Who Is Camila Veras
Camila Veras was born on January 17th, 2001, in Maryland. Her Mom being Peruvian and Father Dominican.
Veras has always been into makeup and nails since she was young. Around the age 12, her mom wouldn’t allow her wear make-up, so she’d steal her older cousins’ make-up. While doing so she would watch youtube videos and practice it. Once she turned 14, she was finally allowed to use makeup.
As for nails, she has always been fond. Growing up she used to buy the Kiss nail sets at Walgreens and wear them to school. Now that she owns her business, if you told her 2 years ago that’d she have her own nail business within 2 years, she wouldn’t believe you.
The Start Of CamyV Beauty:
When Veras graduated from High school, she attended beauty school to originally become an esthetician to do facials and skincare, which she still loves. But, she met a friend named Angelica Secolo, who also has her own business for nails. In February of 2020, Veras took one of Angelica’s classes. Where she learned all about her business and how she runs it. This is what got her inspired into doing nails.
Veras first started off learning to do acrylics, but didn’t get to practice much afterwards because that’s when the pandemic hit, and only worked on her nails. It’s different working on your nails rather than doing it on someone else’s because they have different nail shapes. It was discouraging for her because due to quarantine, she lost the time to practice on others.
Veras didn’t have a spot to practice her nails as well, but later on December of 2020, luckily for her, her brother moved out the house, making it a perfect place for her to start out. She took one week to buy all her nail supplies that she didn’t have already because over the pandemic she had some supplies ready because she was already making custom press ons. So once she was all set she made an Instagram account for her nail business and also posted it everywhere and on her main account.
The very first nail set Veras created, was on her best friend which was hot pink clear nails, with white clouds and little gems. Those were the very first full nail set she’s done on a friend to practice on, which took her about 8 hours since that was her starting out. But Veras explained “That’s how it’s going to be at the beginning, when you’re learning something, you just have to get used to it, and later on you’ll be faster.” These nails sets actually went viral on Tik Tok. Her best friend posted the process and it blew up, without them expecting this, Veras felt so happy that people loved her work.
Where Camila Gets Her Inspiration:
Veras has her support system which is her family, close friends and especially her boyfriend. She explained she is very grateful for them and how much they’ve pushed her to do her best and have always been by her side. But what also pushes her to do more creative nails is when she buys more colors, stencils, air brushes, etc. so she can get more creative and expand her art. Another way to push herself more is when she creates outstanding nail sets that people don’t usually get to see in her area. That’s why she’s glad she’s been working more with Gel-X because although she loves acrylic; Gel-X has been more studier and lasts longer than acrylic. So far Veras favorite nail set(s) she has done would be the Lisa Frank inspired nail design. Along with a brown and emerald green marble nail set. Both sets had been done with Gel-X.
As for inspiration, we all have people who inspires us on our day to day lives. For Veras, her biggest inspiration would be her parents because they’ve come from so little, to so much where they’re at now. She’s grown up in the same house since six years old, her parents have never been the type to move here and there, and she feels that causes a lot of problems for kids growing up, so her parents have always kept her and her brothers in a safe spot, and have always provided so much for them and open up new doors for them in their life. This inspired Veras so much because she wants to show her parents what she can do now and she wants to show them that she can take care of them, in the way they took care of her, in the future.
Business wise, her inspiration has been Angelica, she explained that Angelica has came from a rough patch in her life, and that could put a lot of pressure on someone, compared from where she started to where she is now, her business Anl_spa, has been thriving currently and Veras looks up to her business and her journey.
Social Media Impact
Veras always gets her nail and makeup inspiration from others who do the same on social media. She looks at their work and it inspires her to recreate them. Whether it would be the same exact look to challenge herself or something similar to it. She checks out what’s new and trending at the moment by checking out Instagram, Tik Toks, Hashtags, etc.
When she first started noticing people were recreating her makeup looks, she finally realized she has made an impact in the makeup world. She didn’t know people would actually love her looks and she felt so much love and appreciation. Saying it’s such an amazing feeling to see she inspires others.
Social media has had a huge impact on her business. When it comes to being independent and running your own business, social media is the easiest way to put yourself out there. Whether it’s using hashtags, posting your work on your stories, word of mouth, or even the business cards that have a barcode scan that links you straight to your business website. It’s all free promotion that will have a massive impact on your business. Without social media, being an independent nail technician would be impossible.
