These Disney Villain-Inspired Nails at New York Fashion Week Took 500 Hours to Make

More often than not, nail art seen on a fashion week runway are simple and minimalist, meant to let the rest of the look shine. That was not the case at The Blonds Spring/Summer 2019, where the nails were the clear stars of the show. Taking a cue from the collections’ Disney villain-inspired designs, CND collaborated with Disney to create the most insane creations paying homage to Ursula from The Little Mermaid, Cruella de Vil from 101 Dalmatians, Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, and the Evil Queen from Snow White.

“It took around 500 hours from start to finish. We started with The Blonds two months ago, talking about what the inspiration was, then the team went to town,” Jan Arnold, co-founder and style director of CND told ELLE.com backstage, “Craftsmanship alone was 300 focused hours of sculpting, designing, and detailing all the nails.”

Lead nail artist Shelena Robinson pulled out all the stops: Ursula-inspired tentacles made of gel that light up (!), feather and Dalmatian spots with red Swarovski crystals fit for Cruela, green flames and horns inspired by Maleficent, “stolen” hearts with daggers in them and shards of mirror glass for the Evil Queen, and so much more. Some of the CND polishes used include Wild Fire, Black Pool, Rock Royalty, and Decadence.

“These villains use their nails to do their evil deeds,” Arnold continued, pointing out the long, almost weapon-like stiletto shape of the nails, “The Blonds were looking for that dimension.” Gawk at close-ups of these tiny works of art, ahead.