00:00I definitely wanted to be just like my mom but she was very strict so she didn't
00:04let me get my nails done for a really long time. I could just get clear and
00:08then in high school was kind of a tomboy so I was like, I don't care about nails.
00:12But when I got to LA I was like, okay we've arrived. Nails are important.
00:28Hi everyone, my name is Sarah Tan and I am the global beauty director at Refinery29
00:32and I'm so excited because today I am joined with Grammy-winning artist, mother,
00:39and children's book author, Victoria Monet. We are joined by our fabulous nail artists,
00:44Aaliyah, and Koka. Do you know what design you're getting already?
00:50Yes, so I'm very inspired by like the summer. We're gonna do some like colorful fruit.
00:56Cute. And what are you gonna do? Well since I have camo on today we were thinking like a chrome
01:02camo
01:03French. Do you like to get your nails done? I actually enjoy it especially when Koka does it
01:08because she's my friend. Yeah. So it feels like girl time. But when I have a lot of things to
01:13do
01:13it's hard because I need my hand. Right. She's very patient. What are some of your favorite looks
01:19that you have created for Victoria on the red carpet? The Grammys was really fun. With her dress
01:25being like her signature brown it was really fun to create something that went with the look. Most
01:30recently we did the Vanity Fair carpet and it was inspired by the dress that she was wearing. She was
01:36wearing this yellow Versace dress with some gold buckles. For me she's been there for all of my shining
01:42moments. The biggest ones in my career so far so it's really exciting to share that together but I
01:48also have a lot of fun with her outside of work. So you grew up in Sacramento. What were some
01:54of your
01:54early memories of getting your nails done or doing your own nails at home? I definitely wanted to be
02:00just like my mom. She was a single mom so she was my prime example and everything she did I
02:05wanted to
02:06be like but she was very strict so she didn't let me get my nails done for a really long
02:09time. But when I
02:10got to LA I was like okay we've arrived. Nails are important. Coco, what would you say is the most
02:18challenging part about being a celebrity nail artist? Being that I work pretty often with most
02:25of my clients it's kind of like okay we've done this chrome Victoria what color should we do next?
02:30What combination should we do next? So always keeping things different would be the challenging part.
02:35When I was going to the nail salon as a kid with my mom things were so simple. You would
02:40just be getting
02:41like orange. Right and then you pay five dollars for a flower and that was like that was luxurious.
02:48Yeah that's an upgrade. Right right. Now we can do so much and it gives you an opportunity to create
02:53signatures. I usually don't deviate from my shape. What is your shape? I like almond. Me too. It's like old
03:00Hollywood. Yeah. It's all that shape. Yeah. When was the first time you felt understood in your career?
03:07I think the first record deal I got I was signed to Motown. My grandma and I bonded over Motown
03:12and
03:12listening to it on Sundays and so many people I look up to that have been there before so yeah
03:17I was happy.
03:18And then winning your first Grammy can you talk me through what did that feel like? Oh okay so the
03:24first Grammy actually happened in the car because some of the categories in the Grammys are not televised.
03:29Right. So I was watching it on the way to the red carpet for the Grammys so they announced that
03:33Jaguar won best R&B album. Insane but being able to win an award and go on the stage. Yeah
03:40what was that
03:40like? It's like in disbelief the whole time walking up those stairs and when I got to the stage I
03:46was
03:46like you deserve to be here keep your head up high and make sure you thank everybody. Yeah. What has
03:52kept
03:52you going? I actually really love it and I just don't know what else I would be doing so I
03:58know that it
03:58comes and goes. Like one year you're hot, next year you're not. To sustain you through those harder
04:03moments like making sure you're just happy doing what you do regardless of what it brings. Right.
04:08Even when I'm like 70, 80 like still kicking like yeah I know how to write a song. Maybe I
04:14can't sing
04:14as well and I can't dance right now but my pen works you know. Yeah. So. Let's talk about Coachella.
04:22To do it. Yeah. And to be able to be a part of that moment with a friend is like
04:26yeah it's so cool.
04:28And then Sierra was a guest and Queen Latifah was a guest so it was like idols and friendship and
04:34womanhood and yeah ass like so much like so many great things so. How do you usually like your nails
04:41when you're performing? I like them sparkly. Okay. Years and years ago I went to go see Beyonce. I saw
04:47her
04:47nails holding the microphone from so far away and I was like it's beautiful yeah. So now it's a staple
04:52like I want the way that I see Michael Jackson's sparkly glove the nails gotta pop. Yeah. Chrome and
04:57cat eye and diamonds and gems and like and Coca has her own charms. Oh tell me about that. Women
05:04ran, women owned but it was pretty much inspired by like jewelry and having options. Victoria loves that.
