Ayo Edebiri Put a Cool Girl Spin on Velvet Nails at the Emmy Awards

Ayo Edebiri’s style alone is deserving of an Emmy Award. From method dressing to gorgeous gowns, the actor always turns a look that feels authentic to her, and it makes tuning into tonight’s awards all the more exciting. Of course, she didn’t disappoint: Edebiri wore a strapless Bottega Veneta gown and she paired it with a never-been-done manicure that’ll be everywhere this fall.

We’d be lying if we said we weren’t waiting for Edebiri to shake things up at tonight’s 2024 Emmy Awards. The Bear actress arrived in a custom look from Bottega that was adorned with paint-splattered sequined dots in orange, yellow, and black. Stunning dress aside, we were in awe of her chic manicure that puts a spin on the popular cat-eye nail trend.

Crafted by manicurist Eri Ishizu, the actor’s nails had a plain black base with an unexpected blob of metallic cat-eye shimmer peaking through, as though it was a galaxy of stars reflecting on her nails. “I drew inspiration from Ayo’s stunning Bottega sequined dress and knew that combining metallic with sheer black would achieve the exact effect we envisioned,” said Ishizu. “The nails turned out to be the perfect accessory, seamlessly blending fashion with a standout nail moment.”

If velvet and aura nails had a baby, it would be Edebiri’s manicure. Ishizu mixed OPI’s Chrome Clawz, Saturn Me On, and Super Base Base Coat to create the custom shimmery chrome. The sparkles reflected to look like magnetic stars, similar to the effect of cat-eye polish but clustered in an aura-like shape. After applying the chrome mixture, Ishizu added a mix of the OPI GelColor Black Onyx and GelColor Super Base Base Coat to make a “jelly-like” texture that allowed for the metallics to slightly shine through.

The rest of Edebiri’s glam was simple and pretty. She wore her hair in loose mermaid waves with a soft glam makeup look featuring a bronzy base and smoked-out eyeshadow that was tied together with nude lipgloss.

Ayo Edebiri, the fashion (and now nail!) queen you are. Her shimmery aura nails are going on our fall manicure mood boards, stat!