Nicki Minaj's "Pink Friday" Press-On Nails Just Landed
Minaj’s nail artist and collaborator, Yvett G., gives us the inside scoop.
The “Queen of Rap” is coming for your cuticles via her recently-released press-on nails. Nicki Minaj’s “Pink Friday Nails” are a creative collaboration with her longtime nail artist, Yvett G., who also oversees the brand’s production. The press-ons currently come in 11 designs ranging from full bling to more demure short sets. The brand is first in its class, as customers can choose their preferred shape and length of each individual design that’s offered, an unheard-of feat in the category.
Minaj ventured into creating nails as a necessity; upon becoming a mother, she quickly realized she could no longer spend hours in the salon and began using press-ons. She also realized a recurring issue, saying in a statement: “I have very small nail beds, so normally press-ons are way too big and don’t hit the same.” So, she sought to fix that issue with her own brand. “Our nails come from short to the longest length I wear, in all shapes, sizes and polishes,” she continued.
Unique to the rapper’s personal style, many of the brand’s limited-edition designs are re-creations of her most iconic moments. G. tells us that she initially sketched many of the designs by hand and later switched to crafting acrylic molds to show Minaj for approval before production.
“I drew inspiration from some of her outfits, music videos and past moments. It was easier for me to actually make [the molds] physically, as opposed to a mood board,” she explained. “It was important for the nail artist to create thick, durable nails, as she tells us that many press-ons are “plastic, flimsy and don’t support gems.”
All of “Pink Friday Nails” are custom molds that are exclusive to the brand. Some nails have up to 400 gems and charms on them and yes, the infamous MTV VMAs nail she lost, which was later sold by fans on eBay for $55,000 USD, inspired a set style.
To get the most enjoyment out of the brand, G encourages customers’ creativity, stating that the heavily gemmed sets are “more like accent nails, you’re meant to mix and match them to create your own sets.” She also tells us that diversity is important to the brand, as they intentionally selected hand models of varying complexions and aim to have several nude-tone base colors for the next iteration of French manicure sets so that all customers can find their match.
The acrylics are being offered in four shapes: stiletto, coffin, square and almond as well as five lengths: short, medium, long, XL and XXL. The box packaging includes the nails, glue, adhesive tabs, a cuticle stick, nail file and alcohol pad.
The duo also created the packaging to have a pull-out drawer for consumers to pour the nails into to make application easier. ”Pink Friday Nails” can be purchased on the brand’s website, priced from $20 to $25 USD.
For more nail news, check out our coverage of the ICECOLD’S Acrylics: Hidden Sculptural Art immersive exhibition.
