We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dakota Brandi a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Dakota, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

It started with internet tutorials. Around 2013/14, Instagram had a “beauty boom” and was filled with makeup, hair, and nail tutorials. Then people started doing longer format content on YouTube. Eventually I went to beauty school to get licensed but I have continued my education through online resources. I think if I had persued a job doing custom nail designs sooner I might have been able to learn more in less time. For the first couple of years I wasn’t sure of what I wanted to do as a nail artist so I stuck to the safety of working from a menu with limited room for customization. I totally could’ve taken the metaphorical training wheels off sooner.

My most essential skills are being able to get things right the first time 9/10 times and being able to improvise that one time things don’t work the way I want them to. Art can be unpredictable, and despite my confidence I will still run into technical errors. Knowing how to work backwards and fix your mistakes is very important.

A huge obstacle I ran into as I was learning was a lack of funds for things like supplies and professional classes. I never had hundreds of dollars to spend on taking a live class (which often includes a kit of colors and/or brushes) so everything I do know has either been taught to me by artists I’ve worked with in salons or I had to learn on my own. While it is possible to learn all the same things for free by yourself (as proven by my work), it would be a much faster process to attend proper classes where you can get live guidance and feedback.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

Hi, my name is Kota, otherwise known as Manifique, and I am a New York based Nail Artist. I became interested in doing my own manicures as a child but when I was about 19 nail art seemed to really take off online. I had dropped out of college and didn’t have a plan so I thought I would try taking on Nail Artistry as a career. I went to beauty school, got licensed, and got my first big girl job at Paintbox in just over a year. Since then I’ve worked in a number of salons but have moved on to freelance work as it fits my needs much better. I feel what sets my work apart from your typical neighborhood salon is that my work is custom. My main focus is design and I like working with abstract concepts. Not only do I provide custom nail designs but I’m also a friend to my clients. I am genuinely invested in getting to know my clients so I can provide designs that match their style and also keep the energy comfortable and familiar. I don’t want our appointment to feel like it’s purely business. It should be a fun and relaxing time for you. You just don’t get that vibe in regular salons.

For products, I use pure soft Gel colors and tips. My first love was natural nails but I am all about adding length too! More real estate means more room for art!

I am most proud of being able to compose a set of nails based on any concept. I haven’t had a request I could not fulfill yet!
Some of my favorites have been cartoon characters, classical paintings, guilded lettering, and many others.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me it’s the collaboration between artist and client. They give me an idea and a set of guidelines and I turn those ideas into art they get to wear for up to a month. It’s so nice to see their reaction to the finished product and hearing about all the compliments they got a month later when we do the next set. A large part of my job is just making people happy and that makes me feel like what I do is worth it. Also watching an idea come to life is very satisfying. When I think of ideas before making them I can only imagine what the final product might look like. There’s always some changes made along the creative process and until you have the actual art in your hands you don’t really know how it’s going to look. Seeing it finished fills my heart with joy.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

It’s hard to choose just one! There was a particular day that comes to mind where a new client had tested my patience so severely that my entire team was watching the appointment unfold in disbelief.

A new client had come in asking for a gel manicure with art. They had never done gel nails and wasn’t one for getting regular services so I did my best to walk them through the process and explain everything. For a regular one color gel, this would’ve been fine, but they wanted art. The art they were getting was an advanced technique that was still pretty new to me so I had to be extra diligent to not get my steps mixed up while having to explain all of what I’m doing while I was doing it. I thought the hardest part was over when the client pulled a fine point sharpie out of their purse and asked me to draw the next part of the design on the nail with it. I told them that I wouldn’t do that since I had actual nail products to paint with. They watched me do the design and then asked me to do again but smaller, so I did. I don’t remember how long all of this took but it felt like hours. I finally get the nails finished, the client walks to the front desk to checkout and then comes right back to me and says they don’t like them and want to take them off. At this point I am hungry, tired, stressed, and now thoroughly upset. Somehow, without breaking, I convinced them to wear the nails for 3 days and if they still didn’t like it they could come back for a removal. After they left, my whole team gave me a hug and asked how I managed to not lose my whole mind. If I’m being honest it was one part trying to be nice to someone who didn’t fully understand what they were getting into, and four parts of not wanting to let a stranger push my buttons like that.
“Not today, Satan.” -Me on that day, probably.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Manifique.NYC