Brown cow stunning: Cow print nail art is officially the hottest Instagram trend
This article was originally published on February 15th, 2019.
In her Allure March 2019 cover story, Kendall Jenner admitted that the manicure trend she’s most looking forward to trying is cow print, saying, “I know that sounds really weird but it’s actually really cool.”
Jenner recently showed off her bovine-style claws in an Instastory.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvXYNOxB-Mk
We did some digging into the cow nail art trend, and it’s actually totally cute and wearable. LA-based nail artist Gina Marie, who works at Nail Swag, has been drawing more cow prints on nails lately and gave us some insight into the trend. “Animal prints in general will never go out of style. There will always be a snakeskin, a cheetah, an ocelot, or a crocodile to suit someone’s fancy,” says Gina. “I love an exotic print, but there’s something that feels very classically American about a good cow print.”
As for what kicked off the cow print nail art trend, Gina has a theory: “I first started noticing cow print getting more attention around the same time the Doja Cat “Mooo!” video dropped,” she said. “We were certainly talking about it over at Nail Swag! I’m not sure of the overall cultural impact, but I definitely felt it in the nail and drag communities at that time.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtPwqYuAZEr
Speaking of drag, one of Gina’s cow print designs was inspired by drag queen/general queen Monique Heart, who is currently competing on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 4. “She took what could’ve been a fashion faux pas runway moment on her original season where she mistook a giraffe print for cow, uttering the iconic phrase “Brown cow. Stunning!,” and ran with it, making cow print her signature look for this season,” explains Gina. “I recently created a tribute to Monique and her artistry on my own nails with a matte finish hand painted brown cow print overlaid with the word ‘STUNNING’ in shiny, gold, Old English-style lettering.”
Let’s take a look at how cows are taking over the hands of everyone, below.
A great thing about the cow print manicure is that other than the stark white base, precision is totally unnecessary when it comes to drawing on the spots.
Whether you opt for an accent cow print nail or two, or you plan on diving head-first into the trend with all-over cow print, this is one nail art trend we can see lasting through spring and summer.
You can even mix in some brown spots with the black, to add dimension to the print.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtJc8S7Fl3n
Honestly, who knew that cow print could be so chic?
