Since 2021, from Bad Gyal to Rosalía, via Billie Eilish or Cardi B, nail art is proudly worn by a new generation of artists who advocate fluid, strong and modern femininity.
“ Bad Gyal, how do you lias los porros con esas uñas? Brandished by his fans during his concerts, these signs come back like a running gag. " Bad Gyal, how do you roll your joints with those nails?" Indeed, the latter are conspicuous, imposing, brilliant, almost architectural. Without her fake acrylic nails, the Spanish singer's look would be incomplete.
On stage, they accentuate his movements, underline his assertive character, give him a feline stature. If her XXL manicure is one of her distinctive features, for the past ten years, the nails of women and men of all ages and all over the world have been getting longer, colored, and their hands have been embellished. Reflecting social inequalities, cultural expression and standards of beauty, the practice of nail art has many stories to tell.
From Ancient Egypt to the Bronx
Before arriving at the hands of Bad Gyal, nail art traveled through eras and civilizations for almost seven millennia. From 5000 to 3000 BC, women in ancient Egypt and India were already painting their hands and nails with henna, while in Babylon men coated their nails with black or green kohl to prepare to go to war. It is then in China, in the era of the Ming dynasty in the 14th century .century, that the first false nails would have seen the light of day, adorning the hands of the imperial family with long metal guards encrusted with gold and precious stones. During the reign of the Egyptian queens Nefertiti (1370-1333 BC) and Cleopatra (69-30 BC), who wore their nails dark red, poor citizens were only allowed to wear varnish than if it were a light colour.
Indeed, for centuries and across different cultures, having long fingernails indicated a high and privileged social status, symbolizing not having to perform manual labor and leading a life of leisure. Adopted in different forms by women and men over time, the Western world really adopted nail art at the beginning of the 20th century .century, when the first varnishes were marketed, then popularized by American stars such as Josephine Baker, Rita Hayworth and Farrah Fawcett. Their nails are worn short, soberly painted in red, pastel colors or mother-of-pearl.
While manicures had long been an expensive service reserved for wealthy women, the wave of Vietnamese immigration to the United States in the 1970s saw the mass opening of inexpensive beauty salons. Nail prosthetics then took off, adopted, invented and reinvented across countries and communities: 3D nails in Japan, black nails for punks or even French manicure for the most sober.
While they became commonplace in the 1980s within the African-American community, acrylic false nails were popularized by artists such as Missy Elliott, Lil' Kim, La Toya Jackson or the athlete Florence Griffith- Joyner, known for breaking world sprint records with 10 centimeter long fingernails in the colors of the American flag.
" For us, nail art was really a culture ," says American nail artist Bernadette Thompson, who created the faux nails made of banknotes that Lil' Kim wears in the music video for "Get Money" alongside Notorious. BIG “ In the neighborhoods, if we couldn't afford a Mercedes or live in a villa, we expressed ourselves through our nails, our hair, our clothes ,” she explains. It was also a status symbol: basically, the longer your nails and the more rhinestones, the more successful you had been. »
Long associated with underprivileged circles and considered too extravagant or vulgar, acrylic nails ended up being adopted by pop stars like Lady Gaga or Katy Perry. From the mid-2010s, as hip hop evolved and became the most listened to musical genre in Western countries, the fashion for acrylic false nails conquered a wider audience, leading many personalities to be accused of cultural appropriation. . " I remember that when Katy Perry wore 'money nails', the magazines talked about it as something exceptional, as if she had invented them ", says Bernadette Thompson.
“ At no time did they talk about who started this trend. Bad Gyal, for his part, admits to being inspired by American rappers for his manicures. “ They are the ones who have always worn their nails very long, with jewelry. At the beginning I did not put as much , “she recalls. “ It mostly came when Cardi B came in with her very bling-bling style. »
Reclaim feminine standards
In 2021, XXL shiny false nails in gel or resin are sculpting the fingers of a whole new generation of artists who advocate fluid, strong and modern femininity, from Bad Gyal to Rosalía, via Billie Eilish. If Bad Gyal sees her nails as " delicate, pretty ", as " something to be careful about ", Rosalía likes to describe them as " a weapon ", a tool of empowerment that helps her to feel powerful.
According to Maritza Paz, resident nail artist for the two Spanish singers and owner of the Dvine Nails salon in Barcelona (to whom Rosalía pays homage in her song “Aute Cuture”), both “ emerge from the manicure with a boost of confidence, feeling invigorated and confident . This is also a feeling that is shared by all the women who leave the salon.
According to Samantha Kwan, a researcher at the University of Houston, an expert in the sociology of the body and in gender issues, beautiful hands and manicured nails traditionally reflect an image of good health, youth and vivacity. But more than just an aesthetic element, today's nail art could be a way of reclaiming traditional Western feminine codes, as well as a form of internalized resistance to outdated beauty standards. “ Internalized resistance, whether intentional or not, is the rejection of mainstream ideals and what they stand for, such as white-imposed ideals of beauty, heterosexism, or simply a style deemed too boring ” , explains Samantha Kwan.
"Rejecting a more subdued aesthetic in favor of extremely long, highly decorated, acrylic or gel nails can be a way to assert yourself as unique and unconventional. »
Knowing that a false nail application can sometimes take up to four hours, when a woman walks into a nail salon, it is also a question of socialization. “ I love the relationship with the clients. We are face to face, we discuss, we pick up the conversation where we left off… ”, says Maritza Paz. “ A bond is woven. You end up being a bit like a shrink .” Rosalía, in an interview with Clique , speaks of Maritza as a “ friend ”: “ We talk a lot, because it takes time, you have to be patient, it's like a ritual (…). I love spending these moments with her. I get her energy, as she holds my hands for hours. In numerous interviews, Cardi B refers to her nail artist, Jenny Bui, as her " second mother ."
This very special contact, Bernadette Thompson also feels it with her clients. “ Doing someone's nails is ultra personal. I touch this person, there is something psychological that is happening , ”she says. “ I feel his personality, his mood, and then I know which design and which color to choose to cheer him up. Sometimes, as was the case with Madonna, I have to insist. But the client always ends up thanking me and feeling good when she leaves. »
Since 2017, Bernadette Thompson's famous money nails created for Lil' Kim have been on display at MoMa in New York. Surrounded by other symbols of the 20th century , such as the Tiffany ring, Calvin Klein boxers or Ray-Ban glasses, they symbolize innovation, modernity, the starting point of a new fashion. After millennia of tradition and evolution, nail art, in all its creativity, its universality and its capacity for empowerment , seems to be here to stay.