I’ve been making nails in SL for at least 9 years now. I often get questions about why certain nails can or cannot do this or that, why I don’t create appliers for x, why I don’t have more nail shapes, etc.

The short answer is… it’s complicated.

The slightly longer answer is that it really comes down to how each type of nail system is different and how much time I have. Each set of nails was made by different people, for different bodies and nail kits, with different features and limitations. Average customers do not tend to see how things work behind the scenes so they may not understand how to use the different nail options or why they work the way they do, so I figured I would try to vomit all that information out in one place. So here is more information about nails than you probably ever wanted to know!

First, a history lesson

Let’s talk about the dark days… the days before mesh. Nails were not really a thing. The system body had a tiny blob at the end of the fingers and toes that was vaguely like a nail, but so small that it was essentially useless. Hands and feet were static, blocky and ugly. Prim nails were not much of an improvement. Eventually sculpties came along, which were a little better, but for the most part no one bothered to try to customize their nails because it just didn’t look good.

Then came the day mesh was introduced. Shoe creators began including a mesh foot as part of the shoe, to replace the hideous chunks that were the default feet. You had to tint it to get it to match the rest of your body and it was never a true match, but we began to see better nails included with different nail color options. Eventually, along came Slink. They initially created only mesh hands and feet, but with more options than we had ever had before, including the ability for people to create custom nails! I went nuts creating nails for Slink, making hundreds of different nails and eventually my store had *only* nail appliers. I really drilled into creating nails.

Slink only nails from 2014. Aren’t they adorable?

Eventually full mesh bodies became standard, and with them more nail options. Body creators made “dev kits” that allowed others to design nails and apply them to the body’s nails, and eventually, even more nail options came, such as mesh nails fitted to different bodies to expand on the available customization.

One of my nail sets from 2017 when more bodies were available

What is an applier anyway?

An “applier” is a HUD that attaches to your screen and has buttons which you push to add or change a texture on your head, body, nails, clothing, etc. In terms of nails, appliers are how you change the nail color/design. Body creators release “developer kits” with scripts that allow other designers to make and sell custom nails to work on their body. Maitreya has a Maitreya kit, Slink had a Slink kit, ebody has ebody kits, etc. As a designer, I use the dev kit’s scripts to create nail appliers for different bodies. This means that what designers can create is limited to what the body creator allows, and each one is different. (I actually keep a spreadsheet to help me track them all!)

Some bodies allow users to control each nail individually, some don’t. Some have only one nail on the UV (a UV is like a pattern) and apply that one texture to each nail, so all the nails are identical. Some have five nails on the UV so each nail can be different, but it still applies that texture to all the nails. Some have a different UV for the hands vs the feet, some don’t.

There are also various nail shapes. What shapes are available is determined by the body creator and is usually changed through the body HUD. Sometimes the texture stretches with the shape, which can cause warping. Sometimes the nail shape cuts off the area of the texture that isn’t in use, so short nails use less of the texture and long nails use more. This avoids warping the design, but makes it a bit more complicated to design for because designs can be cut off or look strange on different nail lengths. Most also automatically mirror the design, so things like words and letters will be facing the wrong way on one hand which is why I don’t design with words, letters or anything else that will look wrong when flipped.

Making nails that will look good on every UV, nail shape, length, etc. is nearly impossible, but we try!

Here is a rundown of each of the nail appliers I currently/recently create for and a basic overview of how they work and what features they offer:

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Belleza Gen.X

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eBODY Reborn

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Maitreya Lara

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Legacy

Legacy Uses one UV with five nails on it. That UV is used for both the fingers and toes. The textures cuts off depending on the length of the nail being used. It also has an interesting quirk to it. The nails on the UV are extra long, but there is no extra long nail option in the Legacy HUD (at least not of this posting)

The body HUD comes with ___ lengths and styles.

