Lamartine said: you are missing only one being and everything is depopulated. For several weeks now my hands have been raw and stripped. Without their usual adornment, colored capsules, my fingers lost their dexterity. But in Périgueux, as everywhere in France, the calendars of beauty salons are being taken over. A follower for more than two years now, my requirements are strict. Difficult to find a niche. Then, by chance, on Instagram, here is a new profile: “By Nyko.” After viewing around thirty photos, my thumbs write by themselves: “Hello, do you have availability for an appointment in the coming days? “
Sharp like almonds
Nicolas straightens his glasses. First step, look at my inspirations. “I have three ideas with orange as the dominant color. Here, it’s a little transparent. Then, yellow with a little gold.” I put the package in and without batting an eyelid, Nicolas puts on his gloves. “OK ! “In his drawers, a palette of 200 colors. The nail stylist has everything he needs.”I just push the cuticles a little. We can stick the capsule on a clean surface.”
For the moment, Nicolas is practicing “American” poses (my favorites). A fashionable technique, which consists of sticking a sort of fine solidified jelly on the natural nails, with a choice of shapes and malleable lengths: square, almond-shaped, rounded, size S, M, L or XXL …. For my part, it will be pointed almond, but not too much so as not to put out my eye.
Common passion and friendship
It’s hard to believe that the 37-year-old from Perigord started barely two months ago. A single clue gives him away. “My nails are a disaster!”, he admits with a nervous laugh. “But I don’t have the time… Well yes, I would have time to do them, but it’s mainly because with my job, I ruin everything.” Because behind this platinum blonde dye and his stylist look, Nicolas is not a full-time nail artist. He works in mass distribution on the side. “I test, I look, I test…. When you take out the little brush, you must not cough, you must not move. For slightly more advanced techniques, I always ask Marion for advice.”
Marion is the one who taught him everything. Her friend who became her colleague, her sidekick. “She was doing my nails and I quickly became interested. I asked her a lot of questions when she was doing my nails and she trained me like that, on a whim because she needed it and I liked it. rained. So I continued.”
Did you say that correctly: a nail technician?
In Périgueux, Nicolas is one of the only men to practice this profession. “I think there are two of us…But I’m not even sure.”, underlines the Périgord of adoption. “I’m not at all the type to put clichés on an activity for men or women. It’s true that we see a lot of women because very few men do their nails. It’s almost an advantage because many women are surprised to see a man in a salon and that’s also attractive. So, they want to see what I’m capable of.” A way to break gender stereotypes. “If that’s the image it gives, so much the better, I’m happy with it. But I really do it because I love what I do.”
Salome Pineda
While waiting for the student to one day surpass his teacher, the last photo stage of his work. “Did you want a popping orange? You’re served!”
