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By now just about every nail fiend has come across the ‘hoodratism’ Kidney Stone Ale phenom, so I had to get word from the 23-year-old Nail Jerks x Chipped and Broke creator herself, Lila Robles. I mean literally, getting down to what’s really good in order to have a better sense of Robles intentions. What did I find out? She’s in the nail game to invest in her future. Her art exists as a contribution to nail culture, and you can see why Kid Sister, Chippy Nonstop, and more f*** with her after the jump.
Name Lila Robles
Name of Business Nail Jerks
Location San Jose, CA
Age 23
When and why did you decide to work in the nail industry? I loved getting fancy nails forever, but when I came across a t-shirt called NailsDid on MySpace my eyes instantly glued to the screen. It was as if everything that I loved and stood for was captured and silkscreened onto this shirt for me! Patrick Nagel infused ladies with the NailsDid touch and Hoodrat humor. I adored it! Later in that same year I discovered Mama which led me to finding out about M.I.S.S., the ultimate women’s urban culture outlet. This magazine was like no other: it had nails on calendars with sneakers, I was like damnnnn!! I emailed the editor Gabriella asking where I could get these nails done at to look just like theirs and she actually said they had to make them because no other salon wanted to do the outrageous nails they set out to achieve. When I heard that I was like oh my God, I have that same trouble too. When you get your nails done and you want the new new on the nail tip, the salon nail techs get mad. They wither, don’t know what you’re talking about, or they just don’t want to do it. This was a time before nail art really hit its prime. Like now you can go into a good nail salon and ask for what you want but before…it was a whole other ballgame. So I did what any other rational nail lover would do. I went to beauty school and did the manicurist license since it was the fastest.
Do you have a staff or is this all a business run by you?Currently I do not have a staff, it’s all collectively run by me. Entrepreneur …maybe ;)I started as an intern for M.I.S.S. and they let me help on their nail calendars. I worked on the calendar until they RIP’ed, maturing in their business and to be frank they had been there, done that, and onto new and better things. But I continued contributing to M.I.S.S. and ended up on the Nailsdid column.
How do you market yourself?I wanted to do something so I created Nail Jerks a design, photography, nail collective. Nail Jerks brings culture to nails, redefines basic French tip manicures and uses nails as sign language. Nail Jerks is set to bring prints focusing on lifestyles and individuals. I’m gifted in the natural marketing department so it just flows. My work with Nail Jerks comes when inspiration for a print or photo come into place either by client or my own ideas. A lot of people want bling nails and I give it to them. It’s the Hoordatism. The way I market is to effectively communicate with my audience. I like making great visual that attract the eye period. The e online interweb has had a major effect on marketing. You can tap in and access so many people and gather more information faster and bigger then ever. If you’re not using the Internet for marketing or you don’t think that having a Twitter will not impact your business at all then you are totally under a rock. You have so many supporters out there you don’t even know it yet! Sometimes you just start and you invest in your future. When I get paid I’ll let you know.
Has your Tumblr pages performed the way you want it to?I recently got over 1k notes and even hit Tumblr radar from an Instagram picture I linked to my Tumblr. I obviously do not have 15k followers but thanks to reputable nail gurus that reblogged my post I got there. And now I have more like 1k followers. Hashtags also make a difference.
Who are some of your clients?I’ve worked on Kid Sister, Chippy Nonstop, Cult of Beauty, M.I.S.S., and various models.
Are you familiar with organic polishes? How hard are those to come across?Organic polishes? Well I am a Whole Foodie and they do sell nail polish there but I’ve never seen organic.
Who are some of your competitors if any?If you are doing your own thing then competitors don’t exist.
What does nail art mean to you?Nail art means nothing but girliness in your own individual way. It is another form of expression and cuteness.
How would you describe success?Success is when you are doing what you really want, and the creativity never stops, and you are never bored. Success is landing that client, or that gig, or even that stoke of paint in a fathered motion and doing it again and again and the excitement never ends.
What advice would you give to other nail entrepreneurs?If you’re not bringing anything new to the table, don’t come [where] you aren’t welcomed. But if you want to be a “Nail Entrepreneur” then do it why wait, because some other girl will pick up on a wave and run with your shit in your head and then it’s your loss. Don’t be a sorry ass.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3qeissU8b1qzwhpyo1_1280.jpg)
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Manicures are now more fun than ever, and Patty Cakes of Cake Nail$ wants everything to do with it. Rocking a chest piece tattoo, nerdy oversized frames, cat liner, and dyed bangs, Cakes puts her art background onto print and pattern hungry fingernail canvases. Known to her clients as a mother and craft master, Cakes stirs up her mobile nail business throughout LA. She started designing nails in 2008 and recently expanded her business to providing manicure services at fashion events in her city. Her technique includes use of a 10/0 art brush, dotting tools, toothpicks, OPI lacquers, and craft paint for better control and flexibility over the nails.
