Interested in upgrading your press-on nail wardrobe? Venture into the whimsical world of Elina Jung, a Pinterest haven known as ELINAILS.&nbsp;

A revived trend from the 80s and once an homage to Diana Ross&rsquo;s perfectly manicured nails, press-ons have made a comeback amid the pandemic. These lacquered wares carrying intricate designs have graced the runway shows of Pyer Moss, Christian Cowan, and Laquan Smith.&nbsp;

Enter nail artist extraordinaire Elina Jung, better known by the moniker ELINAILS, whose eccentric assemblage of Y2K-esque and retro designs captured the attention of many. From floral treatments to sugary holographic jelly bears, Elina Jung&rsquo;s feed is a refreshing take on nails filled with optimistic color palettes and smile-inducing embellishments. &lsquo;Tis the season of press-ons with Elina Jung bringing the whimsy to the funky-tipped nail trend.&nbsp;

L&rsquo;Officiel&nbsp;Philippines chats with&nbsp;Elina Jung about the story behind ELINAILS, her inspiration, and her creative process.&nbsp;
How did you start Eli Nails and why?
I&rsquo;ve been into nail polish since grade school. I first started using gel nails way back in 2012, when I was given a gel nail set as a gift. It started out as a small hobby, then my friends asked me to do their nails and we ended up doing nails for fun. They kept telling me to make a nail account, they were literally forcing me to so I ended up making an account called @elinails.co. At the time, I had zero intention of doing a nail-related business so my account was mainly just to post my own nails. Suddenly, people started messaging me asking if I accepted nail clients, so it just happened that I ended up accepting nail clients at home. 
When the pandemic started, I had to stop accepting clients. Eventually, they started messaging me again asking if I accept press-on nail orders and that&rsquo;s how this all started &mdash; all because of the pandemic and I never thought I could&rsquo;ve gone this far and become this big. It all just started as a little hobby, I mean it still is since I am still a college student. I&rsquo;m truly grateful and thankful for all the people who helped me in my nail journey.&nbsp;

Where do you get your design inspiration from?
Ever since I started selling press-ons and starting working with different people, I knew that I had to get crazy and creative with my nail designs using methods no one can do here in the Philippines. Compared to other countries, the nail industry here isn&rsquo;t that big. I thought there was a big opportunity for me in this industry with the designs I had in mind. I was at that point where all I could think about was nails. I would see patterns on shoes, clothes, and even on a leaf &mdash; literally everything and anything that I saw, I tried to put them on nails. And of course, I can&rsquo;t not mention that Pinterest was one of my biggest inspirations and also my friends! I can literally ask them about every little detail. I can&rsquo;t thank them enough for being my nail models for testing nail sets. Everyone I have around me is a blessing and an inspiration.

Who is your nail icon?
I can proudly say that @<a href="http://www.instagram.com/nail_unistella">nail_unistella</a> and @<a href="http://www.instagram.com/sojinails">sojinails</a> are my nail icons because they&rsquo;re Koreans too! They contribute to a huge part of the nail industry. They both have very different styles and I hope to be a versatile nail technician where I can do any kind of design &mdash; freaky or cute!&nbsp;

Before ELINAILS, it was hard to get cute and wearable press-ons. How did you make yours attractive and noob-friendly?&nbsp;
Actually before today, I was also kind of iffy about press-ons and honestly, I didn&rsquo;t like them either. But I think because of the situation we are all in (where people can&rsquo;t go to nail salons), it was the perfect timing for ELINAILS! People really needed to use press-ons.&nbsp;

What is the creative process behind your nail collections?
I personally think it&rsquo;s really, really important to be creative, as in 90% of the creative process is creativity and 10% is skills. I mean, I&rsquo;m just trying to emphasize how important creativity is. As I said earlier, I try to use anything with nails &mdash; I literally burn stuff to put on nails. I also think it&rsquo;s all about trying new things, creating countless samples in different shades, shapes, forms, and eventually, getting that one perfect sample out of thirty trials. Bottom line is: never, never be afraid to try new things! I swear that&rsquo;s when you can make something innovative and crazy.

"Bottom line is: Never, never be afraid to try new things!"

Are there any trends you&rsquo;re particularly inspired by?
I&rsquo;m not going to lie, the answer is definitely Pinterest. In my free time, all I do is scroll on Pinterest. I&rsquo;m also planning to make ELINAILS a Pinterest account, so yeah &mdash; you can stop by if you want!
What do you love about setting up ELINAILS? What was the fun part and what was hard?
The fun part is creating and the hardest part&hellip;also creating. But the hardest part is doing all the nail orders alone. Sometimes, no, most of the time, I reach the point of burn-out and I literally just want to lie down and do nothing. But when I think of my clients getting excited to get the nails, I just can&rsquo;t stop working. In terms of setting up an online business, it sure was hard at first. I&rsquo;ve also dealt with a lot of issues, but honestly, it was easier than studying!

"The fun part is creating and the hardest part&hellip; also creating."

What's in store for ELINAILS in the future?
I actually don&rsquo;t know because I never planned on doing a nail business and never planned getting recognized in nails. I also never planned to be interviewed like this. It&rsquo;s a dream-come-true moment, but given the circumstances, I would love to have my own nail salon in the future.

What are your passions and interests outside of work?
My passion and interest used to be nails but now that it&rsquo;s kind of my job, I have begun to love the time I spend with the people I want to be with. I&rsquo;m not sure if that made sense, but ever since I started this &mdash; I have a responsibility and a sense of duty to take orders and fulfill them on time. Unlike before, I don&rsquo;t have that much time to spend with my friends and family. So basically, my interest is going out with my friends. When I&rsquo;m not doing nails, I want to spend time with people.

"When I&rsquo;m not doing nails, I want to spend time with people."

Meet the Person Who Revived Press-On Nail Art: Elina Jung

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