From silver-dipped fingertips to five-hour hand-painted florals, here is exactly how the biggest manicures of the night were designed
Words | Rohini Wahul
At the 2026 Met Gala, nails told their own story. Under the Costume Art theme, every fingertip was a deliberate design decision and the results were some of the most technically detailed, visually arresting manicures the red carpet has ever seen. Here is exactly how each look was built, finish by finish and detail by detail.
Ashley Graham: Silver-Dipped Chrome Tips
Ashley Graham’s manicure was the dipped nail trend at its most dramatic. Her long silver nails featured fingertips coated in metallic silver powder that extended all the way beneath her knuckles, as though she had plunged her hands into liquid chrome. The effect created a two-toned finish: polished silver nail on top, matte powder-dipped tips below. It read simultaneously sculptural and painterly, a direct nod to artists who work with their hands. Nail artist Dawn Sterling created the look alongside makeup artist Richard Ogden.
Tessa Thompson: Paint-Drip Cobalt
Tessa Thompson’s nails looked as though they had been held above a pot of paint and left to drip. Nail artist Mei Kawajiri used Chillhouse polishes to build a textured, three-dimensional dripping effect in International Klein Blue, the iconic ultramarine shade made famous by French artist Yves Klein. The colour was deep, saturated and slightly uneven by design, replicating the organic movement of actual paint running down a surface. Thompson joked she had “accidentally dunked her nails in a thing of paint.” That was entirely the point.
Rihanna: Mixed Metal Elongated Tips by Kim Truong
Rihanna wore elongated press-on nails finished in alternating threads of gold and silver, creating a mixed metal effect that caught the light from every angle. The nails were sharp, dramatic and deliberately excessive in their length, matching the 115,000 crystal beads covering her Maison Margiela gown bead for bead. Manicurist Kim Truong built the look using OPI products, with the metallic tones running the full length of each nail rather than sitting only at the tip.
Lisa: Creamy White With Icy Blue Crystals by Juan Alvear
Lisa’s nails were finished in a soft, creamy white base and then individually set with icy blue crystals across the surface, inspired directly by Bvlgari jewels freezing over. The crystals were not clustered but placed with precision across each nail, creating a frost effect that felt three-dimensional and couture. Celebrity manicurist Juan Alvear built the look using KISS Glam press-ons and Powerflex Precision nail glue.
Emma Chamberlain: Watercolour Swirls by Tom Bachick
Each of Emma Chamberlain’s nails was individually painted with a creamy base then layered with organic swirls of yellow and blue in varying placements, so no two nails looked the same. The finish was translucent rather than opaque, allowing the colours to bleed into each other the way watercolour pigment moves on wet paper. Manicurist Tom Bachick used Tweezerman clippers and buffer blocks to create a pristine surface before the artwork began.
Naomi Watts: Hand-Painted Florals by Iram Shelton
Naomi Watts’ manicure was the most technically demanding of the night. Nail artist Iram Shelton spent five hours and thirty minutes hand-painting detailed flowers onto each nail using OPI’s Lady in Black as the base, then building individual petals and stems in multiple shades on top. Every flower mirrored the blooms embroidered on her Dior gown, making the manicure an extension of the dress rather than a separate beauty choice.
Sabrina Carpenter: Dark Chrome French Tips by Zola Ganzorigt
Sabrina Carpenter’s nails featured a milky, glazed chrome base using OPI’s Tin Man Glaze, finished with black tips edged in tiny pearl-like white dots inspired by film reels. The overall shape was a classic French manicure but the chrome base, dark tips and pearl detailing transformed it into something entirely editorial.
The Salon Takeaway
Every nail design at Met Gala 2026 was built around one idea: the manicure as a continuation of the look, not a finishing touch. Dipped chrome, watercolour swirls, crystal frost, hand-painted florals and moonstone finishes. These are the designs your clients are already screenspotting. Make sure your nail menu can deliver them.