One of the biggest platforms Veras has gained a lot of recognition from is Tik Tok. She explained that she didn’t expect herself to blow up on Tik Tok, but she did hope for it. She first started creating Tik Toks of her makeup looks during quarantine. “We were all stuck at home and I thought why not?”. After she started making more videos, the very first brand that had sent her a message was Juno & Co. Because of them, she created a business email and ever since then, other brands have been contacting Veras. Which is how she started getting PR packages.
Behind the Scenes: The Start of CamyVBeauty
When creating a business, there’s a lot that goes into it. Veras mentioned when starting up your own business will be a huge investment whether it deals with nails, lashes, independently. By doing so, it can be a big risk because you’re investing about $1,000-2,000 into your business. For a nail technician here in Florida it costs around $1300 and you have to invest your money on so many necessities. It can be scary, sometimes it doesn’t work out which is a loss money. Veras wants girls to not be discouraged since sometimes businesses don’t work out in the first month, second, or third month. She’s grateful that her business did good from the beginning.
I asked her if she had any doubts about her business, she responded yes and no. “Yes, because investing a lot of money into your business can be scary. I didn’t want money to be wasted. I knew I had my close friends, boyfriend, and his friends to spread the word about my business, so I would know that people would come and check out my work. That’s why I didn’t doubt myself as much because I made sure to stay positive and have faith.” she explained. She knew that being confident with her business is very important to her. She also said, “You always attract the energy you put out; the more you stay positive, the better the outcome.”
Now that Veras is her own boss, it’s such an amazing feeling to her. She’s grateful that she makes her own money and doesn’t work for a corporation. She’s learned how to manage money for herself, savings, and her company. “Having this experience is going to be super beneficial for me in the future for when I’m ready to expand my business.” she said.
The Truth Behind Independent Nail Technicians
I asked Veras if she believes if nail technicians receive the recognition they deserved. She sees nail technicians such as Angelica and others who get their money and recognition for their work. On the other hand, she also stressed some clients don’t agree with the nail technician’s prices. If you want great quality nails, you’d be paying for their work and time. They’re not just regular nail technicians who work at a salon; salons take care of the store and equipment for the technician’s. Independent nail technicians have to provide for themselves, such as stock in gels, acrylic nail supplies, acetone, etc. “I’m not pleased at the fact that people would stand there and complain about a $70 well done nail set.” she says.
When starting up your business, a tip she gave was to never be afraid to ask for help. It has helped her tremendously throughout the process of opening up her business. Veras explained, when you are opening up any beauty business, ask your nail tech, hair stylist, or whoever the following questions. “How was your experience, do you have any tips for me?, I’m opening up my own business, is there anything I should be prepared for?” There’s nothing wrong with asking for help and advice from experienced beauty business entrepreneurs, it’ll help you become prepared since they know the struggle. Second, when opening up your business never be afraid to receive criticism. When someone asks you to change something or whatnot, do not take it too harshly. Everyone has different interests, so it’s good to know what someone likes and doesn’t like. Criticism also doesn’t usually come out in a hateful way. If they’re coming to you in a nice way and have supported you from the start, take their advice into consideration.
Veras used to struggle with communicating to her clients while doing their nails since she tends to be a bit introverted. As time went by, she got accustomed to talking with her clients and making sure they felt comfortable. Although the clients would be sitting in the chair for up to three hours, she makes sure their experience is fun. While doing so she has grown into being more extroverted. She currently sees up to three clients per day and is getting used to doing different types of sets along with figuring out how long it’ll take to do each set.
Another big thing for Veras, is to make sure clients leave happily and satisfied with their nail sets. Doing so by reassuring her clients that they can be open and honest with her on how they feel about their nails. She’s learned throughout the way to never ask “Hey is this okay?”, this question puts more pressure onto them to speak up. If she asks, “Hey is this shape okay? Do you want me to make them wider or rounder?”, these sorts of questions allow them to have options in order to be content with their experience.
Regular nail salons can sometimes overcharge for the simplest things. Veras perspective is, “Normally at salons you’ll notice they’re not using products that are as good of a quality as independent tail technicians, so why make them pay so much?” When you go to an independent nail technician, their prices could be a bit higher than your average nail salon, but you’ll be paying for better quality and leave happy.
