She's taking the French mani into a new dimension.
Rihanna has just signed off her approval on the French manicure. The nail trend has been the queen bee mani of the red carpet for much of the past year. But while the white-tipped nail design never really goes away, in true Rihanna fashion, she added her own personal touch to the classic, taking the humble French to the next dimension with a blink-and-you'll-miss-it layer of shiny chrome powder.
The French mani is so popular because it's simple and versatile, which means you can wear it with literally anything and everything and to every occasion. Rihanna wore her “golden glow French” manicure to launch the new Fenty Beauty Soft'Lit Naturally Luminous Longwear Foundation, which promises to be a “golden hour in a bottle” experience. Manicurist Kim Truong shaped the star's nails into her preferred shape, the square, then painted on a bright, bold white tip. At first, it looks like a simple French but if you zoom in, you'll see the subtlest glaze of shimmery, molten gold chrome powder dusted atop the base, a.k.a. the sweet spot where the reigning manicure of the 2000s meets the biggest trend of the 2020s.
Getty Images
Getty Images
Rihanna stuck to the golden theme with the rest of her look, including her yellow strapless Alexander McQueen dress and butter blonde hair, though she revealed she's already over the shade. “I get bored. I get bored, and I need to move on to something, or I'm going to crawl out of my body,” she shared. “Cut it. I don't care. It's hair. It'll grow back. Bleach it, whatever. Just do something.”
Rihanna's blonde era may be winding down, but the French manicure certainly isn't going anywhere. Selena Gomez wore a super chunky tip for her “Love On” music video, and Beyoncé was super loyal to her turquoise-studded “Texan French” pre-Cowboy Carter release. There are so many ways to customise the classic nail look, but I'll be copying Rihanna at my next appointment for sure.
This feature originally appeared on Allure.