Jennifer Lopez's "Afterglow" Manicure Features an Unconventional Winter Nail Color

Pink is always in season.

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a latina woman with bronde hair posing in a gown on a red carpet
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We're just over a week into 2026 and Jennifer Lopez is already giving me enough manicure inspiration to last the whole year. The singer's go-to looks often fall on the more neutral side, but lately she's been leaning into one of the year's biggest nail trends: cat eye manicures.

Since the end of December, the singer has been performing at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas for her residency, and her on-stage nail looks of late have been just as impressive as her performances. On Jan. 7, for example, Lopez’s longtime manicurist, Tom Bachik, shared a photo of the post-show manicure he worked on for her, which he named the “afterglow manicure.” The look is pretty similar to the pink “crushed velvet” manicure that she wore during her New Year’s Eve performance, only it looks like her nails are painted a slightly lighter shade of pink. Per Bachik’s caption, he trimmed, filed, and prepped Lopez's nails using a set of tools from Tweezerman before applying a light pink gel nail polish with a cat eye effect and topping that off with a clear top coat.

Cat eye nails aren’t exactly new, but they became a major design trend back in 2025. It’s a type of manicure that’s created using magnetic nail polish, and it’s supposed to give the nails a mesmerizing reflective finish that creates the illusion of a cat’s eye. It’s quickly become a favorite of celebrities like Vanessa Hudgens, who recently showed off a cat eye French manicure with tiger stripes at the tips, and while it’s slightly unconventional, it’s also a versatile look that can be customized in a variety of ways, from all-over color to prints.

Pink is also not typically a standard color to wear during the winter (this is the time when rich nail colors like navy and wine red thrive), but nail experts have previously predicted that it'll be a highly requested color this winter.

The good news is that plenty of brands are catching onto the trend, and it's pretty easy to find cat eye nail polish should you want to recreate a cat eye manicure on yourself at home. To get Jennifer Lopez's pink "afterglow" look, read ahead to shop some items you'll need.

Danielle Jackson
Danielle Jackson
Senior Beauty Writer

Danielle Jackson is the senior beauty writer at Marie Claire. She has nearly a decade of experience covering beauty, lifestyle, and entertainment and was previously the senior beauty editor at Women's Health, where she thoughtfully covered topics related to skincare, haircare, aesthetics, and wellness. Before that, she spent three years as an assistant beauty editor at PS, and in the years since, her work has appeared in titles like Vogue, InStyle, Glamour, and more. Danielle graduated from the University of Georgia with a BA in English, and has lived in Brooklyn for almost ten years. When she's not writing, you can find her reading romance novels and talking about sunscreen. You can find her on Instagram @danielleknecole.