Nail art takes on new life in reality show Nail’d It

This new reality show looks at a global multi-billion dollar industry that often goes unnoticed.

A judge, Tom Bachik, left, and the contestant Ashley Craig during an episode of Nail'd It, a new reality television show. Lindsey Byrnes / AP / Oxygen Media

With a surface no bigger than a fingernail to exhibit their work, a new American reality show is pitting another breed of artists against each other in a race against time for big prize money.

The contestants on Oxygen's Nail'd It are battling to win a top prize of more than US$100,000 (Dh367,000)

Artwork that’s just an arm’s length away at all times is “better than hanging a painting and getting to appreciate it for only a few minutes a day”, says the contestant Chris Mans, the owner of a salon in Orange County, California.

In one Nail'd It semi-final round, the artists are challenged to evoke their favourite city on a fingernail and, voila, Las Vegas emerges.

Rod Aissa, Oxygen Media’s executive vice president of original programming and development, saw his perception of nail design change from the notion of “slapping on gold tips” to true artistry when he visited the set.

The nails became “an absolutely beautiful salute to the city they chose”, says Aissa.

Nails are both art and commerce. Worldwide it's a multibillion-dollar industry that includes products, salons and magazines. All the contestants on Nail'd It are working in the field and many have competed successfully in national nail competitions.

Contestant Ashley Craig of Fort Myers, Florida, who studied visual arts in school, fell into nail-salon work after she became pregnant at 19 and needed a steady income. It turned out to be a satisfying artistic outlet, says Craig, who also paints murals and does make-up design.

“Most of my clients give me free rein,” she says.