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Can Pete Davidson and Machine Gun Kelly Normalize Straight Men Nailing It?

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A couple weeks Pete Davidson and Machine Gun Kelly got a manicure and their nails painted in a Calvin Klein Instagram live ad heralding a new era of openness about men wearing nail polish.

CNN: After appearing in their underwear for a Calvin Klein campaign on the brand’s Instagram Live on Monday, the two live streamed again Tuesday, hitting a nail salon for a side-by-side treatment. Beautiful, Colson,” Davidson tells MGK about his nails. The duo rocked similar bleached hair as they introduced themselves to the nail technicians. Davidson joked everyone would have to sign a non-disclosure agreement to not discuss what they talked about in the chairs.

 

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“Did we nail it or did we nail it?” They wrote in the caption.

 

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Fashionista: Like a lot of things that happened in 2021, if you’d strung the words “Machine Gun Kelly,” “Pete Davidson,” “manicures,” and “Instagram takeover” together a few years ago, we would have had a lot of follow-up questions. (And, to be honest, there are still a few loose ends we’d love tied up.) But something that made perfect sense? These two very famous celebrities, and their mutual love of manicures.
Just a few weeks ago, Machine Gun Kelly (aka Colson Baker) released his own line of nail polish, Un/dn Laqr. The line launched with 10 lacquers with names like “Mary Jane” and “Slippery When Wet,” all touted as genderless. MGK’s star has risen to new heights in the last year, thanks to a high-profile relationship with Megan Fox, a new album and a burgeoning acting career. And he’s rarely (if ever) spotted without an over-the-top manicure. So why not capitalize? The polishes quickly sold out after their first drop.
New York City-based celebrity manicurist Julie Kandalec, who has also worked with both MGK and Davidson, as well as Maluma and Joe Jonas, agrees that men are indeed getting more manicures, telling Fashionista that even “in just the fall and winter it’s grown so much.” And Los Angeles-based nail artist Tuguldur Erdenejargal (known as @nailboii) adds, “Especially for cis straight men, it’s increasing a lot. It is becoming more normalized — people want to get manicures.”

If the sales say anything, the trend is only on the rise. A rep for the shopping app Klarna tells Fashionista that the number of manicure kits on wish lists has increased by 251% since October 2020, and of those saving nail products to their wish lists on the app, 10% are men. So while celebrity men have been making their way into the beauty biz for years (see: Pharrell’s Humarace skin-care lineDavid Beckham’s House 99 grooming collection), nail care has quickly emerged as an untapped market.

 

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