Keke Palmer has never done anything boring in her life—especially not when it comes to her nail art.
The actor and musician (and Marie Claire cover girl) is currently in the midst of a press tour promoting her new series on Peacock titled The Burbs. Just ahead of her appearance on The Tonight Show this week, she attended a special screening event for the new series in New York City, where she wore black trousers and a black, mesh top featuring a leopard print pattern and velvet patches covering her chest area. Her glam for the night was a little less understated, as she wore her orange-red pixie cut (which she debuted last summer) in a gelled-down style along with a blood red lip color. And instead of wearing a dark or neutral nail color to the mid-winter event, she opted for something a little more fun in the form of orange aura nails with a nude base. If you look a little closer, you can also see that she included tiny studs on each nail and added a light-colored chrome powder to her thumb.
The aura nail trend typically combines two to three colors to create an ombré-like effect that extends from the center of the nail to the outer corners—it's supposed to look like an actual photo of an aura. This isn't a new trend, but it really took off last summer, and it's become a go-to design choice for celebs like Kate Hudson, who wore blue aura nails to the Song Sung Blue premiere back in November.
On the more woo-woo side of things, aura nails aren't just a pretty, colorful design. Some aura readers believe that you can incorporate specific colors into your aura nail design in order to manifest the things you want most in life.
“Color and especially something like aura nails can act as a wearable ritual because it subtly programs your subconscious, whether you’re manifesting love, leveling up in business, or calling in peace," aura reader, Susanna Merrick, previously told MC. "Color choices have the power to influence and transform the colors of your aura—only if you want them to, of course.”
Obviously, you can recreate the trend using whatever colors you want, depending on the look you're going for or what you want to manifest. Read ahead to shop everything you'll need to achieve Keke Palmer's look.
You can still wear a complex design even without the artistic ability to draw it on your own. Press-on nails can give you the look in less than 20 minutes.
If you're choosing to fully DIY it, start off by using gel extensions to play around with different lengths and shapes.
Make sure you have some strong nail glue on hand to attach a few gems to each design.
Use a beige or nude shade as your base color.
