With more than 15 years of experience, Mei Kawajiri is much more than a manicurist—she’s a full-blown nail artist. Originally from Kyoto, Japan, she started out as a tattoo artist but transferred to nails after realizing permanent tattoos were too much of a commitment.
Now, she’s considered NYC’s most sought after nail artist, with clients as big as Gigi and Bella Hadid, as well as Ariana Grande. And with big names comes a big fashion statement. “I love drama,” said Kawajiri in an interview with WWD.
According to her, the biggest difference between Japanese and American nail art is that Japanese designs are “more abstract,” whereas her American clients “love to have a theme.” “Even 10 years ago, [Japan was] doing what we are doing in New York: big stones, crazy charms,” she explained. “Young girls save money for their nails instead of eating a lot of food. They wanna be skinny and they wanna have cool nail art.”
Her inspiration comes from the world around her, but she admits she tries no to be too influenced by other nail gurus. “As long as I don’t copy or I don’t watch other people’s Instagram, I’m good,” she stated. “I don’t watch nail Instagrams at all. If you see [something] one time, you have the idea already on the inside of your head. I don’t wanna be like that. I wanna be always original and new.”
Here are some of her fresh designs.
