5 Best Nail Art Printers: Your Easy Buying Guide

They’re a fantastic investment for nail salons because they can print images faster than a nail artist working by hand ever could so you have quicker customer turnover. Plus, it’s definitely a unique experience your clients will leave and tell everyone about, giving you word-of-mouth and viral advertising. Read on to discover the best available nail art printers on Amazon.

These machines became available in the United States a couple of years back and the internet has been going wild over them ever since. They’re like nail stamping kits but more foolproof and with better images.

A nail art printer, if you haven’t seen the viral videos yet, prints images directly onto your nails for stunning nail art at the push of a button.

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Are Nail Printer Machines Worth It?

That’s really up to you, your budget, and how important it is to you to stay on top of trends. (They’re even talking about these machines on Bloomberg.) 

If you really want showstopping nail art but don’t have the time or artistic skill to do it on your own, they could be. Check out this profile on Miho Kawariji on Business Insider with images of her $150 nail art manicures. Celebrities go to her for this artwork, but with a printer, you could get the same look whenever you wanted.

For salons, they’re an investment now and a major time-saver later, leading to increased sales. 

Most of these printers print a finger image in less than a minute, but even at a minute, that’s 10 minutes for a full manicure of nail art minus the setup and polish. Intricate nail art by hand can take 10 to 30 minutes per finger. The potential for quicker client turnover is high.

For personal use, if you can afford one, a nail art printer unlocks art that would otherwise be impossible for human hands. They aren’t cheap but when you consider that intricate salon nail art manicures can cost you $60 a pop before tip, depending on how often you get your nails done, one of these nail printers could pay for themselves in less than a year.

How Do Nail Art Machines Work?

They’re basically a mini ink-jet printer that’s built for nails instead of paper. Most use regular ink-jet printer refills so you can shop around for a bargain instead of being forced to buy refills from the same company.

Keep in mind that if you’ve ever been near a printer, you know they are famously finicky so while you won’t be dealing with paper jams, as with any printer, there could be some hiccups.  

Does It Have to Be On Gel Nail Polish?

Not really? Most, if not all, nail art machine videos you’ll see are printing on gel nail polish. The ink itself isn’t gel so it’s basically a “jelly-sandwich” situation where you’re enclosing a non-gel element inside a gel base and top coat to extend the wear-time. 

So while you could use this with regular nail polish, if you want your design to last more than a few days, you really need to be working with gel.

Doing your own gel at home used to be more expensive to get into, but these days you can pick up great kits for seriously little cash so you can get weeks of wear from your designs instead of days.