Why This Rainbow Gel Manicure (With Chrome!) Costs $255

For Ms.Pinto, who worked in art curation, nails are just another form of art.She made the switch in 2008 as the recession hit, beginning Vanity Projects as a pop-up at art events.

“I said, ‘OK, well, it’s better that everybody spends a little bit of money, even if it’s a small amount,’” she said.Six years later, the business had grown enough to open the salon.With a clientele including Whoopi Goldberg and Sasha Obama, the salon expanded to include a second floor, an international artist-in-residence program and a second location, which opened in Miami in 2015.Pricing for soft gels — which typically can be soaked off in acetone, unlike hard gels, which must be filed off — depends on the length, size and brand, as well as any nail art.

In New York City, where there are many independent nail technicians, soft gels can start between $100 and $400; Vanity Projects begins at $155.Ms.Pinto said a partnership for the last five years with the brand Aprés, which created a soft gel extension process known as Gel-X, has allowed her to offer monthly specials of $100 for the brand’s soft gels, to try to attract more customers.

She declined to put a figure to the discount; an Aprés representative did not respond to requests for comment.Nail art and designs — like chrome pigments, illustrations, rhinestones, charms or airbrush finishes — can run up a customer’s bill, too.Depending on what a client requests, Vanity Projects sets pricing tiers for nail design as simple ($10 extra), middle ($50 extra) or complex ($90 extra).

Typical appointments from start to finish can run about 75 minutes to two and a half hours.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Wa...