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- Men in Hollywood Are Challenging Gender Norms Around Nail Art
Men in Hollywood Are Challenging Gender Norms Around Nail Art
by
ariel-baker
Getty / Patrick McDermott
As the conversations around beauty have evolved, so have the people who are actively claiming their places in the beauty community. From the rise of acne advocates to the normalization of traditional face tattoos in media, what was once an intentionally exclusive community has grown to include people from all walks of life. Nowhere is that more apparent than with the rise of the “menicure.”
Men wearing nail polish was popularized in the ’70s and ’80s when musicians like Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, and Robert Smith, all had manicures as a part of their aesthetics, but “menicures” actually date back much further than that. “A number of Old Kingdom (c. 2575-2150 BCE) elite tomb chapels include scenes of men receiving nail treatments,” Elizabeth Frood, associate professor of Egyptology at the University of Oxford, previously told POPSUGAR.
Today, we’ve seen a rise in men wearing nail polish and experimenting with their beauty routines. Most recently, Dwyane Wade’s nails were a topic of discussion when he wore a black and red Miami Heat-themed manicure during his Hall of Fame induction ceremony in January 2024. Even still, performers like A$AP Rocky and Bad Bunny have made nail art a part of their signature styles, proving to naysayers there is no gender binary in beauty, especially in the nail space. With that, there has also been a rise in brands created by celebrity men. Machine Gun Kelly revealed that he was working on his own nail-polish brand, Un/Dn Laqr, in April 2021. Shortly after, Harry Styles announced the launch of his nail-polish line, Pleasing, in November. Tyler the Creator became the latest to throw his hat into the beauty game with the launch of Golf le Fleur, which features three nail polishes, in December of the same year.
Because there has been so much inspiration going around as of late, we rounded up the best male celebrities that you can follow to recreate their looks.
Getty / 305pics
Dwyane Wade's Miami Heat Nails
For his Hall of Fame Induction ceremony, Wade wore a black-and-red manicure to celebrate his time on the Miami Heat.
Getty / Karwai Tang
Joe Jonas's Polka Dot Manicure
Jonas also starting experimenting with his looks after his boy-band days. After welcoming his daughter with wife Sophie Turner in 2020 – and promptly dyeing his hair platinum blond – Jonas has since continued to push the narrative of men in beauty, adding a myriad of tattoos to his collection. He started experimenting with nail polish in 2018 and has since showed up to numerous red carpets with a chic manicure to match.
Most recently, he turned heads at the 2022 Vanity Fair Oscars Party wearing a black manicure with polka-dot accent nails to match his suit.
Getty / Leon Bennett
Billy Porter's Silver-Glitter Manicure
Porter is known for his show-stopping fashion choices – remember that lampshade hat at the 2020 Grammys? – but he has also experimented with manicures. At that same Grammy ceremony in 2020, Porter wore a silver-chrome manicure, and in 2022 at the MusiCares Person of the Year honoring Joni Mitchell, he wore a glitter manicure to match his eye makeup. In April 2022, Porter wore a a silver-glitter nail polish to attend the Dance For Life Dance Festival to fight against HIV/AIDS and COVID-19.
Getty / Derek White
Tyler, the Creator's Blue Nails
Tyler, the Creator has attended countless red carpets with stylish manicures in tow. At the 2021 BET Awards, shortly before launching Golf le Fleur, he wore a pastel-blue nail polish on the red carpet. Maybe this was his own polish in Geneva Blue?
Getty / Kevin Mazur/MTV VMAs 2021
Machine Gun Kelly's Black Manicure
The more that Kelly started to lean more into his alternative-rock sound, the more he started experimenting with his looks. One of the first times that he publicly wore nail polish was during his “Tickets to My Downfall” tour, and since then, he has been seen with various manicures, from three-inch acrylic nails to a pink evil-eye design. Here, he attended the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards wearing not only a black manicure but also a matching glove accessory that looked like it was holding his hand.
Getty / Gareth Cattermole
Best Celebrity Men's Manicures: Harry Styles
Styles has continued to explore what self-expression looks like as he navigates Hollywood post One Direction. Alongside bold fashion choices, Styles also often experiments with beauty. “He seems to be more experimental since becoming a solo artist,” Styles’s manicurist, Jenny Longworth, previously told POPSUGAR. “Harry always has a good eye for color and we tend to gravitate to the same kind of ‘off’ shades.”
That eye was on clear display when Styles attended the BRIT Awards 2020 wearing a pastel-purple nail polish that perfectly coordinated with his sweater. Talk about nailing the details.
Getty / Raymond Hall
Lil Nas X's White Nails
In 2019, Lil Nas X attended the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund wearing an all-white manicure to finish off his futuristic outfit. This marked one of the first times that he was seen out in public with nail polish on, but the musician has since attended numerous award shows wearing bright nail colors and bold designs.
