One thing that Instagram is great for is filling up your feed with innovative makeup artists that veer away from the usual, tried-and-true smoky eyeshadows and contour tutorials, and instead, share fresh and hella creative makeup creations. Not all of them are practical, and some of them look more like art installations than actual wearable makeup, but all of them drip with creativity and make you think of possibilities when you look at your makeup bag. From weird eyebrow trends like barbwire arches, to interesting eye innovations like tinsel eyelashes, there's so much originality. And that doesn't exclude the world of nail art.
Which leads us to our most recent find: Matchstick nails.
Yup, it's exactly what you think it is. It's a matchstick embedded in a nail, with the other hand featuring a lighting strip.
The genius behind these ignitable nails is Tony Ly of Tony's Nails, an infamous nail artist with an Instagram account with nearly 600 thousand followers. If you check out his feed, you will quickly notice that, while he features "normal" manis every now and then, his true passion is veering towards the more elaborate and innovative designs. So when he debuted his ignitable nails on his Instagram page, his followers were ready for it.
The nail design featured chartreuse green nail polish, decorated in an outline of holographic gems. On the tip of the stiletto nail were teardrop gemstones, where one had a discreet matchstick poking out just from the top.
On the other hand was the igniter strip, which you would use to actually light the match. That nail featured a shorter nail shape, and the strip had a cute red and white pattern that complimented the green nail design on the other hand. On the cuticle was a line of gems, to dress it up a little.
As you can see in the video, if you wanted to light your match, you would swipe the tip of your nail over the lighter strip, until it caught fire. (That's why the matchstick nail is much longer than the igniter one — you don't want to singe your fingers!) Once you're done with the match, you can slip off the gemstone it's attached to and throw it away.
While it might seem a little scary at first (and like you should know the location of the nearest fire extinguisher, just in case,) you have got to love the ingenuity of it. Imagine being at a party and lighting the candle for the hostess with your hands. It would look like magic!
And his followers seemed to approve of his stroke of creativity, applauding the cool idea. "I want this during my next fill please," one follower said. "Secret level unlocked!!!" another joked. "The game has been elevated to another dimension," one fan correctly asserted. "Too freakin CREATIVE!!!!" another shared.
One follower loved the scenario these nails could create, writing, "Super classy. Got no light? Hold on while I light my acrylic up for y'all!"
Others were tagging friends that were notorious for out-of-the-box nail designs, urging them to try it out themselves. "I think this is the only thing you havnt done to your nails 😂😂" one pal wrote.
But it wasn't all love for the innovative mani. One user was worried about introducing an open flame to the chemicals that make up nail products. "Who lights fire around acrylic and nail polish? Just dumb."
While definitely an out-of-the-box design, you want to be super careful about having an open flame by flammable products. Just like how you wouldn't go waving a lighter by hairspray, you want to be cautious around your nail polish.
But one thing is for certain: This takes your manicure game to a whole other level.
