Day in the Life: A CND Nail Artist Takes Us Through the Rodarte Show & More

Posted by September 14, 2012 11:15 am
5:00 AM: Alarm Goes Off, Have to get ready to leave my hotel at 6:30 AM for a call time of 7:00 AM. First, COFFEE!!!
No Time to stop and get breakfast, so I fueled up at the show, first show is the designer RODARTE, I pick healthier choice to keep me going instead of a carb crash later… MY choice, Fruit granola [...]
No Time to stop and get breakfast, so I fueled up at the show, first show is the designer RODARTE, I pick healthier choice to keep me going instead of a carb crash later… MY choice, Fruit granola yogurt, egg fritatta, coffee.
Now, time to belt up and start polishing models toes first, so they will be dry for the shoes. As a team lead, I give the run down to my team of what needs to get done, how many models, and what the [...]
Now, time to belt up and start polishing models toes first, so they will be dry for the shoes. As a team lead, I give the run down to my team of what needs to get done, how many models, and what the color is. This show, we have 33 models.

The night before, me and my team worked on the nail tips for the show. Each nail took 15 minutes to make, this was by far the hardest nail show we had of the season as far as nail design. Total hours to [...]

The night before, me and my team worked on the nail tips for the show. Each nail took 15 minutes to make, this was by far the hardest nail show we had of the season as far as nail design. Total hours to make this set … Over 200!

Now, let's start applying them...9:30AM.

10:30 AM: Press arrives, need to stop and do interviews while my team works hard to finish all 33 models for a show time of 12:00PM.

12:00 PM: Time to pack up and move on to the rest of the day….

12:30 PM: Try to grab a cab to head back to the hotel to work on nails for tonight's show, they aren’t finished yet, we need to be done with them by at least 5:00, plus I still need to eat lunch, I'm [...]

12:30 PM: Try to grab a cab to head back to the hotel to work on nails for tonight's show, they aren’t finished yet, we need to be done with them by at least 5:00, plus I still need to eat lunch, I'm starving!

2:00 PM: Time to work on nails for tonight's show at The Blonds, call time is 6:30 PM and squeezing in working on nails for the next morning's show…my assignment is nails for tomorrow for Norman Ambrose, [...]

2:00 PM: Time to work on nails for tonight's show at The Blonds, call time is 6:30 PM and squeezing in working on nails for the next morning's show…my assignment is nails for tomorrow for Norman Ambrose, my team is working on The Blonds' nails.

4:00 PM: OMG I need coffee again, craving Starbucks Iced Coffee with Soy Milk, yum!

4:30 PM: Back to working on nails in my hotel room, I set up the desk to look like a nail shoppe.

6:30 PM: Off to the next show..The Blonds.

8:00 PM: Stick the nail strips to my arm to apply the nails to the models while they are in makeup or hair. The nail team is mobile, we don’t have a set station ever! We get right up on the side of [...]

8:00 PM: Stick the nail strips to my arm to apply the nails to the models while they are in makeup or hair. The nail team is mobile, we don’t have a set station ever! We get right up on the side of hair or makeup.

9:30 PM: Go backstage where the models are getting dressed and squeeze in between the crowd to make sure all nails are still on before the models walk, hopefully none fell off!! I'm so tired!

11:30 PM: Work on more nails until 2:30AM. At 3AM, I go to sleep and sleep at least 3 hours until the next day to do it all again!

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Nail and Fashion Expert for CND Candice Manacchio is used to a busy schedule — and as an artist on one of the leading nail teams at fashion week, that schedule clearly only gets more hectic when “fashion month” rolls around. But, Manacchio knows what it takes to power through (and still let the creativity shine through) and that talent becomes clear during the most stressful time of the year.

She captured one of her craziest days of NYFW for us, as she led the nail team for the Rodarte show as well as prepped nails for many others. Click through the slideshow above to see what it takes and get a behind-the-scenes peek into her life!

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