Confessions of a Nail Tech x Tabytha Scott

by Maria MG on February 19, 2021

Celebrating Black History Month with an interesting and powerful interview with Tabytha Scott. She's a very talented Nail Tech who started off as a Make-Up Artist, couple years later deciding to move to the Nail Art World. We talked about the challenges she faced and also her best moments she lived so far as a nail tech. Let's discover her story together!

MG: What made you choose a career in nails?

I had played minimally in nail art when I was younger but never considered it as a career-more of a bored weekday night thing I could do every blue moon when I was bored. Fast forward, I was a makeup artist for a couple of years before I started doing nails and I liked to stay on top of the current nail “trends” and would get compliments on my nails since my hands were very close to people’s faces. I realized that maybe I could do it and do it well. I was tired of fixing things I didn’t like about my nails after leaving the shops and it just took off from there.

MG: What is most challenging about what you do?

At this moment, having to put my survival before my love of my work. I haven’t taken actual clients since March of 2020 and due to having developed occupational asthma, I’m at high risk in this pandemic and had to cease taking clients. It’s a difficult sacrifice but I have to keep myself and my family safe. Also, I’d never want to put my clients at risk.

MG: What do you enjoy most, and least, about your career?

I enjoy bringing alive an idea someone had, creating a look someone desires and may lack the words or creativity to fully express what they are truly wanting. I, honestly, am not a social butterfly, so as much as I like to do the actual nails, I have a hard time being the “best friend nail tech”. I am mostly quiet during client’s appointments-I like to create, not talk.

MG: What trends are you expecting to see in 2021?

I think we will see some trends come back from the past years. I always like very long, solid colored nails. Bold color, maybe matte. I hope different nail shapes can take their turns in the spotlight, like edge shape, mountain peak and more lipstick shaped nails.

MG: What else would you like people to know about what you do?

I’ve put a lot of research into my products, put a lot of thought into the process and have practiced endless hours (I count actually working on clients a part of me practicing). I love to share what I’ve learned and how I’ve learned to troubleshoot along the way.

MG: Where do you get your inspiration from?

Literally inspiration comes from anywhere. Art is inspiration. I take inspiration from “bad nails”, good nails, wall art, packaging, a ransom vase sitting at a discount store...anywhere!

MG: How many Madam Glam gel nail polishes do you own?

I haven’t counted, so I’ll give a rough but good guess-about 500-600 maybe even more!

MG: If you had to do it all over again, what would you change or do differently?

I would have done it sooner and researched the safest way to do it. As I stated before, I developed occupational asthma from attending a school that didn’t teach us to take proper precautions from the nail dust. I would 100% still do it, just wear a face mask from the second I started (which is kind of ironic given our currently worldly situation).

MG: Which celebrity would be your dream client? Why?

I’m going to give an honest answer. I don’t have one. I don’t charge celebrities more and many will want you to do free work in exchange for showing your work to others on social media, even if you did a good job. It’s a hassle to me, so I will humbly say any celebrity that I can see TRULY adding value to my life overall, is a celebrity I’d work with. Otherwise, I can honestly say I’ve passed on working with a couple celebrities because the pressure outweighs the reward for me.

MG: Describe yourself using 3 emojis

MG: Do you have any words of encouragement for new nail technicians?

The most cliche thing to do is the best thing to do. PRACTICE. That is the ONLY way to get better. Research and then apply what you have researched over and over and over. Watch videos of people doing nails you don’t like so you can see what NOT to do and vice versa. Watch videos of techniques your unfamiliar with, take in knowledge from anywhere you can. Do what techniques work best for you and not what your told to do. (All things considered being legal and not harmful to your client). Ex: If you like to drag your brush to pick up an acrylic bead but your favorite nail tech taps theirs, that doesn’t mean you have to do the same, maybe dragging works best for you. Look outside the nail art world and seek art techniques in different areas. As is said, art is inspiration-what are we if not artists?