We know enough about Art Basel in Miami already. But there was one thing we noticed that deserves further discussion during the exhausting, nearly weeklong fair. There was a lot of attention being paid to nail art. When energy for what's on the walls runs thin, the human body is certainly a distracting canvas.  As part of its initiative with the German artist Anselm Reyle, Dior Beauty created a collection of nail polishes in five shades. In turn, for an event hosted by Fabiola Beracasa, Dior brought in the New York City celebrity nail stylist Tracylee to develop custom camouflage manicures for patrons. Tracylee, who has previously hand-painted beach and holiday scenes on nails, created three nail patterns for the fashion brand in homage to Mr. Reyle's collaboration.  "It was very difficult," she said of working on the designs. "I was just given a picture, and it took one to two hours for each nail to figure out which part of the print was going to look the best on the nail. There were a lot of re-dos."  Once she achieved the design and pattern, "it was pretty simple," Tracylee said. She practiced on nail tips at home to get her actual speed up, so ultimately "each nail took five or six minutes to do."   At the event, "I was the only one doing the camouflage print," she said. "And from 1:30 to 9:30 I didn't stop. I don't know how many nails I did, but I did a lot."  Is the pattern something that we could re-create at home? "I don't know," Tracylee said. "Consumers are pretty savvy today."  Meanwhile, at the Standard in Miami Beach, the Chicago-based artist Dzine showed "Imperial Nails," an installation he designed of his parents' living room, a "bootleg beauty parlor" where his mother would give manicures. Over-the-top manicures using costume jewelry pieces and other embellishing hoo-hahs were being done not by Dzine but by manicurists from the downtown Miami salon Tippie Toes. (Ordinarily, a regular manicure there goes for $10; the artist found the local salon simply by "hitting the pavement" and appreciating its work.) Dzine was also promoting his new book, "Nailed," a historical and photographic inquiry into nail culture.  "During my research, I realized there were no publications about the history of nail culture," said Dzine, as a manicurist from Tippie Toes embellished our right pinky. (It was cool, but in truth, on us, it looked a little fungal. It was fun to peel off, though.) "If you look at the book, there's a long history of long nails. It was about social status."  As part of the project, Dzine made a series of "sculptural pieces" that can be glued on top of nails. "I want the nails to be works of art," he said. Some were like hawk nails. It was pretty crazy.   Growing up, Dzine said that his mother taught him how to work on nails. "But do I give a good manicure?" he asked. "I'm more interested in the sociological implications."  As for his own nail maintenance, back in Chicago, Dzine said he gets a weekly manicure, especially to remove all the paint and residue out from under his nails.   "Usually I'll get a cut, a buff and a gloss polish," he said. "For me, it's neither here nor there. I like taking care of myself and having good hygiene."

The Manicure Arms Race
 Elizabeth Holmes at elizabeth.holmes@wsj.com

Promising Women No chips for Weeks, Gel Manicures Shake Up a $1 Billion Ritual

Gel manicures, the long-lasting manicure alternative that were once available only in salons for about $40, now are available in an at-home kit, opening up a much larger market just in time for the holidays. Elizabeth Holmes has details on Lunch Break. Photo: Getty Images. If Alyssa Edwards didn't ruin her manicure immediately after getting it by reaching into her purse for her car keys, she would usually chip the polish within a day or two. Then the 20-year-old Arizona State University student tried a new service called a gel manicure, which uses a high-shine lacquer that dries instantly and resists chips for up to two weeks—and she had an ah-ha moment. "I thought it was the coolest thing ever," Ms. Edwards says. Gel manicures have made a splash in the beauty industry, replacing acrylics and other fake nail treatments that have long gone out of fashion. Technology has evolved so that gel manicures look like regular manicures, only better—with more shine, no dry time and a promise to go two weeks without chipping.