The Progression From Then and Now
From the beginning to now, there has been a lot of growth. When looking back at her old makeup looks on Tik Tok from when she first started, she cringes a bit. Although having them uploaded gives her the opportunity to look back and see the progress that has been made. As for nails, she scrolls down on her business account to view her first nail sets and considers them “good enough”, but not perfect. Now, she loves her work and knows she’ll do even better in the next few months as she gains more experience. When she puts her full effort into doing the trickiest designs and achieves it, she takes pride in it. Seeing her clients leave happy is what she enjoys seeing.
From Veras perspective, the best part about doing nails is meeting new people. She enjoys getting to know different people, especially her frequent clients. Growing up she only had three of her close friends and has had trouble with trust issues. Now that she meets new clients everyday, it has helped her break that barrier and help herself grow.
“Nail art has become such an important factor to our generation. Before Gen Z, you would see long nails without any of the styles you’d see now.” she explained. Whenever cool designs become a trend on Instagram, Pinterest, or Tik Tok, a week later clients would come in with the idea to recreate them. “Nails are a fun thing, it’s an add-on, much like jewelry.” she said.
Vera’s First Set Of Nails Vera’s Current Set Of Nails
Camila’s Views On The Beauty Community
Veras has noticed most beauty influencers do not show a real side of beauty and choose to portray themselves as “perfect”. When in reality, not everyone wakes up with a full face of makeup and beautiful well done hair. She appreciates the ones who show their true self when they wake up in the morning or when bloated. Many beauty influencers have these huge platforms and show a fake persona, giving their viewers unrealistic wants. In today’s world, everyone at any age has a phone. Influencers have young viewers making them look down on themselves at times. Recently, many people have been exposing influencers’ real bodies caught off guard, causing them to receive a lot of hate. There’s so much pressure put on them to be perfect. Veras believes we need to start showing off our true selves and love ourselves even with our flaws.
Makeup has evolved in many ways over the years. Till recently people have been mainly focusing on the ingredients in their makeup. For instance, What foundation is cruelty free? Which one has clean ingredients?, and What about the ones that won’t make my skin break out? and so on. Veras explains that she has seen many amazing artists on Youtube who pull off these mind blowing, artistic looks. Then, proceeds to see them within a year or two as the next top beauty influencers. Social media has turned into such a big thing, beauty influencers today are more focused on other business opportunities rather than transforming their creativity into makeup. Veras doesn’t consider those people as beauty influencers anymore, they have become lifestyle influencers. Which she has no problem with, but there are many smaller beauty influencers that pull off the craziest makeup looks who deserve the recognition. Veras loves the makeup artists on Tik Tok that cover beauty looks with a step by step tutorial on what to do for specific people such as: How to do eyeliner looks on different eye shapes. Along with seeing other artists help others, especially how she does herself. She’s had different girls come to her asking “I have combination/oily skin, what makeup would you recommend?” and she’ll help them find a perfect match, another would ask “I have acne prone skin, what would you recommend for me?” Veras would give her recommendations, that’s what she considers a good beauty influencer.
What The Future Holds For Camila:
Before Veras started her business, she originally wanted to become a Dermatologist. She had this set in stone since she was a freshman in High school. It’s why she went to beauty school to become an Esthetician. But, deep down she always knew she wanted her own business(es), so she changed her career path and began her business.
Some of the plans CamyV Beauty has in the near future will be to change the image of her business page’s social media and website, photo setup, and a change of layout to her nail room. By switching it up every now and then, it helps her stay motivated. During the summer of 2021 prices of her work will be raised, “Sometimes you have to charge your worth.”
In the future she sees herself opening up her own salon, bringing in some dependent nail technicians. Giving them the opportunity to rent out their seats and work for themselves, making their own money, and share the salon alongside Veras. Depending how that goes, she’ll later open up more salons. In about 5 or so years her page will have grown more, allowing her to help out ladies who want to start up their business, not only in nails, but in anything. By that time, she hopes to be financially comfortable to not only take care of herself, but her family including the ones in different countries.
CamyV Beauty’s Instagram: @camyv.beauty
CamyV Beauty’s Website: camyvbeauty.glossgenius.com
CamyV Beauty’s Email: @camyvbeauty@gmail.com
The Conspicuous 