Interview with manicurists Kylie Jenner and Hailey Bieber: Lisa Cohn on working with the stars and the best nail trends

Olesya is now known all over the world as Lisa Kohn, the manicure masters of Hailey Bieber, Kylie and Kendall Jenner, Rita Ora and Zendaya. Six years ago, while living in Tver, she had not even thought that she would one day be working with Hollywood stars of the first magnitude. Now Lisa has her own salon, a nail products brand Lisa Kon, and big plans for the future – opening a second salon in Los Angeles, launching author’s online manicure courses and a franchise.

When Liza just moved to America, there were almost no Russian-speaking masters there. And for American women, Russian manicure has not yet become an everyday word. Since then she has given interviews to several dozen foreign publications, including The New York Times, Allure, Cosmopolitan, and Glamor. And we asked him about the features of working with stars, the difficulties of opening your own salon and the main manicure trends.

Why is Russian manicure so popular in America?

Almost every nail service in the US is fast, cheap, and of poor quality. It takes 40 minutes to create a manicure – during this time the client gets a minimal manicure without affecting the cuticle and gel coat – it is good if it does not go over the cuticle. Usually after 10 days the nails again look unkempt, so girls visit the salon three to four times a month. Such a nail service was everywhere here – American women simply did not know anyone else. That’s why when they started trying our technique, they didn’t want to go back to the past. Yes, they will stay with the master a little longer, they will pay more, but it will be enough to go to the salon once a month, the nails will look much better and they can even be regrown.

Probably, the main differences between the Russian manicure and the American manicure are the presence of alignment and strengthening, and, of course, a different way of working with the cuticle. Here they just push it with a stick and we pull it out with the help of the apparatus.

What were the challenges of opening the first salon in America?

When my husband and I moved to America, we were not thinking of opening a salon. I was going to do a manicure at home, as before in Russia. Therefore, I simply equipped the workplace in the apartment. And a few months before I moved to America, I created an Instagram page * and started publishing my work. So when I came to Los Angeles, I already had a certain waiting list. And I started working just two days after renting our first flat. At one point, I realized there were so many customers that I physically don’t have time to accept everyone who wants it. Then we thought I needed help. So we opened the hall.

Probably, the first difficulty arose with the rental of premises. It’s very problematic to withdraw anything if you don’t have a credit history in the US. Nobody wants to rent a place to you because they don’t know if you will pay in good faith. So when we found our place in North Hollywood we had to pay six months in advance. Accordingly, we gave all the money we had at that time. The first six months there was a huge problem in finding a master – at that time, for example, there were not as many Russian-speaking girls as last year. And all good craftsmen either worked somewhere or worked for themselves at home.

Often the masters came, gained experience, built a client base with us and went to work for themselves. So that was the biggest problem until last year. Now, of course, he’s gone. On the contrary, supply exceeds demand, so many good craftsmen try in every possible way to attract customers. They even do manicures for $30 (four times more expensive at our salon and 10 times more at mine), the first visit is free. That’s why it’s so hard to start from scratch like I once did, because customers won’t come to you because of the huge selection of crafters on the market. Therefore, all professionals want to enter a good salon, where there are already customers.

Who was the first star customer?

The first star client I had was Sylvester Stallone’s mother, Jacqueline. But, of course, she didn’t get a huge influx of clients, because she was already a very mature woman—she was 90-odd years old at the time. This was my first home visit. I didn’t take much with me at the time, just a few polishes, sat at his desk and gave him a manicure. She also wanted me to teach her.

A year after that, Kendall Jenner’s manager contacted me and from that moment the celebrity stream started.

How’s it going working with Kendall Jenner, Rita Ora and Zendaya?

I come home in 95% of cases. But there are also customers who come to the salon: Zendaya, for example. He just wanted to make a home visit for the first time and for everything else he came to my salon.

When we first meet someone very famous, we always sign a deal. He usually has an agreement that no filming will be made at home, so as not to disclose privacy. And of course, I’m not going to give any personal details about the person either. Here, too, it is important for the master to have an understanding of what he can and cannot say. Because if you utter the wrong thing, they will no longer work with you. A star may ask you not to post anything, not to say anything. So, not every time I do something I can post it. Especially if it’s some kind of magazine cover or campaign.

In general, the stars are in constant motion. Most are in one city, then in another country, then in one country, then in another city. Therefore, everywhere they have a master, and often there is no one who can do a manicure. If we talk about Los Angeles as a permanent place of residence, it is important to have two or three masters here, because often the stars ask to leave at the last minute. Not every master can. So naturally they write and the free one gets manicures.

Often stars expect it to be super fast, although they sit on the couch in a not-so-convenient position for the master and like to talk on the phone and eat at the same time. At first I was worried that my manicure would be too long for them. They are used to having everything ready in half an hour. But no. He’s had no complaints.

What kind of manicure do stars like?

For example, Rita Ora is constantly making extraordinary designs. Kendall loves both design and straight nails, so she’s swapping them out. Zendaya produces a single tone in almost 95% of cases. Probably, Miranda Kerr does her manicure most often once a week. We remake the same color, even if nothing has grown there yet. Everyone has preferences. But basically everyone likes a thin coating and accuracy of course.

The best manicure trends of 2023

Over the past year, of course, glazed nails have been the leader. Such a manicure is done in our salon at least two or three times a day, and this is a lot. Short nails are back in fashion even in America. Many customers who go with very long nails now choose more natural ones, so naturalness is also an obvious trend. Therefore, all shades of nudity are in fashion.

If we talk about design, then this is minimalism – no lines, dots, nothing intrusive. Blue is very popular right now, if we are talking about bright colors, shades of purple. It will still be yellow in summer. Metallic is also often done, i.e. friction, eg silver and gold. This is an always relevant classic, like red, black or nude.

Magnetic gel polishes from the 1900s are now very popular. Different types of jackets are popular – regular, blank, mini. Usually it becomes popular and asked to do after each glamorous manicure, either on the red carpet or on the social networks of the star.

funny stories with stars

When we went to Hailey Bieber, Justin Bieber ate, walked, sang with us, which was very nice. I’ve never heard him live before, but he’s right next to me. Then I went on my first trip to Kendall Jenner. My husband drove me, we had a child in the car, and they walked with a stroller in a suburban village. As I was about to finish, Hayley came to her and asked me to do a manicure as well. “Yeah, of course I can, I just have to go out and feed the child because she is with her husband and I will be back,” I said. And what?” They were surprised. Because in principle very few people breastfeed in America. Almost everyone formulates children. It was also very rare to see a woman breastfeeding in restaurants, so it must have been an interesting moment for them while they were breastfeeding. By the way, I once gave a three-year-old girl a manicure. North was the daughter of Kim Kardashian.

* A social network that is banned on the territory of the Russian Federation.