Lifestyle. Your nails should be like your clothes. Nowadays people express themselves through their nails—it shows who they are.

You should feel when you leave the salon

I hear clients speak of how relaxed they feel. Many house visits are made by me and I want to make my clients feel at home in their homes. When I leave, I want my clients to be relaxed. They should feel excited.

For inspiration, you may have a local nail artist or salon that you love.

This is what I love! Amy Le Nails in L.A., she’s super talented. Chaun Legend, he’s a stylist—different mind—but I love his work. Every manicurist is respected. [when they’ve been]This job will require you to be patient and work hard. You have to be so patient in this industry, it’s really competitive.

Go-to shape?

Hailey shape, medium length oval shape. It’s something I do too. Although I can do many different types of work, my primary goal is helping my clients to grow natural long nails. For this purpose, the oval nail shape works well. It doesn’t break as easily. Also, it looks more feminine.

Are you looking for regular or gel?

Gel polishes are a good choice when it comes to design. Once it’s set, the gel polish should be dried quickly.

What is the best way to define color?

Nudes are my favorite thing. Every person is different so each shade of nude may look slightly different. Three colors are my go-to: OPI bubblebath, Neutral, and Bare My Soul.

Do you want simple, clean art or art of high quality?

I have to customize it depending on my clients’ interests. My favorite thing about nude nails is their versatility. Recently I’m doing every different shade of the glazed donut nail—it’s now my go-to thing.

Are there any top-rated hand or nail products that you recommend?

For healthy nails, it is important to take care of your nails. Orly products and tools for nail preparation are my favorite. A common mistake I see is when people clean the cuticle but they don’t clean up the nail bed.

A mani-pedis match is mandatory.

It’s good if you’re coordinating your look, but I always mismatch myself. I don’t really care if it’s matching or mismatching. Whatever you like, it’s possible!