J.Lo's Licorice French Nails Have a Chic Hidden Detail

Jennifer Lopez is a woman of many talents. She's a musician, actor, and even a craft cocktail mogul. Yet, we can’t stop obsessing over her nails. She’s the blueprint for the “rich girl” nail trend, and has since worn everything from diamond-studded lip gloss nails to an ethereal fantasy French manicure. Her latest manicure, however, might set the tone for the rest of the year—she wore a matte licorice French manicure with Chanel “CC” diamond decals at the 2023 Met Gala.

J.Lo and her team know the silhouettes that work best for her, so she wore a custom Ralph Lauren gown with a black halter top that meets at a frilly corsage at her neck. The halter top has a similar open-torso design as the legendary Versace dress she wore to the Grammys in 2000, but the similarities stop there. The rest of her dress featured a baby pink skirt and two black trains that gave her entire gown the appearance of one huge bow. Her stylists, Rob Zangardi and Mariel Haenn, finished the look off with a matching pink clutch, black opera gloves, a pearl ring, stud earrings, and a sculptural netted headpeice.

Under her gloves, J. Lo's longtime manicurist, Tom Bachik, gave the star a Chanel-inspired French manicure. Her nails featured a medium-length coffin shape and a new polish type for the star: a matte finish. The nails had a nude base, a diagonal black "licorice" French tip, and of course, the Chanel logo made with tiny black diamonds.

J.Lo rarely ever strays away from her typical glossy nails, and since the star is almost always at the forefront of nail trends, we’re guessing that matte nails may make a comeback this season. The idea isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds—matte skin came for glass skin almost overnight, and matte textures seem to be making their way back into manicures, too.

Bachik broke down the look on Instagram and revealed that he used his soon-to-launch Tom Bachik Nail Care Travel Set, made in collaboration with Tweezerman, to shape, file, and buff the nails. “I painted two coats of Essie Gel Couture Longwear Nail Polish in Fairy Tailor ($13) on the entire nail [and] followed by a coat of Essie Nail Lacquer in Licorice ($10) down the side in a diagonal motion across to the opposite edge of the tip.”

Next, Bachik says he applied a coat of the Essie Gel Couture Matte Top Coat ($13) “on top of Fairy Tailor only and then finished with a coat of Essie Stay Longer Top Coat ($11) on top of Licorice for a patent leather gloss.” Finally, Bachik hand-applied black diamonds to create Chanel’s “CC” logo on each of J.Lo’s ring fingers and then added moisture to the skin with the Essie Apricot Nail and Cuticle Oil ($11).

Makeup artist Ash K Holm reveals in an Instagram post that she wanted J.Lo’s natural beauty to shine through the glitzy glam. Holm says, “This look was really all about letting her natural beauty shine through the makeup. I wanted her eyes to peak through the hat with a sultry feline feel while focusing on getting the J.Lo Glow using our staple fav JLo Beauty products.”

After pepping her skin with J.Lo Beauty products, Holm shaped J.Lo’s brows using the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Definer ($26) in shade Soft Brown and locked the hairs in place with the Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel ($22). Then, she used the Huda Beauty Empowered Eyeshadow Palette ($69) to create a dark and snatched smoky eye and topped the look off with falsies from the Kiss My Lash But Better Collection ($12). For a natural nude lip, Holm used the Buxom Plump Shot Collagen Infused Lip Serum ($28) in shade Soft Blush, and defined the lips with the Buxom Power Line Plumping Lip Liner ($21) in shade Hush Hush Henna.