Vanessa Hudgens consistently delivers on the manicure inspiration front, and we’ve documented plenty of her best looks, from last summer’s lime-green French tips to the glossy burgundy nails she debuted this fall. But one trend, in particular, has earned her repeated stamp of approval: cat-eye nails.
Her go-to manicurist for the cat-eye look (and countless others) is Zola Ganzorigt, whose clientele also includes Kylie Jenner, Hailey Bieber, Mindy Kaling and Sabrina Carpenter, among many others. Hudgens regularly shares her Ganzorigt-crafted nails on Instagram, the latest being a golden-brown, almond-shaped manicure with the fluid, multidimensional shimmer that makes the cat-eye trend so mesmerizing.
The High School Musical alum posted a video of her manicure to her Instagram Story with a text overlay that read, “POV- you’re obsessed with stones and making your nails match em.” She’s not wrong; while the cat-eye nail trend technically mirrors the look of an actual cat’s eye, they do also resemble polished gemstones.
Cat-eye nails have been on our radar for years, and their popularity shows no signs of fading. If you’re new to the trend or wondering how that multidimensional effect comes to life, it all comes down to a magnet and magnetic polish. “Cat-eye nails are a type of nail art created using magnetic polish, which results in a reflective line that runs across the nail, resembling the eye of a cat,” says nail artist and CEO of Nailing Hollywood, Mazz Hanna. “The line shifts when viewed from different angles, giving the nails a dynamic, almost holographic effect.”
You can even bring the cat-eye look to life at home. To do so, Hanna suggests the following: “First, apply a base coat of your choice. Then apply the magnetic polish in the same way you would apply any other polish. Use a magnet (often provided with the polish) near your nails to create a cat-eye effect. If you’re using gel, you would use the magnet before curing the gel. Once you’ve achieved the cat-eye effect with the magnet, apply a topcoat of your choice.”
