How Kim Truong Built Hunter Schafer's Pink Sapphire Jelly Manicure

Celebrity nail artist Kim Truong layered just two gel polishes to create Hunter Schafer's "pink sapphire jelly" manicure for the Academy Museum Gala — a set designed to match the actress's Chopard earrings down to their shimmer.

Schafer attended the annual gala for the first time this weekend, wearing a black-and-white Prada dress and jewelry by Chopard set with diamonds, kunzites, and sapphires. Truong built the manicure as an echo of those stones, according to close-up photos and the product breakdown she shared after the event.

"We tried to spice it up," Schafer told Cultured Magazine on the carpet. "We matched the nails to the earrings, and added a little splash of mint to my glam, still sort of keeping the shape of a classic Hollywood vibe."

How was the manicure built?

Truong's technique, as documented in her own photos of the set, came down to two steps:

• Translucent purple base. She sheered out Chaun Legend Nails' Get A Grape polish with the LGND Non Wipe Top Coat, thinning the pigment into a jelly-like finish.
• Magnetic shimmer layer. She topped it with Silk Cat Eye in Pink Eclipse, a cat-eye gel that adds a multidimensional, light-shifting sheen reminiscent of the sapphires and kunzites in the Chopard earrings.

The jelly base keeps the nails looking light and natural rather than opaque, while the layered cat-eye effect builds depth that shifts with the light — the visual parallel to faceted gemstones that Truong was aiming for.

Why a pink jelly for fall?

The look pushes back on the season's default palette. Fall manicures typically lean on opaque burgundies and deep browns; Schafer's set swapped those for something lighter, glossier, and less expected. Pink, the manicure argues, is a fall nail color too.

The sheer formula also makes the style a low-commitment option. Anyone hesitant about a fully saturated shade — or looking to add whimsy to an all-black-and-gray wardrobe — can get color and dimension without the density of a cream polish.

Truong was busy beyond Schafer at the gala: she also did nails for A$AP Rocky, Kim Kardashian, and Sophia Grainge that night.

With jelly manicures now paired with fine jewelry on a major red carpet, sheer layered finishes look positioned to carry into the season's formal-event circuit — a lighter counterweight to the opaque moody shades that usually dominate fall.