Elaine Watson has a very long title at Star Nail International. In addition to being vice president of marketing and sales, she’s also the global education director. That means she wears a lot of hats. Her main focus is on Cuccio Veneer gel-polish and Cina nail art lines.

“When I’m in the office, I do a lot of research and development,” says Watson, who worked in the lab to help formulate Cuccio Veneer and is currently working on the 2013 Cuccio Colour collections. But that’s not all she does. Traveling internationally, she helps Star’s international customers learn how to build their business with the company’s many brands. “I teach them how to sell our products, how to use our products, and how to teach their customers about our products.” She also works on all of the company’s photo shoots for ads, catalogs, websites, etc., and works with a team on marketing concepts.

Working with Tony and Roby Cuccio since 1995, Watson joined the staff full-time eight years ago when she left the salon she owned with her dad and sister in Maine and moved to California.

Elaine Watson (right) has  been part of the Star Nail  family since 1995. She  left a salon, her clients,  and her family in Maine  eight years ago to move  to California to work at  Star’s headquarters. She  is now the vice president  of marketing and sales  and the global education  director.

Elaine Watson (right) has been part of the Star Nail family since 1995. She left a salon, her clients, and her family in Maine eight years ago to move to California to work at Star’s headquarters. She is now the vice president of marketing and sales and the global education director.

Advice for other techs who might want to work for a professional manufacturer? “Align yourself with a family-owned brand. I was never a number at Star. Tony and Roby knew who I was when I was working from Maine. A nail tech can make an impact on a multi-million dollar company. The opportunity to grow in a family-owned business is so great. I am so lucky that I met Tony at my first beauty show in Boston in 1994. I made sure I introduced myself and that he knew I was ambitious. Set goals — no matter how high. No one ever became successful while being complacent.”

The set of nails she created for this month’s cover is relatively simple and wearable. She said it would probably take her about 45 minutes (including the manicure) and she’d charge about $7-$10 more than her basic manicure for the nail art. “So if I charged, say, $20 for a manicure, I’d probably charge $30 for this design,” says Watson. “Of course these prices would vary according to the economics of your salon’s area. But my entire cost of materials to do the manicure with art (per service) is under $1. That’s a really nice profi t by adding the nail art.”

 

Here’s how you can do these nails:

1. Manicure the nails. Apply Cuccio Nail Solutions Base Coat.

2. Apply Cuccio Colour Polish in a nude base to soften our end color.

3. Apply Cuccio Colour Polish textured coat in a soft champagne pink color.

4. Allow the polish to fully dry and then apply brush-on nail resin to the area you want to apply sequins.

5. Using Cinapro Nail Art, apply various sequins to the resin. Accent the sequins with gold bullion beads in the centers. You can also place rhinestones and pearls in clusters surrounding the sequins.

We also asked Watson to polish our model’s toenails a nice, contrasting deep navy to go with our party-themed cover.

 

You Might Also Like:

Cover Look: Party Nails (video)

Behind the Scenes: Sweater Nails (Nov. 2013)

Behind the Scenes: Metallic Nails (May 2013)

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, Click here.