A Blogversation with celebrity nail guru Julie Kandalec

It’s been a minute since I’ve done my blogversations. And it wasn’t until that question “how come you haven’t done (dot dot dot)” arose that made think well, why haven’t I done Blogversations.

There’s no real reason other than that I’ve been busy meeting TONS of TRILLIONS of folks in the industry. The past 6 months has been cray (in my Kanye voice). So now it’s time to update you guys with all the cool peeps I now call my friends.

Julie Kandalec and I met way-back-when in the middle of the tents at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week one fall. I literally talked her head off, stalked her on twitter, all while she gave me my first Essie manicure. I kept in touch with her, via twitter of course, and just so happen to run into her again during my shoot with Stacy London (read that post here).

So without further rambling, allow me to introduce you guys to Julie Kandelac. For this blogversation I sent Julie 5 questions. ENJOY

ME: What’s a typical day like for Julie?

JULIE: Well my day really starts the night before. I unpack and repack my nail kit, double check my call time and location, program the studio address in my GPS, and plan what time I have to wake up. Call times are anywhere between 7am and 10am so I wake up a different time everyday. 

On set the only thing typical about my day is that it’s never the same day twice! I get to set, introduce myself the team and set up my polishes and tools. Sometimes I have a lot of space. I usually have very little though so I’ve learned to condense. I never work at a nail table- I work on the model while she’s having her makeup done so I sit on the floor a lot to reach her hands better.

I have some breakfast-I’m always hungry! Usually fruit, egg whites or a New York bagel. I then meet with the photographer, editors, fashion stylist, hair stylist and makeup artist and we decide on looks for the model. For a fashion story we usually do one nail look and I’m finished by lunch time. For a beauty story it could be a 12 hour day with up to 5 different nail looks or more. 

Once we wrap I head to my apartment in the East Village to drop off my kit. It’s at least 40lbs and irreplaceable so taking care of it is top priority. Some nights I have private clients, or I usually stay in and do some work from home. I update my website, catch up on emails, and call my dad. I rarely watch tv. Sometimes I’ll go dancing with my friends. My favorite place in New York is Kiss ‘n Fly in the Meatpacking District. 

my commentary: (Sounds like Julie’s day is organized chaos.. I think I will meet her at Kiss ‘n Fly, LOL)

ME: If we peeked inside your kit, what’s the first item(s) that might catch our eye?

JULIE: My nail art gems and paints. Even if I’m doing a fashion story and classic nail I still bring it. People love looking at shiny things and it makes for fun conversation. 

my commentary: (I think I need a peek at Julie’s kit, just to see how many polishes she really has – trillions I bet.)

ME: What’s your favorite nail or beauty tool to use that the everyday chick like me could master too?

JULIE: Use a clean mascara wand dipped in polish remover to erase every last bit of old polish around the nail.

my commentary: (OMGeezy, amazing tip. I am so stealing this one for my #POTW’s) 

ME: Now that Summer is nearing an end, tell me what’s hot for fall and what we all should be swooning over?

JULIE: Color-wise, nail it with deep, rich jewel tones like Tom Ford’s Plum Noir

an unexpected aqua like Butter London’s Bluey

or gilded tips in Chanel’s Diwali

Or do a metallic moon with a deep jewel tone base and combine two trends in one!

Nail art is here to stay. Start small or go big: look to nail art blogs on Tumblr and Instagram for inspiration. Some of my faves are Nail Porn (Sophy Robson), Nails by Regina and The Illustrated Nail.

my commentary: (I’m not adding that Tom Ford to my list — I hope it’s under $30, that my dolls is my limit)

ME: Your bio in 3 words using the same letter?

JULIE: Particular. Progressive. Polished. 

So now you see why I love Julie so much. Have a looksee at some of her latest work.

Stalk Julie here — www.juliekandalec.com, on Twitter, or her blog.