Polished Perfection STORY RAINA LACAZE PHOTOS JORDAN HEFLER DESIGN CLAIRE CASSREINO
Kevin Nguyen never thought he would be painting a Tiger’s toes Tickle Me Pink when he opened Nail Finiti 11 years ago. Former LSU kicker Drew Alleman said he visits Nail Finiti every two weeks to keep his feet feeling good. Nguyen even paints a pink ribbon on Alleman’s big toe for every game during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. Having to miss so many LSU games for work would devastate most fans, but not Nguyen. “I love football, but the [football players] come here and they get their pedicures. I don’t have to come to them, they come to me and that’s a blessing,” he said. Nail Finiti became the go-to salon due to the faithful support from pageant, Golden, Tiger and sorority girls alike. Nguyen said the buzz started with Miss LSU 2008, Lauren Edwards. After meeting him, Edwards said she distributed his business cards at other pageants because she was so pleased with Nguyen’s service. Word of mouth took on a life of its own, and soon after women from all over began to come to Nail Finiti to prepare for pageants. “Visiting Nail Finiti is like going to hang out with your friends,” Edwards said. Nail Finiti now sponsors several pageants across Louisiana. Nguyen said he doesn’t mind being a part of so many organizations, and he loves the backstage chatter among contestants concerning their nails. He said he enjoys getting to take pictures with beautiful women on stage before parents do. “Without [the contestants] I probably wouldn’t do it. And that’s another funny thing, I never wanted to do nails,” Nguyen said. He knew that the nail business was demanding, but he followed his family’s footsteps because he has always been interested in art. Now, Nguyen considers himself an artist of the beauty industry. He is greeted every day by a variety of women. It can sometimes be tough deciphering the dancers and pageant girls from the mix because some women don’t tell him their title right away. “So, basically, I have to have an eye for it. I’m blessed that I have that ability,” Nguyen said. He rarely misses the opportunity for a photo with each
of his clients. He has professional lighting equipment, and his camera is set up so that with a push of a button, grins and pristine nails are captured and downloaded straight to his phone to be posted on Facebook shortly after. Nguyen said he always puts the customer first by constantly improving the salon with various gadgets and personal inventions. Kevin knows his craft, Edwards said, and he keeps up with trending nail techniques. “The best part is my people. If a person really enjoys what you do for them, I think that’s the best thing. I don’t have the best job in the world, but I wouldn’t trade anything,” Nguyen said.
“I don’t have the best job in the world, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.” KEVIN NGUYEN
The only downside to his job, Nguyen said, is working all the time. He misses the time not spent with his family, but, like most things, he makes the best of it and accepts the fact that he maintains a different lifestyle. Nguyen said the only time he is in a bad mood is when he hasn’t seen a pageant contestant come in the shop for three or four days. He said it’s nice when they come in on a daily basis and tell him stories. Nguyen considers Baton Rouge to be his hometown, but he said he will never forget where he came from. Nguyen emigrated from Vietnam at the age of 2, and he said he would love the opportunity to return and see what it’s like. “In my life, I let everything just happen on its own because if I just try to be positive and do the right thing, I know that [God] will take care of me,” Nguyen said. Nguyen’s unique personality has captured the attention of many, even players from the football team. He provides the LSU athletes with some free advice: “First, do what you love. If you love what you do, they already know it.” l su l egacy mag.c om
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