It’s not every day we get a red carpet-appearance from Lindsay Lohan, so every time we do, we can’t help but celebrate. Whether it’s a New York Fashion Week front-row slayage or taking to the pink carpet to celebrate the new Mean Girls musical, whenever she shows up we can’t take our eyes off of her. Be it the hair, nails, outfit, or, truthfully, just her iconic aura, there’s always a reason to stare. This time? It’s her “glitter bomb” velvet nails.
On March 5, Lohan was in New York City for the premiere of her new Netflix film, Irish Wish—a rom-com fantasy, also starring Ayesha Curry. To celebrate the milestone she had to show up in style, which she did, but it was her sparkly nude nails that we truly couldn’t stop staring at.
The mani was the work of Lohan’s usual manicurist, Elle Gerstein, who wanted to create a nail look that was “cool girl glam” and “shiny yet neutral” to help “compliment [Lohan’s] vintage gown” without overpowering it. The result is what Gerstein is calling the “glitter bomb cat eye” manicure.
On top of a short, natural-almond shape, Gerstein created a soft nude champagne-like hue with a classic velvet effect. Appearing just like a cat eye gemstone, Lohan's nails looked like there was a base coat layered deep under a layer of resin or amber—encapsulating the shimmers like a snow globe. Depending on how the light hit each nail, the glitter layered throughout looked a little different, but each nail was equally as glowy as the others.
If you saw LiLo's red carpet nails and knew you had to recreate them as soon as possible, we luckily know the exact products Gerstein used.
After prepping Lohan’s nails, Gerstein applied a layer of the Aprés Base Gelcoat ($13) before going in with any color.
As for how she created the “glitter bomb” effect, she started with a coat of Aprés Gel Couleur in the shade Forgotten Film ($13). Once the base color was dry, she applied the brand’s HypnoGel Platinum ($15) and used the coordinating Magnet Wand to pull all the glitter particles to the top. Then, she cured the look and added Aprés Non-Wipe Glossy Top Gelcoat ($13) before curing Lohan’s nails again and sending her on her way.