We’ve seen long nails with hoop piercings dangling from their tips, but does that mean people with short nails can’t get in on the fun? Not if you ask Alysa Liu! The Olympic gold medalist attended the American Music Awards in Las Vegas on May 25 with multiple new piercings: one on her face and a few on her hands. Well, kiiiiinda.<\/p>\n
Liu walked the red carpet in an all-black, rock \u2018n roll-inspired outfit embellished with silver studs and chains, and she mimicked that look with her jewelry, most notably on her nails. Liu\u2019s short nails were painted with a sheer black jelly polish and topped with silver nail jewelry to resemble piercings, like a bar across the tip of her pinky and ring fingers and studs on her thumb. Her nails weren’t actually<\/em> pierced, don’t worry\u2014 they’re just decorated with some clever charms to create the illusion of piercings. Nail art, but make it punk rock.<\/p>\n The pierced manicure absolutely fits Liu’s vibe, and we’ve seen it a few times in the past, including on Chappell Roan, who wore a pierced nude manicure at Paris Fashion Week in early 2025. (We thought it looked a lot<\/em> like nipple piercings, and are we wrong?)<\/p>\n Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n The nail jewelry wasn’t the only new addition to Liu’s lineup, either. She’s most famous for her \u201csmiley,\u201d or frenulum piercing, which can be seen when she smiles, but now the figure skater also has a bridge piercing placed on either side of her nose. (As the name suggests, a bridge piercing is a surface piercing that either goes across the nose or frames the bridge.) Paired nostril piercings like the bridge made our list of the top piercing trends for 2026, so we’re not entirely surprised to see them on Liu. \u201cNostril piercings allow for a surprising amount of creativity, from paired and double placements to elegant, stacked configurations,\u201d Maria Tash, jewelry designer and founder of Maria Tash Fine Jewelry and Luxury Piercing in Los Angeles, previously told Allure.<\/em> \u201cIt seems that today\u2019s modern nose piercing sees the whole plane of cartilage as pierceable, not just the traditional small area halfway back on the side of the nostril.\u201d Nails, nostrils\u2026 gotta pierce ’em all!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Alysa](\"https:\/\/media.allure.com\/photos\/6a1596e2f00c409943bddcca\/master\/w_1600%2Cc_limit\/alysa%2520liu%2520pierced%2520nails.jpg\"\/)
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