Embellished manicures stole the show on the 2024 Oscars red carpet, but none compared to the meaningful nails donned by The Color Purple star Danielle Brooks. The almond-shaped, extra-long crystal-encrusted French manicure featured the number 26 on her ring finger, a moving ode to Brooks being the 26th Black woman nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category, the actor shared in a red carpet interview with E!
The nail set was created by celebrity nail artist Tameka Jackson, who broke down the process for creating the powerful manicure on Instagram. Jackson started off with taking Apres Official Sculpted Almond Extra Long Nails, and pre-sized each to ensure they fit perfectly on Brooks’s nail beds. She then prepped the nails with a hot towel manicure, wiped them clean with alcohol prep ready for the pH bonder and non-acidic primer. Jackson then followed up by applying one coat of extend gel to all of Brooks natural nails, and cured them for 30 seconds using an LED alpha lamp. A non-acidic tip primer followed, applied on each nail’s underside, allowing each to get tacky before applying extend gel and curing them for 10 seconds.
The final steps included Jackson fully curing all of the nails for 30 seconds, then shaping, buffing and applying Apres base gel, a coat of the color “New Year Wishes” mixed with loose silver glitter, and another 30 second LED lamp curing. Lastly, she applied one coat of non-wipe glossy top gel coat, cured for 30 seconds and finished by applying the Swarovski crystals to the French tip of the nails. The result? Flawless.
For more on manicures, check out our coverage of our favorite nail artist from around the world.
