend, Finnail Olympic arranged a Finnish championship competition in acrylic and gel in Finlandia Hall in Helsinki.
The spectators are whispering in order to let the competitors work in peace. Red, black-and-white, and glittering fake nails are being sculpted under the lights.
They are startling - even beautiful.
Almost all sculpted nails are long, tapered and sharpened to triangular tips. They are called stiletto nails.
”They are popular in competitions, but in everyday use people prefer blunt-tipped nails”, says Leppäkoski-Juvonen.
In competitions, artificial nails are decorated with nail polish, glitter, and small sparkling stones. When entering a nail salon, an ordinary woman often chooses a French manicure, even though professional nail technicials think that it is already a little passé.
In Finlandia Hall, the most showy nails are four centimetres past the fingertips.
”Some people wear very long nails every day. They have learned how to live with them, to go to the toilet, to clean a baby’s bottom. It is not at all impossible”, Leppäkoski-Juvonen claims.
A decade ago,an ordinary woman with artificial nails was seldom seen. Over the past five years fake nails have become more like an everyday thing, but in Finland one cannot speak about manicure culture just yet.
For example in Russia, manicure is an integral part of womanhood, says Leppäkoski-Juvonen.
”Many of our clients work for example in customer service. But there are also retired persons and students for whom beautiful hands are important”, Leppäkoski-Juvonen continues.
Based on the map of Finland, the use of artificial nails is concentrated in the Helsinki area.
Within the confines of the Outer Ring Road (Kehä III), people dare to try out new things, while in Eastern and Central Finland customers tend to be more conservative.
Northern folks are also nail people: the Lapland capital of Rovaniemi is a real beauty municipality, says Leppäkoski-Juvonen.
”In Rovaniemi manicurists sculpt sparkly nails, and the number of hairdressing salons is also high there. People are also eager to use beauty services up there”, Leppäkoski-Juvonen enthuses.
The current price for artificial nails is EUR 80 to 120. If the price is more than EUR 100, the manicurist has to be experienced and the customer must get glitter into the bargain.
”Unfortunately, there is a lot of grey economy in this business. In Eastern Helsinki, in the district of Kallio, and even in the centre, there are salons where fake nails may cost only some twenty or thirty euros. After deducting VAT, rents, materials, and the salary, there is nothing left. In such a case everything cannot be completely above board”, Leppäkoski-Juvonen points out.
FACTFILE: The first Nail Expo in Finland
The Finnail Olympic Open International and Finnish Championship Competition and Finland’s first Nail Expo were organised in Helsinki last weekend.
Finnail is an association for the leading nail import companies in Finland. Ulla Leppäkoski-Juvonen is the Chairwoman of the association.
The members of the association are CS Oy, Nailstation, Miss Lis Oy, and Riimin Oy.
Last weekend’s event was the 11th competition organised by Finnail. The Finnish Championship titles were awarded in the categories of sculpted acrylic and sculpted gel.
Artificial nails, also known as fake nails or nail extensions, are coverings placed over real fingernails. Artificial nails can be made from a variety of materials. A gel nail hardens under ultraviolet light, while acrylic nails dry in the air.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 22.11.2010
Links:
Finnail Olympic
Artificial nails (Wikipedia)
KATRIINA PAJARI / Helsingin Sanomat
katriina.pajari@hs.fi
|
| 23.11.2010 - THIS WEEK |
Artificial nails are popular in Southern Finland - and in Rovaniemi, for some reason
|
|