With their price tag of $30 to $40, gel manis cost almost twice that of a standard salon manicure in some regions. They are giving a boost to salons, whose business slumped in the downturn. Now, several brands have do-it-yourself kits, too. Nail polish has taken on a surprisingly important role for women and the beauty industry. It replaced lipstick as the frugal pick-me-up of choice in recent years. "Nail art," where nails are mini-canvases for elaborate designs, has become fashionable, seen recently on Olympic athletes, runway models and red-carpet celebrities. Nail product sales grew 24% in 2011, creating a $1 billion-plus industry, according to Euromonitor International.  "Gels are definitely a game changer," says Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, executive vice president and artistic director of nail brand OPI, which has a salon gel line. Collaborating with beauty retailer Sephora, it also has an at-home gel kit sold in Sephora stores. It is one of many new at-home systems, with starter kits providing several manicures. The systems, priced from $29.99 to $175 and higher, promise the benefits of a salon gel manicure but at a lower cost per application.

 In exchange for 14 days of perfect fingertips, women are forgiving gel's several sizable drawbacks, including the need to expose nails to UV light to set the polish and a tedious removal process that often involves a 15-minute soak in acetone. A regular manicure is usually swabbed off in a minute or two. Dermatologists at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine earlier this year found several cases where, upon removal of a gel manicure, nails showed "weakness, brittleness and thinning." Their report said it wasn't clear whether chemicals in the polish, or some aspect of the removal process, was the cause.  Some consumers may still have safety concerns. Dr. Antonella Tosti, co-author of the report and professor of clinical dermatology at the University of Miami, says people who get gel manicures regularly should apply sunscreen to their hands beforehand, to protect them from UV exposure, Dr. Tosti says

 Many customers prefer to have gel polish removed from their nails at a salon—and once there, it's convenient to get a new manicure. Coty Inc., owner of nail brands OPI and Sally Hansen, estimates gel manicures will make up 25% of the salon manicure business by the end of 2012. With most beauty treatments, salon sales threaten to cannibalize at-home activity, and vice versa. But with manicures, it's a case of the more the merrier. Some 25% of women who had two or more salon manicures in the past six months also used at-home nail products five times or more in the past month alone, according to market-research firm Packaged Facts. Also known as no-chip manicures or by a brand name, gel manicures won't air dry, says Ralph Macchio, Coty's chief scientific officer. Rather, gel polish is set when certain chemical compounds are exposed to light, which causes them to bond and form a strong, shell-like coating.  Gel manicures, like regular manicures, typically consist of a clear base coat, two coats of color and a clear top coat. But after each coat in a gel manicure, recipients put the fingernail under a UV light for a time period that varies by brand, but is often less than a minute for each coat. Sally Hansen's InstaGel Strips, $29.99, comes with an assortment of polish strips and a mini lamp to 'cure' one nail at a time. Chad Conger, a research chemist at CND, which makes Shellac Power Polish, a no-chip product in salons, says the UV exposure required with his company's polish is comparable to an extra minute or two in the sun each day over the life of the manicure. The high shine of gel polish is what usually draws women's attention, but the durability turns them into converts, says Derek Bowen, senior vice president of marketing at Coty Beauty US. Gel polish holds up under such otherwise manicure-threatening conditions, whether it's washing dishes or swimming laps.  "Gel manicure! Like whoa, why didn't I try this sooner?" Lindsey Riggs, a 28-year-old blogger, wrote after getting her first salon gel manicure last year. Ms. Riggs, who lives in Las Vegas and works in communications for a resort, said in an interview that chipped nails, from a regular manicure, don't look professional. "I'm in a corporate environment," she says. "You have to worry about it."  A polish that adheres well is, by definition, difficult to remove. While each brand has its own take on the best removal method, most gel manicures require users to soak or saturate their nails with acetone for 15 minutes or longer. Some companies have created special gel-removal products, such as individual foil pockets containing acetone-soaked swabs that can be placed on each fingertip.

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