What’s New? Artist’s Choice Sets
They’re the newest item on the Café au Lei menu - Artist’s Choice nail art sets! A series of seasonal specials, pre-designed full art sets available in either your personal sizes or as a ready-to-wear “Free Size” set.
So what exactly makes an “Artist’s Choice” set? These designs are inspired by the things I've always been drawn to: art I find fascinating, nature and the seasons, important people and moments, and even some of my older @Leighton_paints designs that I want to breathe new life into!
Art vs. The Artist ‘22 - a few of my favorite posts from the past! Maybe one will end up redesigned for a set?…
I wanted a way to share my nail art in a more convenient and affordable way. Sometimes you don’t have a custom design in mind, or there’s a mani on your favorite maker’s social media feed that you would absolutely love to be able to wear. My hope is that you’ll find a design that calls out to you and be able to pick it up regardless of whether or not you’ve sized your nails.
Artist’s Choice sets will be released seasonally, 1-2 sets every three months, and revealed on the first Monday of the month. A limited quantity of each type, Custom Sized or Free Size, will be available to purchase - it’ll be indicated in the drop down menu next to the type of set.
No need to worry if all of them sell out - the quantity will reset on the 15th of the month, and all Artist’s Choice designs can be ordered as custom art sets (they would qualify as Intermediate art) even after the designs rotate out for the season.
Free Size sets - Ready-to-Wear, no sizing kit necessary
Free Size Artist’s Choice sets are inclusively pre-sized, with more than enough size options to help make sure all your nails are covered! Gel tips in common sizes are doubled, which allows people who have up to four nails of the same size to find their fit. If your nails are in-between sizes, the doubles are extra useful - they can be gradually filed in at the cuticle edge to fill in those awkward sizing gaps!
Now that we know what they are, let’s take a closer look at the size options for each shape…
Extra Short (XS) Round
An XS Round Artist’s Choice Free Size set will have 14 sizing options per hand: sizes 0-11, with 3’s and 5’s doubled. The full set will contain 28 soft gel tips in total.
Extra Short (XS) Almond
An XS Almond Artist’s Choice Free Size set will have 14 sizing options per hand: sizes 0-11, with 2’s and 3’s doubled. The full set will contain 28 soft gel tips in total.
For the third “Rounded Natural” shape, there are 15 sizing options per hand. This is the shortest of the shapes and best suited for people with short/medium length nail beds. Finding a good fit in nails this short can often require sizing up a bit larger than your usual size, so I made sure to put in some extra sizes to give you more wiggle room!
Rounded Natural
A Rounded Natural Artist’s Choice Free Size set will have 15 sizing options per hand: sizes 0-9, with 1’s, 2’s, 4’s, 5’s and 6’s doubled. The full set will contain 30 soft gel tips in total.
**EDIT** Looking for the “Rounded Natural” shape? Now you’ll find it by a new name - Natural Soft Square!
Custom Sized sets - Pre-designed art made-to-order; sizes necessary!
Artist's Choice designs and shapes are non-customizable and inclusively pre-sized, so they can't be substituted or switched around. Although they’re painted with wear in mind, there's no guarantee that the designs for specific nails will match up with your personal fit.
Cover all your bases - Artist’s Choice Sizing Kit Bundle, which includes all available Artist’s Choice shape options
To make choosing a little bit easier and ordering that much smoother, I’ve added a sizing kit bundle to my Ko-Fi shop that works as a multi-purpose sizing kit for all of three of the Artist's Choice shapes (which also happen to be the most popular custom set shapes): Rounded Natural, Extra Short Round, and Extra Short Almond.
If you’re looking to order an Artist’s Choice set in your personal sizes, purchase a "Custom Sized" set and send an email to Vic@cafeaulei.art with your full name, the name of the set you purchased and list your sizes for each hand, from thumb to pinky. (Ex. Leighton Vic, Caffe Primo, R: 0, 7, 5, 6, 9 L: 0, 7, 5, 5, 9)
Don't forget to double-check the shape and length match the set before you send your sizes - each shape is different!
Coming Soon…
And that’s all there is to know about the new Artist’s Choice sets (for now)! Since today is the last day of the month, I figured I’d add a sweet little sneak peek of the design in progress.
April ‘23 Artist’s Choice - Caffe Primo, available in the Ko-Fi shop on 4/3, 12:30 p.m. EST
Are you as excited for these as I am? Don’t forget to check back in on Monday to see the final product. I hope you love them, and I can’t wait to paint for you all!
~ Leighton