05:11Yep. Coca how did you get your start as a nail artist? I started doing nails at my parents salon
05:17when I was six. Six? Yeah. Because I didn't have babysitters at the time and I just found it to
05:23be
05:23like an art form. And then Coca how did you get into doing like celebrities? I managed to apply at
05:30the
05:30salon named Black in North Hollywood and I'd have a lot of friends that would do lashes and then I
05:35would
05:36trade with my nails and one of her clients ended up being good friends with a singer. She asked me
05:42if
05:42I wanted to go on tour and I was like I don't dance. I don't dance. She was like no
05:48like I need nail
05:49changes. I'm like oh that's how it works. So yeah I liked being in different environments which keeps me inspired.
05:56You are so busy as an artist but also a mother. Yeah. How does beauty play a role in your
06:02day-to-day?
06:03I definitely have to go to sleep after my daughter and wake up before her to make sure I can
06:08do my
06:09skincare routines and my like all the things that I want to do. Motherhood has taught me better time
06:14management to make sure I have a lot of time for myself plus family. So you are now a children's
06:21book author. Congratulations. Thank you. Is that something you always want to do or you know since
06:26having a hazel is something that you've thought about? I always really loved Dr. Seuss. Yeah. I used to
06:31write poetry in high school and then that turned into songwriting so I always knew I wanted to write
06:36children's books. Having a daughter I can understand maybe a gap. I had never seen a book addressed.
06:42Working parents and separation anxiety and making the message clear that no matter where you are
06:47if you're separate from each other love keeps you together and that presence doesn't always have to
06:52be physical. It also translates into if anyone's ever lost a loved one that like presence isn't necessarily
06:59me seeing you. I can feel you no matter where we are. Reading the book to her has helped me
07:04feel
07:04better about leaving as well because it's hard for me too. Well it sounds like you struggle sometimes
07:09with mom guilt as every mother does. How do you deal with that? I've tried to make the time that
07:15I do spend
07:15with her quality. Making sure that I'm fully present, the phone is down, so work has to kind of take
07:22the
07:22back burner once I get home. So she voiced the audiobook? Yeah, she's on it with me. So what I
07:29did
07:29was I recorded it and then when she came in the booth with me I had to repeat what I
07:33say. So she was
07:34doing it with all the same inflections and like super excited to hear herself and record. So I think
07:39that's going to be a special moment for us always to have. Okay Victoria is there anything you're working
07:45on that you're excited about? Of course the book but anything else? New music. I'm in the studio
07:50working on my next album so I'm super excited about that and anxious. Just take some strategy
07:56and planning that needs time so I'm trying to be patient also. What is different about creating music
08:03right now in this chapter of your life versus before? Honestly I feel like it gives you more pressure
08:08after a really great year of success. You want to either repeat it or beat it but also in the
08:14back of my
08:14mind just reminding myself that the process I used before is how I should approach this where it was
08:19intuition doing what you want and feel strongly about. Is there a favorite place to write music
08:24for you? It's the studio when I walk on those doors it's like a reflex it's like okay I know
08:29what to do
08:30in here and sometimes ideas will pop up outside of that. I feel like life is a part of writing
08:36you have
08:36to live the experiences in order to get ideas to write about so I technically feel like I'm writing all
08:41the time but I'm not actually writing to music yet. Oh my gosh like this is like completely different
08:47looking than like in the beginning. So what was the inspiration for this? Well today we really just
08:54based it off of my outfit and also we went with French because I have an appearance on next Tuesday
09:01in New York and it'll match both but the French allows it to grow out a little bit more without
09:05seeing that line so we were using our noggin today. I'm obsessed with how this turned out.
09:12This is so cute. So cute. Oh my gosh. So that is a wrap on full set with the incredible
09:19Victoria Monet.
09:21I had so much fun hanging out with you thank you so much for coming to Tarot Bunny and talking
09:26about
09:26your career and motherhood and your new book. When is it out? June 24th. Okay and you can get it
09:33anywhere where books are available so thank you so much and thank you Aaliyah and thank you Koka.
09:38This was so fun. To watch more videos subscribe here.
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