"Babylon" is a movie all about the glitz and glamour of 1920s Hollywood, but you won't find any of that pageantry on Margot Robbie's nails. According to Robbie's nail artist, Tom Bachik [1] — the man who coined the simplistic supermodel-nail trend [2] back in 2021 — despite all the debauchery in the film [3], he wanted to keep Robbie's nails clean and classic. The "Amsterdam" star [4] arrived on the red carpet with an impeccable manicure decorated with only tiny black triangles, painstakingly drawn on by Bachik himself. Robbie's negative-space manicure was the perfect complement to her backless Alaïa dress, which featured a dramatic stomach cutout [5] that seemed to mirror the design of her nails.
Bachik summed up the look perfectly in three words on Instagram, writing, "Minimal Deliberate Chic," in a Dec. 16 post. To get the look, Bachik says the two had to first decide on a shape, eventually opting for a "short strong square nail shape to start our design." From there, Bachik cleaned Robbie's nails and applied one thin layer of the Essie Here to Stay Base Coat [6] ($9, originally $10). After it dried, he went in with a peachy neutral shade called Skinny Dip [7] ($8, originally $9) for the base and used the shade Licorice [8] ($10) to paint black triangles on the outside corners of Robbie's nails with a tiny detail brush. To finish off the manicure, he used the Gel Setter Top Coat [9] ($11) for the ultimate understated look.
Check out the final result in more detail ahead and find out why Robbie is still the queen of the minimalist manicure [10].
