ESSENCE’s Beauty School column highlights the experts who are keeping the hottest beauty trends of the past and present alive. In each episode, talent will break down the stories behind our favorite trends, share an exclusive tutorial, and more.
“Back then, we only had acrylic,” Angie Aguirre tells ESSENCE’s contributing beauty editor India Espy-Jones in the first episode of Beauty School. “We didn’t have an array of things that we have today.” Kicking off the series, in honor of Black History Month, Aguirre, Sha’Carri Richardson’s nail artist, recalls the Black history behind extra extra-long nails—while breaking down techniques from the past.
From memories of curved acrylics on a 1980s Flo Jo to red manicures on Donna Summer, and even the 1930s stiletto nails on Queen Nenzima of the Democratic Republic of Congo, buildable manicures have a rich history hidden behind each decorated extension.
Using eyeshadow instead of an airbrush machine (which, in the 1990s, was a big, loud pedaled machine), she recreated one of the most popular styles back then, which has since resurfaced as a trending look today.
Often appropriated in pop culture, long, loud nails are historically called “ghetto” as a derogatory statement when worn by Black women. Meanwhile, they’re often seen as high fashion when worn by white celebrities.
“We usually set the trends [and] people copy,” Aguirre says in the video while painting on traditional nail art seen in the 1990s. “Once pop culture gets a hold of it they change it to what they want it to be like.” However, “Black women were wearing these nails long before social media.”
Now, with the nail industry expected to reach around $36.27 billion by 2032, Aguirre explains the impact Black women have in beauty, and what the future of these historic manicures will look like. “The nail game has become very innovative,” she says, with new products like Gel-X on the rise. “[It’s] a lot different from what it was back in the day.”