Damon Scheleur
Statement nails have become de rigueur for celebs and bloggers alike. But long before Tumblr was teeming with elaborately designed digits, fashion insiders were seeking out nail art at Valley NYC.
The downtown salon was started by sister act Nina and Julia Werman. The SoCal natives, previously a struggling comic and social worker, respectively, wanted to capitalize on their status as a go-to source for friends’ beauty questions. “My sister and I were really discerning clients and were always the girls who people would come to because we were hunting down the best,” says Nina. When they opened for business on the Lower East Side in 2006, the shop also sold apparel and offered facials, but since moving to a new space in Nolita two years ago, they decided to focus on their in-demand manicures and waxing services.
“Nail art has become a viable fashion accessory,” says Nina. “It’s a form of self-expression that’s affordable, and it’s wearable art,” she continues. “It can express something that you can’t necessarily find when you’re shopping for clothing.” And while the siblings were getting nail art in L.A. back in the ‘80s, its recent appearance on runways has caused a spike in business. “It’s been embraced by the fashion world and is being taken much more seriously than it ever has been,” Nina observes.
While the Wermans now face competition from inexpensive, widely accessible drugstore products championed by DIY bloggers -- like Sally Hansen's Salon Effects -- the blogosphere has helped more than hurt their business. "Our online coverage has really been pretty extensive, says Nina. "There are so many girls who come into the shop who blog and have a lot of followers on Twitter. That, without question, has been a huge source of advertising for us." In fact, they're currently renovating the salon to accommodate their growing popularity, adding four new nail stations.
The siblings cite the reverse French mani, glitter gradation, leopard prints and Southwestern-inspired designs among their most popular. They’ve also had some out-there requests. “We did this really cool Alice in Wonderland design, with little mushrooms and a Cheshire cat, and it was amazing,” recalls Julia. Another outre creation on offer involves a shredded dollar bill fastened with gel (the customer must shred the bill beforehand).
But Nina says some requests are just too over-the-top. “We have certain things that we won’t do, because we don’t want people saying they got them done at Valley.” For example: “A lot of clients get so excited about having all these options and try to put a different idea on every single nail, and it just looks like a loud mess -- it doesn’t have a story or any sort of cohesiveness.” To keep first-time customers from becoming overwhelmed with options, they're limited to 10 minutes when choosing a design. Nina’s personal pet peeve is white polish at the bottom of a reverse French (“It looks like Wite-Out”), while Julia hates the adhesives (“They just don’t last very long”). During my visit, the pair approved of one patron’s dazzling red glitter mani, reminiscent of Dorothy’s ruby slippers in “The Wizard of Oz.”
Both sisters describe their own personal style as relaxed and bohemian. “I always want to be off traveling and backpacking, and that’s how I dress, but my nails are usually pretty crazy and blinged out,” says Julia. And Nina is similarly inclined. “I can’t be uncomfortable, or I don’t look good,” she says. “But I always suffer for my nails.”
