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It’s one thIng to look lIke a mIllIon bucks. It’s quIte another to spend a mIllIon bucks. thankfully, the two aren’t mutually exclusive—especially when it comes to nails. though enterprising manufacturers, salons and techs continue to tap the luxury market with nail art and products verging on the absurdly priced, only the 1 percent can in-dulge in such frivolities. the rest of us—including your clients—seek value, but that doesn’t mean they don’t desire a little flash, too. the question be-comes: can you offer these trend-driven, upscale services at a discount that makes sense for your salon?

editorial nail tech gina eppolito, who regularly works with rihanna (she who famously wore the $5,000 24-karat red carpet manicure gold polish to the 2012 grammy awards), believes you can, and has dreamt up ways to dial down the costs without losing the extravagance of the following four ultra-luxe services: the python pedicure, 24-karat manicure, caviar manicure and Iced manicure.

You too can offer the trendiest luxury services with a few cost-saving tweaks.

B y K a r i e L . F r o s tP h o t o g r a p h y b y A r m a n d o S a n c h e z

LuxeThe Look of

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The $ Tweak: You needn’t visit your local pet store for python sheddings. Instead, eppolito suggests seeking out snakeskin-pattern tights. “there are so many funky designs to choose from.” or, as we show you below, find some fishnets or lace, grab your favorite serpentine polishes, and get creating.

The dish: When Vogue championed nail tech Terri silacci’s $300 Python Pedicure, in which real python skin is over-laid with bio sculpture gel, as an accessory akin to Yves st. laurent wedges, fashionistas tipped their nails in scales with this slithering service.

The steps:

1 Polish the nail plate with your desired shade (this will act as the outline of the scales, so

we used a dark color for definition).2 Cut a piece of netting that mimcs snakeskin.

Securely wrap it around the nail.

4 Once the polish is partially dry, carefully peel the netting off of the nail. Wait for it to dry

completely and finish with top coat.3 Lightly dab different colors of polish random-

ly over the nail. Use a light touch; if there’s too much polish it will seep under the fabric.

$300 Python Pedicure

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$51,000 Iced Manicure

The dish: A French manicure

that boasts 10-carats

worth of diamonds

surfaced in dubai, a country

known for its abundance of disposable wealth. did denizens who adorned their nail tips with

this blinding ice need to travel with a security detail?

The steps:

1 Fashion a French tip by cutting off the tip of

a silver nail adhesive and applying it to the free edge of the nail. Eppolito likes Minx Silver Lightning due to its highly reflective finish.

“Add as much or as little bling

as desired using the

rhinestones.”

2 Trim the nail adhesive and file it smooth.

3 Glue tiny clear rhinestones (Eppolito

suggests Kiss Nail Artist Rhinestones, which have a built-in adhesive) in a tight pattern on top of the silver foil. If you prefer, you can loosen up the pattern by adhering less rhinestones; the chrome decal underneath will keep the design four Cs-worthy.

The $ Tweak:rather than craft a manicure that

really should be insured (nail tip theft!), eppolito turns to layering sil-ver foil with clear rhinestones. “add as much or as little bling as desired

using the rhinestones,” she says.

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$5,000 24-Carat Manicure

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The $ Tweak:a simple coat of brilliant gold polish goes a long way to mimic rich-looking nails. “Zoya makes a gorgeous gold called goldie. essie luxeffects in as gold as It gets has brilliant built-in gold, textured shimmer,” offers ep-polito. looking to add more ore to your design? mix and match mediums by using both polish and gold leaf. “my favorite gold leaf sheets by mona lisa can be purchased at your local craft store!” she says. If the flimsy foil is too tough to work with, opI offers the man With the golden gun, a limited edition 18-carat gold leaf top coat.

The dish: When rihanna hit the 2012 Grammy Awards’ red carpet donning gold nails with a pinkie-affixed dollar sign gem, no one knew that dol-lar sign really stood for $5,000. Why? because a-list nail tech kimmie kyees coated her digits in red carpet manicure’s amor 24 gel polish, which is infused with real 24-carat gold, to add sparkle that nail lovers not only appreciate, but also appreciates!

You don’t have to tie your cash up in real gold to offer

clients this treasure of a manicure.

The Products We Like:(From left) Cuccio Colour Russian Opulence;Orly Luxe; OPI The Man With the Golden Gun; (Back) Mona Lisa Simple Gold Leaf

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The $ Tweak:eppolito once again turns to craft stores for her source materials. “You’ll find a ton of microbeads that will make replicating this trendy caviar mani super-easy,” she shares. a popular brand, recollec-tions, can be bought in packs of six colors for only $6.99.

$25 Caviar ManicureThe dish: Admittedly, this manicure isn’t all that expensive, but it sounds expensive. and with new kits that package all the items needed for your clients to perform this service at home, this opulent nail art appears extremely accessible. but, not everybody likes to do their own nails (nor are they good at it), which means you should be at the ready to provide this posh design. the best part: You can do it for much less than $25 in materials.

The steps:

1 Apply base coat and a coat of polish similar to the microbead

color you’re using. Allow it to dry.2 Polish a second coat of lacquer

on one nail. While it’s still wet, gently press a layer of microbeads into the polish.

3 Continue on the rest of the nails, working on one at a time.

“You’ll find a ton of microbeads that will make replicating this trendy Caviar Mani

super-easy.”

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