The Expert Edit features interviews with specialists about the products they swear by in their chosen field. For the latest installment, we spoke to celebrity nail artist Melissa Samuel about her beauty product recommendations that she’s used on clients like SZA and Brandon Blackwood.
During the 2020 shutdown, the days often poured into each other, so I spent my time aimlessly scrolling on Instagram gathering fashion and beauty inspiration. One day, I stumbled upon a post from creative giant Alani Figueroa, showing her extravagantly-adorned nails which instantly went viral, and I immediately fell in love. The genius behind the artistry? Melissa Samuels.
More popularly known as “Finesse Your Claws,” the London native is highly revered for her avant-garde manicures that more than live up to her alias (think Flo-Jo’s claws). She started getting acrylic nails at 16 years old, but the salon never fully delivered on the intricately-designed sets she imagined. “I’d always ask them, can you paint a dragon or something? And they just couldn’t do it,” she tells Popsugar. “My mom suggested that I start painting designs on my own nails using acrylic paint, and I often thought ‘Is this even going to look good?,’ but I kept practicing and people loved it — and it quickly became my passion.”
Samuel’s talent led her to the United States in 2015, where she discovered the vibrant nail industry and honed her skills working at a Japanese nail salon. She ended up managing two nail art salons before making the plunge into the world of full-time entrepreneurship. Her business was quickly (yet temporarily) stunted when the pandemic hit, but still, Samuel kept working to make her dreams come true. She made press-ons in the meantime, before opening up her studio, and the rest was history.
But let’s be clear — what seemed like an “overnight success” for Samuel, was the fruit of years of perseverance and faith. “Doing nails is very personal; it’s a collaboration between you and your client, especially the more complex the design is….even at this stage now, having the clients that I’ve had, I’m always practicing and learning new techniques because trends are always evolving which speaks to what people want,” she says. “The ultimate key is staying humble and realizing that there’s no glass ceiling with this — you just need to keep pushing.”
These values are part of what’s granted the Brooklyn-based artist access into some of the industry’s biggest rooms with some of the biggest names — from SZA’s 2021 cover for Cosmopolitan Magazine, to other stars like Justine Skye and Lil Yachty visiting her salon. Faithful clients also include designer Brandon Blackwood.
While Samuel’s career is dedicated to making others feel and look good, she’s far from compromising when it comes to her own self-care routines, which often consist of pedicure and facial appointments. Ahead, she shares her holy-grail beauty products, including the matte top coat that keeps her masterpiece sets in place.
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