Melissa Samuel is a specialty nail artist behind the brand Finesse Your Claws, which she runs from her private studio in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Ms. Samuel, 41, designs bespoke 3-D nail sets for a closed client roster that has included the singer SZA, the rapper Lil Yachty and the singer Justine Skye. (And there's a waiting list, so don't even dream of getting a fast appointment.)
Originally from London, Ms. Samuel moved to New York in 2015 and began working at nail salons in Brooklyn and on Manhattan's Lower East Side. When Covid hit and salons shut, she pivoted, designing nails from her apartment.
Finesse Your Claws is a one-woman operation. But Ms. Samuel does have a muse — the influencer Ala ni Figueroa, also known by her social media handle, "Wuzg00d" — whom Ms. Samuel credits with helping her vault to the big leagues.
In 2020, Ms. Figueroa wore one of Ms. Samuel's custom sets to a photo shoot for the fashion brand Moschino. The designer Jeremy Scott, then Moschino's creative director, spotted the nails and "asked for five more," Ms. Samuel said.
"When the stars align, they align," she said.
That gave her the confidence, and the funds, to open her own studio in June of that year.
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