The sound of melodramatic soap opera dialogue blares from a TV suspended from the ceiling, ricocheting off the pink tiles, as Sha-Sha shows off the designs in her display case. They look like miniature replicas of medieval and African shields, but what they are is fingernails.
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Her clients are willing to dish out serious cash to keep their nails looking sharp. A complete nail job (ten designs) costs $40 and takes about 90 minutes. Then there’s the $20 routine maintenance–the touch-up–every two weeks. We’re talking Exotic Nails by Sha-Sha (pronounced Shay-Shay). She performs her craft in the front of the Mercedes Beauty Shop at 456 E. 75th St. in the south side neighborhood of Chatham.
Sha-Sha got into exotic nail design a few years ago, after she started practicing in her basement. “Whenever I got a little depressed I broke out the file and the nail polish,” she remembers. “Pretty soon I got creative and started to feel good. Practice made perfect.”
First up on a recent afternoon is LaShon Vance, 20, who is looking to better her burgundy-painted nails with rhinestones and tiny bits of silver foil. A stylish woman wearing a round black leather hat and an assortment of gold rings, bracelets, and necklaces, Vance says nice nails are essential.
Sha-Sha can paint little snowmen and flamingos, but she prefers the abstract designs, those with glitter or perhaps a marbleized look. The latest fad is designer labels glued to the nails.