According to CND Grand Master Educator and ONYX Beauty Systems Laura Merzetti, craft/acrylic paints are safe and easy to use for quicker drying and less smudging - as long as applied thinly.
“When I use nail polish it dries up and it clumps really fast but with craft paint I can work with it longer,” says Cakes.
In a research by Scratch, trending OPI lacquers for summer 2012 are copper colours, rich indigos and clay shades including ‘Dutch Ya Just Love OPI?’, ‘Gouda Gouda Two Shoes’, and ‘Did You ‘ear About Van Gogh?’
Cakes Nails$ specializes in a variety of tribal pieces as well as pop art themes including Andy Warhol, Beavis and Butthead, and Hip-Hop counterparts ranging from $25-$35. Cakes has since attracted the attention of MTV Style and even gained demand from women’s streetwear Dimepiece Designs, Kelly Love of Dripped Fashion Soiree and Trunk Show, and rapper/dancer Rye Rye, all due to her natural knack in design, knowing what each client wants.
“The start [of working with Dimepiece Designs] was really cool,” says Cakes. “I was actually really surprised. Ashley Jones [Co-founder] turned into me their press packet and from there I got all the inspiration and just transferred all of their designs onto the menu, the nail board.”
In January 2012, Cakes had recreated the Dimepiece S/S 2012 collection ‘The Drug and The Dream’, incorporating sunset ambiance, lipstick, and pills. A rather fascinating preview of the brands lookbook before it was released to the public at the beginning of this month.
Earlier, at the end of summer in 2011, Cakes set aside her shy qualities and referenced herself to rapper Rye Rye via Facebook, sending a nail design she thought she might have liked.
“After that she was like ‘where were you last week when I did my video shoot, I need these nails in my life’ and I was like oh my god! A few weeks later she texted me if I could do her nails for her Jay Leno appearance. It was a very fun experience. She’s really down to earth,” says Cakes.
Today, Cakes preps herself early morning for her next appointment with Rye Rye in the afternoon. The rapper/dancer turning actress has a red carpet event for the action comedy ’21 Jump Street’ which she and singer Esthero made the theme song for. “She’s going to be in the new ’21 Jump Street’ movie, that’s what I’m doing nails for today!” says Cakes.
Outside of her experiences with branding Cake Nail$ online and getting her name out by word of mouth, Cakes gives a great amount of her careers success to her services at events.
“I think without my events I would just be sitting at home trying to get clients to come to me which is really hard,” says Cakes. “But when you’re out there people get to see you and get to know your personality instead of just looking at pictures online and coming in. It’s kind of scary. You don’t know what you’re going to get when you meet people online so events I feel definitely help with my branding and everything.”
But even with her confidence in her nail art performance at events, Cakes still has yet to answer what she would say has been her most game changing take on the nail industry. Instead she finds pleasure exploring what other nail artists are doing to add refreshment and inspiration to her own craft.
“I always watch what Nail Porn is putting out,” says Cakes. “It’s so dope! I have kids so I never really get a chance to be online too much so it’s really helpful to me to see what’s new.”
Some of Cakes web surfing has led her to seeing lots of crazy takes on nail art, the most alluring to her taste being 3-D.
“I’ve seen some crazy 3-D shit! I don’t really do too much, I just stick to art but it’s kind of like wow!” says Cakes.
Just as Cakes has dabbled in 3-D, she has also dipped into past entrepreneur ventures designing tees back in 2005. “Cakes” was her 6 piece collection that she promoted through events in LA with the help of her Myspace friend turned real friend Kelly Love. But “Cakes” faded away, and Cakes Nail$ was born as soon as she decided nail art had to be a major part of her life.
“When she [Kelly Love] started up again with Dripped she asked for my help. I told her I didn’t really have anything to offer with clothing but I’m doing nails and she said it would be cool. That’s where I got started, because she asked me to come to her events,” says Cakes.
“Patty is distant for great success as an artist, as a mother and as a business woman,” says Kelly Love. “I have been privileged enough to have seen Patty’s work from the very beginning and it keeps progressing and that’s why I go back for more. Every time I see new work I get very excited.”
Sidenote: When Patty Cakes spoke with me over the phone she misheard one of my questions. Phone reception will do that to ya! So to answer what has been her most game changing contribution to nails she says it was her A Tribe Called Quest nail tribute that she did after watching Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels Of A Tribe Called Quest. Herwork ended up caughting the attention of director Micheal Rapaport and he actually made it his default on Facebook, “I was and still am on cloud 9 about that,” says Cakes.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m171b8EZiA1qzwhpyo1_r1_250.jpg)
