Trust Me, You're Gonna Want To Recreate Kendall's Tortie Tips ASAP
Catch me at the salon asking for this exact nail art.
Just when you thought the french manicure couldn’t get any more complex or cool, Kendall Jenner got tortoiseshell tips on her nails for the holidays. Beyond just breaking the french manicure norm by adding a pattern, tortoiseshell is off the beaten path. Rather than the more modern, trendy prints like cow and zebra, the vintage look of tortoiseshell may just be the break-out animal print of 2022.
In 2021, the french manicure had already gotten a funky update. Suddenly, gone were the days of simple, white tips and in their stead was a collection of multi-colored nail tips. Now, however, Jenner’s pushing the classic look even further. Designed by celebrity nail artist Lisa Kon, Jenner did up her almond-shaped nails with a coffee-and-black colored tortoiseshell print while keeping the base of her nails with a bare skin-matching shade. In fact, according to Kon’s post about this nail art, it took five different colors in total to master the pattern.
The inspiration behind this design stemmed from Jenner’s 2021 Christmas dress. “This nail design was a perfect match for her stunningly dramatic black dress from Carolina Herrera, which tapers to reveal her hourglass figure and then spread it out at her feet,” Kon wrote. The overall effect was old glam, as though Jenner tapped into her inner, 1920s movie star.
Alongside ushering in the trend of patterned nail tips, Jenner’s also brought tortoiseshell print back into the fashionable fold. While it’s never gone out of style, the pattern strayed to the sidelines and was most recently treated like a fashionable accent for sunnies, bags, and the like. Over the past few years, the brown print has become a mainstay in glasses frames, but you don’t see it much anywhere else. However, if there’s any person that can bring it back into the limelight, it’s Jenner. Since tortoiseshell is wall-to-wall color with browns, blacks, and yellows, it can be an overwhelming pattern and works so well small batches like on your nails.
No matter how far you lean into the print, with Jenner’s approval, there’s no doubt tortoiseshell will be the pattern of 2022.
