Last week in Paris, Sha’Carri Richardson’s blistering speed helped land the US Women’s track and field team a historic Olympic gold. Just as superhuman as Richardson’s anchor run were her flashy coffin-shape fingernails, bedazzled with chunky Olympic-colored gems. On either of her thumbs were her famous quote, “I’m not back. I’m better,” handwritten in white letters.
“I put words of affirmation on [Sha’Carri’s] nails,” says Angie Aguirre, the Brooklyn-based artist behind Richardson’s nail designs. “When you’re in the spotlight and you feel like you are carrying the world on your shoulders, you just need something or someone to remind you about who you are.”
Richardson’s nails are reminiscent of the out-of-this-world sets donned by Florence Griffith Joyner (better known as Flo-Jo) decades prior. “She’s definitely an inspiration,” Aguirre says of Flo-Jo, who’s still recorded as the fastest woman in history. Richardson is closely following in the legend’s footsteps, both in setting athletic excellence, and in proving just what women with long nails can accomplish.
Aguirre, 42, gifted Richardson’s Olympics nails to her as a show of moral support. “I whipped those out in two hours,” Aguirre says with a laugh. “She put those on herself. She can do that with her eyes closed.”
Aguirre is behind the sprinter’s most viral nail sets. She first worked with Richardson for the ESPYs, ESPN’s annual awards ceremony, in 2021. She’s been doing Richardson’s nails more regularly since the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest. All of Richardson’s extravagant nails seen on her recent Vogue cover, as well as her commercials for the likes of Powerade and Sprite, are Aguirre’s creations. The long acrylic sets are often decked with rhinestones, crystals, gold studs, and just about every other type of embellishment imaginable that could fit on a human fingernail.
“People like me for what I would call maximalist nails,” Aguirre says. “I can look at anything and be inspired, [even] a couch.”
What was your relationship with nail art before it became your profession?
I started doing nails at a really young age—13, 12-ish. My aunts had come up from Panama and they were living with my grandma. They were doing hair and nails and everything, and I would watch them do it. I started to do nails because, well, I didn’t like my feet. They needed to be polished. And I was like, “Oh boy, I could do this. I actually can paint nails.” It came easy to me. Then I started doing everyone else around me—my grandmother, my aunts, my mom, my friends. You know when you’re a kid people are kind of like, “No thank you.” No one ever told me no. I have a huge family with a lot of women, and we’re really close. There was always somebody to do somebody’s nails. My grandmother has 12 kids, and all of those kids had about five kids each, and those kids had about four to five kids each.
You’ve been doing nails for more than two-thirds of your life now. What does that form of expression mean to you? What role did nail art play in your relationships with your family?
Before, everything was very mild-mannered in terms of nail art. Back in the 80s and 90s, we started to get a little swish here, a little flower there. When I became a teenager, it was like, “Oh yeah, I’m getting tips put on, rhinestones.” And we started to go. I would try it on my cousins, my aunts, and it was bonding time for us. You’re exchanging energy and ideas while I create art. I didn’t have a license then, of course. I would charge $20 to do acrylics and stuff like that in high school.
Have you always been artistic?
My mom was very strict when we came from Panama. I think she was scared, being a single parent in another country. My brother and I had a curfew, or sometimes we were not allowed to go outside with everyone else, so we would sit in front of the TV and draw cartoons. Then I just turned to nails, and my brother into other stuff, like digital art.
When did you decide to get a license and set your mind that this was going to be your career path?
After college, I became a case manager for children in foster care. While I was doing that, I’m like, “Man, this job is thankless.” Lots of hours, doesn’t pay well. I had a child, so I had to work, I had bills to pay. I started to do children’s parties on the side. I would set up manicure booths at children’s parties in Brooklyn, and offer facepainting. And then I said, “You know what? I think I want to go all the way with this.” So I decided to go to nail school at night. I did 250 hours for the state of New York, part-time in the evening. My teacher referred me to a salon in Tribeca. You should always work at a salon to get that experience.
I wanted to open up my own salon, but I had no money to do that. On my 30th birthday, I woke up and I felt worthless. I felt like I’m not living in my purpose. I just felt really bad. I woke up crying and sent my friend a message. She came from a finance background and knew money. We opened up a salon in 2011 in Brooklyn called Very Polished, and it was beautiful.
I stepped back in 2015. I lost my brother and my aunt at the time, and I guess depression kicked in. I stopped doing nails for like six months, then I was offered a position at a hair salon that needed a nail tech. That was Neal Farinah’s salon and he’s the one who does Beyonce’s hair. I did that for a year and it was great. I started to get confidence in myself again, and decided to work for myself. My boyfriend let me work out of his apartment. I started taking clients and I have not had an empty schedule since.
How did you start working with Sha’Carri and your other celebrity clients?
