Chlöe Bailey's Gold Dust French Manicure Looks Expensive

Although we won’t get a chance to listen to her new album “In Pieces,” until March 31, Chlöe Bailey has been giving us a few hints about her latest project. On March 21, Bailey took to Instagram to share a carousel of BTS selfies from her cover shoot for the album, and they all include a chic take on the French manicure trend: the gold dust French mani.

“The many selfies of Chlöe 🤍,” Bailey captioned the carousel, in which she wears a white latex minidress with a corset bodice, puffed sleeves, and hip pads. The dress features ruffling along the neckline and hip pads, and her matching ruffled white latex choker makes her look like a Victorian dream. She tops the look off with her signature locs (which are now a bold red) and dainty pearl drop earrings.

Her gold dust manicure adds a glam touch to her sultry Marie Antoinette look, and has a medium length that’s elongated by its stiletto shape. Like many French manicures, Bailey’s nails feature a glossy nude base—but instead of creating a stark line that differentiates her nails’ bases from their tips, her manicurist blended gold chrome tips into the base. The result is an ombre French manicure that makes it look like Bailey dipped her nails into gold dust.

New nail trends pop on an almost weekly basis, so it's inevitable that we see them mesh together from time to time. It’s likely why J.Lo wore a diamond-studded lip gloss nail to the Grammys, and Madelyn Cline arrived at the 2023 HCA Awards with a glazed vanilla French manicure. Bailey’s manicure pairs the classic French manicure with the futuristic chrome trend—with a gold twist.

Recreating an ombre effect may seem challenging with a nail art brush, but there’s an easier way to go about the mani technique. First, apply a base coat to cleaned and prepped nails, and then choose a gold nail polish and nude polish. "Brush the colors in straight lines on the wedge makeup sponge," Lauren Dunne, cofounder and CEO of Varnish Lane previously told Byrdie. "Start with the lightest color at the base of the wedge. The colors can slightly overlap as you brush them onto the makeup sponge—this will help create the seamless fade." Then, blot the sponge onto the nails until you’ve reached an opaque finish in the tips and allow that to dry. After sealing your nails with a glossy top coat, you now have a gold dust French manicure.