Keke Palmer's Birthday Nails Are a '90s Dream

With a special detail.

Everyone likes to go all out for their birthday. Dua Lipa celebrated with a beach vacation, the dreamiest cloud nails, and a full-on maximalist-raver ensemble. Selena Gomez rang in her solar return with a red minidress and Pamela Anderson updo. Simone Biles was the ultimate Pisces in her "diamond nude" birthday nails. And Nicola Peltz-Beckham was the classiest Capricorn in her blizzard French nails during her January birthday.

Over the weekend, Keke Palmer proved that Virgos can get down and dirty when she celebrated her "Durrty Thirty" with a photoshoot fit for the occasion; complete with long '90s French tip nails with a drip effect, new blonde highlights, and a smoky eye.

Although the steamy photoshoot is what drew us into her birthday post, her nails are what kept us staring. Long, sharp, and square cut; each nail had the classic '90s French tip style with a tan, clear, glossy bed and a white tip. However, what set her rendition of the classic manicure apart from the rest was a clear 3D drip effect each of the nails had. Kind of like the ultra-trendy dewdrop nails or chrome drip nails without the chrome—all of them had a water-like texture to them that was perfectly on theme for a shower-based shoot.

The shoot saw Palmer drenched by an off-screen hose with dirt on her body, wearing a glossy skin-tight snakeskin one-piece, and with "30" drawn her butt with what looked like self-tanner. She also debuted new blonde highlights in her crimped hair.

While highlights aren't new for Palmer—she iconically wore electric blue highlights in Usher's music video for "Boyfriend"—this is the first time we have seen her in this style: curly, wet-styled, and with chunky blonde '90s highlights spread through her deep brown hair. 

She finished off her birthday extravaganza with a dark and dramatic smoky eye with thick eyeliner on her water lines and a glossy finish on top of her lids, lined glossy lips with dark liner surrounding a brighter shade, and a soft matte complexion.

If you're looking to recreate her birthday manicure, you are going to want to start with creating a French tip on long square nails and then adding a drip effect on top. This look is best left to the pros, but if you're up to a challenge it can be done at home.

First, like all manicures, prep your nails by applying cuticle oil to your cuticles to soften and push them back, then wipe clean and cut and file them to your desired length and shape. After that, buff your nail bed for an even base, and grab the polish of your choosing.

For polish, you will first want to apply a tan base boat—no more than two coats—and wait for it to completely dry before creating your tip. Once dry, use tape to create the outline of your tip and coat it in two coats of white polish.

Then, peel the tape off and get ready for the drip. You are going to want to use something like IBD's UV Pure White Builder Gel ($40) to create the drips. Using a thin brush, outline drops of water on each of your nails, making sure they aren't completely the same but look like they could be related, then fill them in once you are happy with the shape.

Once those dry, seal it all in with a top coat, and you will be ready for your own special day.

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