Families all around the world are celebrating the Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, and Beata Xu, a rising makeup and manicure star based in Shanghai, has been asked by Vogue China to design unique nails with a Lunar New Year theme. Supermodel He Cong, actor Sabrina Zhuang, and singer Song Yuqi are three Chinese celebrities who wear the three dazzling styles mesmerizingly.
Xu, the foremost expert on nail art in China, is always up for a challenging creative project. In order to disrupt our expectations of what we should see on a nail, her work frequently combines traditional Chinese motifs with odd designs cut from plastic, metal, and other unexpected futuristic materials. As she shows us her custom-made pieces, which were created to match the personality and Spring Festival family rituals of our three women, Xu tells Vogue that she “likes researching the customs and ancient paintings of different ethnic groups for inspiration.” After all, says Xu with a chuckle, “a manicure is an extension of your personality.” People are even more outspoken when it comes to their choices in life, fashion, and beauty right now, as we are coming out of the pandemic.
Find three manicures designed by Xu to celebrate the Lunar New Year below.
He Cong: Unbreakable
He Cong explains, “Family and friends light fireworks and count down until the New Year begins.” “Everything starts when the fireworks start. On the first day of the New Year, we also eat noodles since they stand for a long and fruitful life. The new year is a fresh start for me. Everything is new, and we are energized and hopeful.
Beata’s three-dimensional outline for the supermodel He Cong’s manicure, which she wore as part of her Vogue+ Spring Festival special edition guest edit, was inspired by the Chinese Taihu Lake Stone. The point, in Xu’s opinion, symbolizes Chinese women’s unlimited will to overcome constraints placed on them by outsiders.
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One of the four famous stones in ancient China is called the Taihu Lake Stone after the Jiangsu Province in which it was found. He Cong’s quiet, robust, and stubborn demeanor, in Xu’s opinion, is reflected in the raw stones’ lengthy scrubbing that reveals their sedimentary “wisdom”.
Sabrina Zhuang: In Bloom
“I have never tried such an artistic manicure style,” claims Sabrina Zhuang. It makes me feel nostalgic because it reminds me of the red clothing we have always donned for the New Year for our entire lives. Every year, before the Spring Festival, I buy new outfits for my family. Typically, my mother, my sister, and my uncle shop with my grandfather and buy identical outfits for the entire family. It is joy made manifest.
Sabrina Zhuang, an actress, is renowned for her rock-and-roll aesthetic and attitude. In order to portray her rebellious spirit, Xu created her nail art with a translucent red base, adorned with a solid red ornamental pattern inspired by a red hemline, and hanging chain pendants.
Song Yuqi: Spark of Vitality
Song Yuqi exclaims, “‘Bling-bling’ manicures never fail to surprise me!” My zodiac sign is the rabbit, hence this year is the Year of the Rabbit. The manicure, which features a little bunny as decoration, is very me. I’ve only been able to contact my family around Spring Festival in the past several years, but this year my mother can come to see me so we can watch the TV broadcast of the Spring Festival gala and cook dumplings together.
To mirror the singer’s brilliant stage appearance, Xu used a lot of high-sparkle components when creating Song Yuqi’s manicure. According to Xu, the “crown jewel” is hollow-carved and animates naturally like the dancing rabbit Song Yuqi.
