Jennifer Lopez debuts a new manicure every week—sometimes bi-, or even tri-weekly. And with each polish job comes the sort of fascination that stops scrolling and sparks trends. This is thanks to both Lopez’s high-glamour tastes and her relationship with longtime collaborator nail artist Tom Bachik, the mastermind behind some of the year’s most viral mani moments.
“With Jennifer, it’s always about making it the best that I can,” says Bachik. “She’s very meticulous, so we try to make them as perfect as possible.” For Bachik, that means starting with a thorough manicure (no misshapen tips or dry cuticles here), consistent shapes and healthy nails feeding both his and Lopez’s sensibilities.
The two are constantly collaborating, texting inspo back and forth, and generally iterating on Lopez’s sumptuous signatures. “Jennifer loves rich and classy [style]. That’s her kind of overall aesthetic in everything she does,” says Bachik. “And then as we get into JLo, then we get a little more extreme, a little more street, so it’s playing with what works for both.” A medium-length tapered square serves as Lopez’s go-to silhouette (“This gives you an elegant look, because it kind of elongates the finger”), while her current palette is all down to nudes—and shimmer (“she loves sparkle”). Since coining rich girl nails late last year, neutrals and tone-on-tone looks have found favor with Lopez. “Perfectly high-gloss-looking nails,” explains Bachik. “She’s really been into those earthy tones, taupe-y nudes.”
When conceptualizing a nail look, Bachik ensures that the manicure fits within the narrative, rather than attempting to overpower it. “We sit down and analyze the look for the night and ask, ‘Who do we want to be? How do we complete the look?’ because that’s kind of what it comes down to,” he says. “Nails are the punctuation. Sometimes it’s a period, sometimes it’s an exclamation point.”
Here, a selection of Lopez’s best manicures of 2023.
Lipgloss Nude
Bachik’s lip gloss nails are an obvious pick for Lopez, combining the performer’s penchant for shimmer with the luxe feel of a sheer, glazed finish. The manicure offers a seamless means of playing up a would-be neutral nail, transmuting the look into something radiant and intelligently playful.
Candied Apple
Though Lopez tends toward medium to long nails, shorter silhouettes are embraced—so long as they’re executed with Bachik’s trademark perfection. This candied red played up Lopez’s pinstriped look for Ralph Lauren’s spring 2023 show, the nails pairing with an outsized fedora for a sophisticated mafiosa aesthetic. “ I’m always thinking about the accessories,” says Bachik. “I never necessarily want nails to stand on their own, because it feels like it’s the whole look that really matters.”
Sweater Weather
Lopez and Bachik’s rich girl nails have evolved since their 2022 inception, deftly pulled, creamy neutrals providing ensembles with a touch of subtle excess. This iteration, dubbed a sweater weather mani by Bachik, features a taupe-y gray that’s cozy, sumptuous, and primed for cold weather wear.
London Fog
Fashion week calls for elevated manis, the better for resting hands atop programs, subtly pointing out favored looks, and obscuring your mouth as your dish with your front row companions. For Coach’s spring 2024 show, Bachik drew inspiration from JLo’s eyeshadow, mixing polishes to create a milky muted lavender reminiscent of a London Fog latte.
Caliente Set
This quintessential JLo look plays up Lopez’s roots via a sheer, ballet pink foundation bedecked in a medley of Latin-inspired motifs. Diamante crosses, symbols of Mary, and gilded hoops and chains combined to communicate the thematic moment, the word “Latina” printed over the index nail cementing the message.
Sunday Shimmer
For Lopez, shimmer is a forever sort of thing. “Even when she’s not doing anything for JLo, she loves still to have some sort of accent to the nail.” Case in point: this sheer pale pink infused with a baby shimmer that brought swaths of velvet or twirling, gossamer tulle to mind.
Heavenly French
Another example of neutral plus, Lopez’s nude French combines a tawny beige base with a translucent shimmer tip. The look was designed to ooze an angelic sort of luxury, an ideal choice for the holiday season and well beyond.
Hot Girl Nails
Rich girl nails, but make ‘em hot! Like Jen Atkin’s “hot girl hair” before them, Bachik’s hot girl nails are about a seemingly effortless more-is-more vibe. In this case, Lopez’s hot girl mani is down to a peachy natural finished in a pretty high gloss, the better to warm up an assemblage of chrome accessories.
Chanel Studded
For the 2023 Met Gala, Lopez paid homage to thematic honoree Karl Lagerfeld in a head-to-fingertip Chanel moment. “We wanted nails that fit the outfit,” says Bachik of Lopez’s Met Gala mani, replete with chic onyx detailing and a Swarvoski double C. “When I’m designing the nail look, I try to think about what she’s wearing and how the nails become an extension of that.”
Spring Florals
Petaled additions will forever sing spring, a fact embodied by this buoyant floral manicure. The choice of colors, from tangerines to yellows to pinks, teamed to create a vibe edged between Y2K bubblegum and ‘60s hippie, aka the ultimate in stylish slumber party manis.
Micro French Fantasy
More glitter, please. “We’ll do a shimmer, we’ll do a sparkle, we’ll do French manicure but in transparent iridescent, so it’s there but it’s not there,” says Bachik, aptly describing an ethereal mani donned this spring. “We always try to incorporate sparkle in some degree for the most part.”
Diamond Lines
The best way to play up a Grammys x Gucci moment? Diamonds, diamonds, and more diamonds. To make a lipgloss manicure more Lopez, a midline of diminutive crystals—tinily tiered from base to tip—provides extra shimmer and a literal match to a collection of shimmering accessories.
Glitter Edge
Similar to the above style, this would-be neutral nail is afforded a sparkly note by way of a silver glitter tip. The thin rim serves to further Lopez’s almond-shaped mani, a rare departure from the duo’s usual tapered square.
