Nailed It: Nagisa Kaneko

DIY nail art has become a typical part of the Netflix-Takeout-Couch-Flop combo that makes up some Friday nights. (Don’t pretend—there’s always that one rainy evening when you just don’t want to go out.)

But trying to paint faces and flowers on our manicures has made us appreciate the discipline, talent, and imagination that goes into real nail art… which is why Caitlin Smith went to the source for her upcoming Popular beauty story.

She talked to Tokyo style star Nagisa Kaneko, owner of the iconic Disco Nail Salon, about her inspirations, techniques, and how she got started as a manicure maven. The full story comes out in Popular‘s first print issue, which launches next week (!!!) but in the meantime, we’ve got exclusive photos of Kaneko’s zaniest nail moments.

Click through the gallery to see them, then tag us in your own nail art on Instagram (@whatispopular)−we might feature you in a future story!