Omega

Omega is unique in that it is not a particular body, but rather a system that can be used across different meshes. It uses one, square UV that stretches over the nail it is applied to. Whether or not you can control individual nails or the shape of the nail depends on what mesh you’re applying Omega to. It gives you a wider variety of items you can use the applier on, but there will be warping because the texture has to try to fit on any nail shape. I usually suggest sticking with simple designs when using Omega, or shorter nails. For very long nails anything like patterns or complex designs will be badly warped.

Whether or not an item can use Omega is determined by the creator of the body or nails. The item *must* use the Omega UV, so bodies with custom nail UVs (Like Maitreya, eBODY and Gen.X) are not compatible. Also newer items usually can’t use Omega because the creator has been MIA from SL, and thus new creators cannot get their items added to the system.

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How an applier is different from the CAZIMI Base Mesh Nails

Appliers can only apply to the mesh they were made to work for. For nails this means that the appliers only work on the nail that come with the body that the applier was created for. Maitreya appliers work on Maitreya’s nails. Gen.X appliers work on the Gen.X nails. etc.

Mesh nails that come separate from the body do not use the body’s appliers. They are rigged to different bodies so that they will fit them properly, but they use their own applier system and their own UV. This can give the nails more options and control than the nails that come with the body.

My nails, for example, do not warp the designs applied to them. Each nail can be individually controlled. The UV has all 5 nails on it, so each nail can look slightly different for more realism such as a different angle of gloss or small variations in the design that mimic real nail art. They have more materials (shine) options than most body nails do. If you use a body that doesn’t have these features, my nails will give you those options. In the end that’s really what it comes down to, different options for different people’s preferences.

I’ve made my mesh nails only 1L so that they are accessible and people can really use them thoroughly without dropping a lot of money. If you like them enough to buy more colors, awesome! If you want to stick with body appliers, go for it! Whatever works for your situation.

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Some common questions or confusion that I see about nails:

“Why don’t you create nail appliers for x body?“

I have to create nails that work across different patterns and nail shapes, with different options, and try to make them all look good. It’s a time consuming process, so I try to limit myself to the bodies that the most people have and that will work best for compatibility. In a perfect world I could make them for every body out there, but the differences between nails across different bodies are just too complicated to do that.

There are some bodies that do not have nail kits, that I couldn’t find enough info about their nails to know how to use them, that contain known errors that make them unreliable, are incompatible with my workflow/setup or are just too niche to sell well enough to be worth the time it would take to create them.

“Why don’t your x body appliers have y feature?”

Applier creators have a limited ability when it comes to the features of the applier. You probably need to ask the body creator to add that feature. For example, most bodies don’t let you control individual nails, so I cannot add that feature to an applier. It just doesn’t exist. If enough customers request it maybe the body will add it in an update, so send them the suggestion and cross your fingers!

I also created my own mesh nails to get around some of these limitations, such as controlling each nail and more control over materials, so if you really want a feature check out the Base Mesh Nails to see if they give you that option.

“Why don’t you make extra long nails?”

Honestly they are just not my style, so I feel like other creators who do enjoy that style can do them better.

“Why don’t you make more nail shapes for your mesh nails?”

Unfortunately in order to keep the designs from warping they would need their own UV per shape, which means making the same design multiple times for multiple shapes, which is very time consuming. Perhaps someday when I have more time (HAH!) I will add another shape, but at the moment I only have enough bandwidth for one.

“Why don’t you make mesh toe nails?”

Those come with extra complications, like sticking out of shoes. It also means it would take longer to make new nail sets, and for most people toe appliers cover their needs, so I’ve not felt a need to add mesh toe nails.

“Why did you change your nails to sell them by applier type?”

Customers were buying nails without understanding what was included/needed to use them, or asking to only buy certain appliers. Switching to selling them by applier type seems to help people purchase exactly what they need, and it’s cheaper than buying all the appliers together. Of course you can still buy everything together as a fatpack if that is preferable.