For at least for at least most weeks, Mei Kawajiri makes hotel calls for celebrities like Cardi B, Heidi Klum and Ariana Grande and Rabbit To clarify viral creations, it is often shared with it More than 343,000 Instagram followers. The method may be more impressive: exorbitant nail art-completely detailed 3-D PastriesPictures drawn by hand Of the anime heroes The acrylics is six inches included with jewelry and lace pieces.
When she does not cooperate with celebrities, Kawajiri works from her joint home and office on the eastern side, where her nail equipment was placed in a corner on the other side of her child’s kindergarten, and her games full of foam and carpet.
It was a long journey of my wafer, after she spent her childhood in Kyoto, her own studio in Harajuko, an elegant neighborhood in Tokyo, in 23 years. In 2012, she came to New York on the advice of her American boyfriend to the customer, who said that her work deserves to be on magazine covers.
After arriving in New York alone, and she did not speak English, she was walking over a four -mile from the eastern oriental side to Plaza Hotel on Fifth Avenue Street with a group of her designs.
“I would like to ask people,” Do you think I should move to New York? ” Kaway Aesthetic, which confirms bright and attractive colors.
She was encouraged by the response (“I quickly learned the meaning of” wonderful “and” amazing “), and she got an artist visa at a time when it was difficult to convince people that the performance of the nails should be considered an art. (Her request was approved, and Kaogri said that the woman who had an interview with her beloved nails.)
After working for a few months in the Soho Nail Salon, I decided to strike on its own to do more creative work. I initially imposed $ 100 on two hours, working from a bag, and doing up to six home calls per day.
Now, after 13 years, you create the nail art designated for the APN customers such as Met Gala and Academy Awards, and I have worked with some of the biggest brands in fashion, including Balenciagaand Louis Vuitton and Mark Jacobs. (She refused to reveal her rates.)
Its schedule includes a mixture of hotel visits to stars, brands photo requests, runway offers and dates with ordinary New York residents, although registration of one of these requires referral from a current customer.
You find inspiration every day: I created three -dimensional croissant nails When she moved for the first time to New York City because she struggled to pronounce the word, and it was easier to direct her to her nails at demand in a café. (She said that she changed her nails every 10 days.)
During a recent interview, she wore 10 full fingers of 3D art-a hot dog on one nail, apple In another because her daughter, Itsuki, obsessed with apples and stops crying when she sees her mother’s finger.
“My life is a source of inspiration for my nails,” said Kaogri, whose recent creativity also includes three -dimensional Dirty socks and Bottoms of children.
It also creates nails of the characters drawn by hand From the anime worldand Using a brush with a thin tip like a strand of hair. (Unlike most manicuris, they do not use stickers or stencils.)
Upon design for others, its process, whether for 3D creations or hand -drawn, is a cooperative process. She asks clients about their preferences at the beginning of each date (nearly two to two and a half hours): length, shape, color, or severity of the nails, for example.
After the usual steps, one will get a manicure, apply an essential coat, followed by polishing the colors of the gel (Korean made Come Monsta The brand is preferred), placing nails under the LED lamp between each coat for stiffness and consolidation of the Polish.
Then the three -dimensional shapes are created, which recede with its fingers and various tools of 3D clay gel, which contains a glue -like tissue. Then her creations are attached to the jelly before putting it under the LED lamp to harden it, a process known as the treatment.
She said: “The gel takes three -dimensional to the next level because I can treat at any moment, so I can create more dynamic forms.”
It can become task quickly if, for example, five consecutive customers want to copy the microscopic of 3-D “Sesame StreetShe said: “The nails they saw on Instagram earlier this week. But they do not mind repeating too much, as long as the final product makes their customers feel confident.
“Nails are a strong form of expression,” she said.
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