I met a girl by the name of Nikki Nelms who does everyone’s hair in the industry. She does Janelle Monae, Zoe Kravitz, Serena Williams, everybody. She introduced me to Janelle in 2017 for the Met Gala. That’s the first time I met her and I did her nails for the Met, and we have been rocking ever since. I met my agent at my first salon, and she introduced me to Sha’Carri.
What’s your relationship like?
I met her to do her nails for the ESPYs in 2021 and we took a long break. She had just been training, laying low. Then last year after she won Budapest, they called me to do her nails for a drink campaign, and we started working from there.
She’s so dope. She’s an amazing person. Sha’Carri is what I would call a phoenix. When people think you’re done, you’re finished, there’s nothing else you could give, you rise and you shut everyone down. She is resilient. She’s kind. She’s direct. She says what she means and she stands on it. You don’t ever have to figure out what she’s thinking, and that makes things easier when you’re on set. She also cares about her team. She’s always concerned about, “Is everyone hungry? Did you guys eat? What are we doing next?” She’s very involved. She also lets you be creative. She’ll give an input, but it’s never enough to block your creativity.
Sha’Carri wants her nails long, and wants everything on them. Would you say that’s pretty reflective of her character and personality?
She’s very carefree. She’ll be like, “If I tell you what to do, then you’re not the pro.” And that’s the truth. I can’t tell her what to do on the track. That’s her thing. That’s her lane. So she allows you to stay in your lane and produce great things.
The nails for the Olympics, I actually sent those to her. I gifted those to her because she had to work so hard to get there. I just felt like this is her moment.
So you made and designed them, and she put them on herself?
She put them on. She knows how to put on all her nails. She know how to take it off and put it right back on. She can do that with her eyes closed.
It’s interesting because long and extravagant nails are almost contrary to high-functionality and efficiency. How do you think her nails amplify her as a person, as a woman, and as an athlete?
Her nails are a part of her character at this point. If you look back at Flo-Jo, everyone knew Flo-Jo was the fastest woman in the world, and she had long ass nails. That was her thing. Along with being able to run fast, understand that Sha’Carri’s going to have long ass nails. They are going to be loud as hell because she’s little, she’s short. You got to walk in the room and really make your presence be felt. These other girls that run are tall, they have long legs. Sha’Carri is 5’1”, petite. When you see her, it’s probably her fingers you’re looking at first. You can scroll through Instagram and not see her face, but you know that those are her hands. It sets her apart.
KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images
I ask her questions like, “What’s your favorite lane to run in and why?” And I just put that on the nails, the significance behind it. If I do a nail for her, there should be a significance behind it. The nails for the Olympics, I wanted to put her quote on there. She stands by that quote, and I wanted her to be able to look at her fingers and actually remind herself, because sometimes when you’re in the spotlight and you’re under so much scrutiny, you feel like you are carrying the world on your shoulders, you just need a reminder real quick. You need something or someone to remind you about who you are. I put words of affirmation on the nails.
That’s incredible.
You are young and now you have to show the world that you can stand on what they thought you couldn’t do. They counted you out, and now you’re back, performing on the biggest stage in the world, so now you’ve got to shut everybody up. She was nervous and anxious and all of the above. So If I could give her anything that would remind her of who she is, give her a little bit of comfort when she looks down on her nails, then let’s do it. Any relationship you get into, you want to add value to it. You don’t want to just deplete. That’s a working relationship, a friendship.
How would you describe your aesthetic as a nail artist?
It’s what I would call maximalist nails. I can look at anything and be inspired. I can look at a couch and be inspired by the texture, the color, the design. My clients just let me do me. That’s when I do my best work. You couldn’t tell Basquiat what to do, and now his work sells for millions of dollars.
Nail art and other salon jobs like hairstyling are very client-driven lines of work. I love that you run with your creativity and that your clients come to you for that.
If I ask my client, “What you feeling like today?” They’re like, “What? Don’t do this.” They don’t even pick their own colors [Laughs].
What’s your most memorable nail set with Sha’Carri, or of all time?
Oh my goodness. Well, the Olympics nails seem to be the most memorable right now. These things are viral. I didn’t know they would go viral, I just wanted to gift her something.
In addition to Sha’Carri and Janelle Monae, you also work with Ice Spice. How would you distinguish the three of their styles?
They’re all very different ends of the spectrum. Janelle is into the arts. She’s an artist’s artist. Her aesthetic is black and white, which is my favorite kind of art to do. Sha’Carri is young and hip. She’s not afraid of the art, which is why her nails have everything on it. Ice Spice is very particular in terms of nail trends. It’s very “now,” like the big, thick French manicure and a lot of the Hello Kitty look and all those things.
What is your dream nail set or dream client, dream event?
This [the Olympics] would have been the dream event right here. I don’t have dream clients because I’ve manifested them already. Literally, I write them down, send them to my agent, tell my daughter. I manifested them.
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