The Nail Trend That Is Totally Mindbending

When technology and beauty combine, the world is blessed with some seriously awe-inspiring creations. From machines that mix your makeup for you, to eyeshadows that shine without any light touching them, it's pretty incredible what the beauty community can create. While those inventions are impressive, the newest nail trend takes this beauty-meets-tech collaboration to a whole new level. TikTok creator Piper ZY makes augmented reality nail art that will seriously blow you away.

It's not often that a beauty trend comes out and has people completely baffled. Of course, there are new makeup launches every single day, but augmented reality nail art is different than these traditional releases. Although you can't see it with the naked eye, this mindbending nail trend is one of the most incredible things you will ever see once it's visually set up. Trippy, we know. 

If you've never seen augmented reality nail art before, prepare yourself, because this augmented reality manicure will make you question everything you know about nail salons.

If you're confused by what you're seeing right now, you're not alone. This incredible trend is called augmented reality nail art, and it takes your typical manicure to brand-new heights — literally. With some serious creativity and the right technology, Piper ZY on TikTok created an augmented reality city landscape thumb nail design. The manicure is complete with a little car driving through the scene with working headlights and clouds in the sky. To say that this nail art is amazing is an understatement.

The creator needs to actually build the augmented reality version of the artistic, surreal landscape and then design it to project onto the nail. It's a technology and beauty collaboration that is almost too hard to wrap your head around. 

The nail creation isn't actually visible to the naked eye, but can be seen with the right technology. This means that you can't just go into a salon asking for a moving mani. That doesn't make it any less impressive though. People on TikTok are going crazy over this nail art, saying everything from, "You are amazing!" to comparing the creator to Elon Musk. 

TikTok creator Piper ZY's beauty creations will change the way you see makeup. While the creator has designed numerous augmented reality nail designs, including a seriously adorable Christmas creation, she's diving into other beauty categories, too. She actually brings the ColourPop Garden Variety palette to life by using augmented reality plants to pop up over corresponding shades (via TikTok). The creation mimics the plants on the palette. Can you imagine getting that in the mail?

Piper ZY on TikTok also dives into the world of fashion, creating augmented reality dresses and sweatshirts that project entertaining images, and even one that projects an image of her own face. Honestly, it might the most mind-blowing thing to come from the beauty or fashion community yet. 

The fun doesn't stop there, either. Piper ZY also designs augmented reality jewelry that will have you staring for hours. The pieces are often moving art, and the further you zoom in, the more detail you see. The TikTok videos show a ring with cars racing around its base, locket rings that pop open to show a black hole design, and even sunglasses with augmented reality bears on them.

While people on TikTok are praising the creator for coming up with a brand-new way to use the technology, this actually isn't the first time that augmented reality nails have been seen. According to Tech In Asia, Thea Beaumann created an app that also combined augmented reality and nail art back in 2015. The publication states that you could buy nail stickers for around $50 and then use a free app to bring the creations to life if you want to try the trend yourself.

Piper ZY's creations are, however, arguably more detailed than the designs created through Beaumann's app. If these two tech geniuses team up, who knows what could be created?

Augmented reality also shows up in plenty of other realms as well. You can use the tool to try on different shades of lipstick on websites like Sephora and even see how the products might look on you before you buy them (via Inc.). Of course, bringing Piper ZY's creations to life is a whole new level of tech, and we can't wait to see where it's headed.