Bubble nails have made a comeback! Nails Magazine first wrote about the trend in 2009, but it's really having a moment now as the revival of the shape is the current "it" thing in nail art on Instagram. HNGN spoke with entrepreneur and reality TV star Dana Cody, the leading lady of the new Oxygen series "Boss Nails," to give us insight into the new nail shape. She also dished about her experience growing up in the nail industry, what it's like being the boss at her salon, Tippie Toes, and what viewers can expect on the upcoming season of the show that's poised to bring nail art to the masses.
When did you first hear about the bubble nail trend?
On the show "Nail'd It" [Oxygen's nail art competition series that aired last year]. I believe it's Nails by Jamie, one of the contestants, and she does the fan nails [also called duck nails]. Fan nails are similar to bubble nails, and I think it just, like, transpired and went into the bubble nails.
When you first saw the style, what did you think about it?
Initially, when I look at it, if I'm looking at it from a client's view, I wouldn't understand it. But from a technician's standpoint, I think bubble nails are really made to give you a larger platform so you can draw. It's really made for you to be able to draw on the canvas — you can make really amazing nail art on the bubble nails. You can do so much more of it, and then it also makes your flat nail art look more 3-D. It pops more. So I would say that bubble nails are really great if you're doing a type of show. So that's my personal opinion, what I think it's made for.
What type of style would be great to showcase on a bubble nail?
You know what I think a great style for the bubble nails would be? On an upcoming show, we have Nuni's Nails, and he creates something called hybrid nails, which is a mix of acrylic and gel. He's amazing! I think if he could recreate this bubble nail using hybrid nail and put it together, it would be amazing.
What type of design would you like to see Nuni do with his hybrid nails in the bubble shape?
Well, Nuni, he builds his gel. Actually, he does everything with sculptured tips, and he also does designs with the gel. So could you imagine if he would create something with, like, a marbleized look with the custom acrylic? It would be so out of this world cause that's the actual design as opposed to doing the bubble nail and then trying to draw on top of the bubble nail. You definitely cannot do Treasure Nails [Cody's brand of nails bedazzled with Swarovski crystals] on a bubble nail cause that would just make it too 3-D. It would be too much.
What shape do you think works best for your Treasure Nails?
Any shape, it depends on who you are. I love the new stiletto shape, that's my personal thing with the Treasures. It's so sexy! It's almost like having a heel with stones on it. A lot of people do them short and natural because it's already popping like crazy, so it just flows. It's like, "Wait, let me see your hands!" It's not too much, but it's just enough.
What's the best technique for somebody who wants to attempt the bubble nail shape?
Well, if you want to do them short, all the bubble nail is is just building your acrylic layer after layer. When you take your brush and you dip it in your monomer and you put it in your acrylic and you lay it, normally you brush it down to make it flat. But here, you actually make that ball, and you shape it how you want to, and then you bring it on in to the cuticle area. So it's not simple. You have to be experienced or else it'll look like a big ball and that's not what you want. It's not a ball, it's actually a weird, awkward shape. And you can't do it with tips, you have to actually build that.
And you only have so much time before your acrylic starts to dry so you have to work quickly, right?
Yeah, you really do. If you're just starting, it's not gonna work. It's also your acrylic brush size. There are so many details [that go] into nails and nail art, and that's why I'm so excited about "Boss Nails." It shows behind-the-scenes, what we really go through. People just think, "Oh, you just go get your nails done" — no! There's brush sizes, different quality, different products. You can't do bubble nails with cheap products because it dries too quick. So it's a real art.
In the past year or so, nail art has become very popular. What do you think it is about nail art that makes it so unique now?
Nail art shows an individual's personality. You can tell a lot by a woman in her nails. You can tell a lot by a man if he has a manicure or not. And that's what I think it really is — it shows personality. It makes a lot of women feel good about themselves and it's simple. You look at your hands all day. Like, right now, I'm feeling like a boss. I'm looking at my Treasure Nails, I'm like, "Oh, I'm feeling sexy today."
Do you remember the first manicure you ever got?
My mother was a nail tech. That's how I got into the whole industry and opened up Tippie Toes in Miami. So it was second nature. I just grew up seeing it. But my first time getting acrylic nails, I think, was for my eighth grade prom, and my mom did my nails. I was just like, "Whoa!" It makes your hands look a lot more slender and it just brings that womanly essence out. It was definitely mother-daughter bonding. And I was my mother's practice dummy.
Did you learn anything from your mother that you use in your own salon?
I learned everything from my mother. In fact, we opened our first location together. Two years after opening, she passed from leukemia. So the whole thing with Tippie Toes is really my mother's legacy. We had a great partnership — she was the nail tech, the artist, and I was, like, the rainmaker. I was going out to parties like, "Hey! Come to the nail shop!" She passed on everything to me. She had a system at Tippie Toes where she, literally, trained each person. Even if you did nails for 10, 15 years, there was a system — and there still is a system of how we do it at Tippie Toes and that's the structure. Prior to that, we worked with a Vietnamese family for four years. We learned what they taught us, took it, evolved and went from there.
