Marie Claire editor gets made over in Tokyo, getting a mani with Tomoyuki "Crystal Devil" Oshiro, an airbrush and crystal nail artist. "He suggests a twist on the French manicure—a nude base that gradually deepes to rose gold at the tips with a crisscrossing of white on top," she reports. "After layering a clear gel on my real nails, Oshiro custom-blends acrylic paint, then airbrushes it on."

As for national nail trends, journalist Mayumi Kurata tells Marie Claire, "Almost 90% of Japanese women wear gel nails."

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