Nailed It: Essence Festival 2023

Source: Samjah Iman

The girls came to Essence Fest with their nail game on lock! Fashion wasn’t the only thing popping up at this cultural event. The claws were the “it” accessory the entire weekend, adding spunk to already-jazzy ensembles. From bright green coffin-shaped nails to intricate designs and fancy jewel art, nails were taking center stage at Essence Fest, and we got up close and personal on a few intriguing nail designs that we had to share.

Nail art has taken on a life of its own thanks to the influence of social media content creators and some of our favorite celebrities. Gone are the times when a simple French manicure did the trick. Nowadays, nails are a reflection of creativity, moods, and passions. They are bold, colorful, often long, and adorned with designs and art that tell a stylish story about the person rocking them.

This year’s Essence Fest brought out an array of nail looks that emitted fierce Black girl magic vibes. Of course, the festival boasted many fashionable outfits and phenomenal hairdos’, but the nails, honey, were fabulous to the tenth degree. Jump in below to see how ladies stylishly clawed through Essence Fest 2023.

1. Floral Stiletto Nails

Candice Nicole’s nails were clad with colorful flowers, black and white polka dots, and zebra print painted over a shimmery nude color. 

2. Da Blues

Malikah gave us the blues with her creative nails, accented with shimmer and white designs on a mix of square and stiletto nail shapes. 

3. Green Allure

Tori Bishop chose to decorate her Essence nails with a rich green hue, tribal dots, and fancy lines. 

4. Black, White, Gold Mix

Kerri Paul kept it simple and cute with her white nails that featured gold accents. She added two black nails on each hand for a bit of drama. 

5. Naturally Bejeweled

Sade Banks amped up her natural-colored stiletto nails with gold designs and dazzling jewel art. 

6. Yellow French Manicure

Sydney put a fabulous twist on the French manicure by adding yellow to the mix and topping a few nails off with an adorable daisy design. 

7. Classy French Manicure

Jessica kept it classy with her gorgeous French manicure that featured bling art on two nails. 

8. Chromed Out

To match the golden magic that transpired throughout Essence weekend, I chose to get gold chrome nails, adding shine to my swag. 

9. Simple with a touch of Sparkle

Amb gave us a natural nail slay with just the right amount of sparkle art on each hand. 

10. Popping Green

Lo delivered with bright green nails that featured jazzy jeweled snakes on two fingers.