Was the staff you have in place now the same staff you started with when you opened?
When we initially started, we were in 500 square feet, a really small place, and we only had six or seven technicians. It's a family business, so I still have my family. You'll see it on "Boss Nails." Now I am starting to hire new staff because I relocated. I have a 3,000-square-foot salon, 17 nail desks, so I have a staff of 25 so. From 6 to 25 — a lot has changed. So I hire now. Paige is my manager, which is my cousin, and you'll see more of her on the show. She really brings the people in and trains them.
In this industry, there are no rules. I can't tell you if you're drawing something wrong, and I can't tell you that it's not pretty because you're an artist and you have to respect an artist. It's personal. But I do stand over and make sure they're doing the proper way of doing things, they're sanitized. Other than that, Paige hires everybody. I fire people, but that's my job, being the boss.
What's the one thing that employees shouldn't do at Tippie Toes?
The one thing, I would say, is it's all about your professionalism with your client. You have to be professional and respect your clients and, if you do that, then everything else will fall in place. You're not gonna have issues with me if you're doing what you have to do to take care of the clients. So, if you take care of your clients, you have a job with me forever. But the moment you're slacking and it affects the clients and the business and Tippie Toes as a whole? That's when the boss b---- comes out and you gotta go. You're messing with my money!
This is the first season for "Boss Nails." How did you get hooked up with Oxygen?
I think it was just destiny. I did "The Real Housewives of New York City" with my stepdaughter Aviva [Drescher], and that's [Oxygen's] sister company [Bravo]. Oxygen did "Nail'd It" and this sort of just fell into that niche. I'm so grateful and happy that they see what it is, and people in the industry are excited. There's a difference from having a competition where you see nail techs competing. Now you see a real family and, of course, we have our issues — we're artists, we have egos. We have some bomb a-- nail designs. All of us have our own creations, we're trendsetters and that's what it is.
I'm just really excited at the fact that now everyone gets to really see about nails and the people — that's most important. Hopefully, it opens up more doors and we have more nail competitions, more nail magazines, more products, more everything for us. I mean, it is a billion dollar industry and it's just overlooked, but there's some serious stuff going on.
You mention magazines. In the past, that's where people had to go to see new nail trends. How do you think social media affected the nail industry?
I think social media really helps. Even if you're into natural nails, you just scroll and you're like, "Oh, that's cute! I wanna try that!" So social media really helps from a business owner's perspective. I don't put too much of my nail art on social media, only because it becomes a free magazine. You have millions of nail techs that just follow your page for free and they take what you do and make money off it, which is okay, but I want my 5 percent. Nuni has almost 300,000 followers from his nail art and he deserves it because that man works hard. Maybe I need to post more nail art and less booty pictures!
This is the first time you're center stage in a television series. What's going on in your life that we get to peek in on while watching the show?
Don't make me nervous! I get nervous when I think about it. Well, one thing that you do get to see is another side of my husband George [Teichner, who is 50 years her senior]. You know he was introduced on "The Real Housewives of New York City" and that's a different George — that was "Single George." Now you get to see a married George and you get to see our relationship. A lot of people don't believe that it's real or whatever the case may be, but we have an amazing bond, we love each other, we learn new things and we teach each other new things.
You also get to see young people. We all came from different walks of life, all of us have a story, and you'll see that story on the show. You get to see young people struggling and trying and going through things and conquering. I don't think any of the cast members are over 30. I hope and I know it will just be something very inspirational for everyone, whether you're going to medical school or you're a beautician. That is really the focus point of what you're gonna see with "Boss Nails."
Then you're gonna see a lot of me building a new brand I have, Imperial Nails, which are custom jewelry nails. We make a mold to your fingers in gold [or] silver and we put precious gems on them, like diamonds. In fact, last night, I did "Watch What Happens Live" and I gifted [host] Andy [Cohen] a rose gold Imperial Nail with VS1 diamonds, like the best quality, and he just fell in love. His guest, Coco from "Ice & Coco," I gave Treasure Nails. She's having a [baby] girl, so I gave her pink [Treasure Nails]. You get to see creative minds make s--- happen.
You're also young and female, so how does it feel to be this sort of role model for younger girls who are going to be watching you be an entrepreneur on TV?
That is a very hard title in a sense. I'm perfectly imperfect, that's what I am, and so is everyone else. I grew up in Miami to a single-parent mother, so we didn't have everything and I just stayed focused. I couldn't really go to a top university or things like that, so I took what I had and I'm making it work for myself. And that's what I want everyone to understand. It doesn't matter where you come from, it doesn't matter what you do, it doesn't matter what you have going on — stay focused, work hard and you can make it!
Catch Dana Cody on her new series "Boss Nails," which airs Tuesday nights at 9:30 p.m. on Oxygen.
