Cynthia Erivo’s Blue Floral Nails Sent Me Straight to Oz
We’ve only got a few more weeks to wait until Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, and the rest of the crew take us back to Oz for Wicked: For Good, the highly anticipated second installment of last year’s Wicked adaptation, but Erivo gave us a little taste of the magic to come with a truly enchanting new manicure.
Erivo attended the annual LACMA Art + Film Gala in Los Angeles in an absolutely stunning, beaded Schiaparelli gown dotted with surrealistic eyes and an ethereal manicure to match, crafted by her frequent collaborator, London-based nail artist Shea Osei. For the glamorous fundraiser, Erivo skipped any trace of Elphaba green in favor of shades of blush and blue. Her signature long nails were painted in a swirly, curvy floral design, beginning with a milky pink base and incorporating frosty shimmer and bright blue tones. On Erivo’s thumbs, Osei applied a silvery-blue shade and outlined it with cobalt to define the shape. That same motif carried through to the rest of Erivo’s nails, with the pale shimmery blue color taking up more real estate on her pointer and middle fingers. The vivid cobalt color really pops against the white and silver of her dress, adding to the head-to-toe magic.
“The inspiration for Cynthia’s nails at the LACMA Gala really came from her look for the night. She always serves something bold yet refined, and I wanted the nails to reflect that same energy,” Osei tells Allure. “We went for something elegant with a bit of depth and texture, so the blue floral design would complement her outfit without overpowering it. Cynthia loves when her nails have a story or a little artistic twist, so I always try to include a detail that feels personal to her something that ties into the moment.” Osei used fine liner brushes to creat the flowers and added blue cat-eye texture to create the shimmer base before building on top with the darker blue, adding “more depth and character to each nail.”
Erivo is known for her ornate nail art, and made her love of beautiful nails part of Elphaba’s identity in the film too. “We have no tattoos showing anywhere, we had no piercing showing anywhere on anybody, but when Cynthia arrived on the scene she said, straight away, ‘I want to keep my nails,’” Wicked hair and makeup designer Frances Hannon previously told Allure. Osei created all of Elphaba’s nail looks for the first Wicked film, crafting dozens of sets of press-on nails so Erivo could easily switch between scenes; as Elphaba became more confident in herself and in her power, her nails evolved right along with her—and that’s exactly the kind of beauty-based storytelling we live for!
Wicked: For Good hits theaters on November 21, so you’ve still got time to book your nail appointment for some Elphaba-approved nail art.
More celebrity manis we love:
- Selena Gomez’s Iridescent Chrome Jelly Nails Feel So ’90s
- Megan Thee Stallion’s Nails Are in Their Lover Girl Era
- You Can See Right Through Hailey Bieber’s Glass Slipper Nails
Now, watch LE SSERAFIM take the truth serum:
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Source URL: https://www.allure.com/story/cynthia-erivo-lacma-gala-blue-manicure