About Julie

From Essie campaigns to backstage at New York Fashion Week, Julie Kandalec is the nail professional that editors, designers, and celebrities call to make their dream nails come to life. The founding creative director of Paintbox in New York City, Julie made chic and on-trend nail art accessible to a mainstream clientele and now shares her years of experience with salons, schools, spas, and hotels around the world. 

Julie's clients include Mariah Carey, Camila Cabello, Jessica Chastain, Joe Jonas, Anya Taylor-Joy, Emma Roberts, and Hailee Steinfeld. Her work has been featured in Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper's Bazaar, InStyle, Vogue, WWD, and on campaigns for Chanel, CND, Dior Beauty, YSL Beauty, Tiffany & Co., Glossier, Bobbi Brown, Urban Decay, and Maybelline. In 2021, she opened her private Manhattan atelier, Julie K Nail Artelier. 

Julie's Nail Art Design Book began on a 12-hour flight from Tokyo to NYC when she had to create 40 different nail art looks for a dream gig. It has transformed backstage and on set over the years to become what it is today: a soft-touch, metallic-inked, full-color spiral-bound educational sketchbook for the nail art lover of any age. From salon professionals to students, art aficionados to editorial nail artists - people from all around the world have made Julie's Nail Art Design Book their go-to nail art diary - and she can't wait to see where it takes you!