Touch of an artist

Satoko Kubota applies her skills toward turning your nails into works of beauty

Satoko Kubota Title: Nail team leader Job: Trains and supervises a team of five nail technicians at Aveda Salon & Spa

Satoko Kubota was a flight attendant for All Nippon Airways for 12 years before she turned her hobby into her profession. The native of Miyazaki, Japan, enjoyed providing manicures and pedicures for her friends and family members, and would have done it professionally sooner, except that ANA did not allow her to have two jobs. Then, on one flight she met her future husband, Hawaii resident Tom Mole, and before long was living in Honolulu where she would soon join a company that gave her the opportunity to be a nail technician. Kubota graduated from high school in Miyazaki, where she also attended a junior college for two years, majoring in English. She worked for ANA on its international flights, traveling throughout the world before settling in Hawaii. She is 38 and lives with her husband in Waikiki.

Question: As a nail team leader, what are your job duties?

Answer: My job duty is to hire new nail techs and train them. We have five nail people here working, and we basically try to do exactly the same service quality -- and cleanliness, of course. It's very important to keep clean. And also make sure we do good service individually.

Q: How long have you worked at Aveda Salon?

A: I work here since 2000 November, when we were Malama Salon and we opened. We changed to Aveda Corp. in 2002 -- February, I believe. Aveda is owned by Este Lauder.

Q: What were you doing before you joined Aveda -- or Malama, I guess.

A: I was working at Neiman Marcus, but only for three months. I had to go home to Japan -- that's my hometown -- because my mom was sick. So I had to go over there.

Q: Then you returned to Hawaii?

A: Yes. But way before that I was a flight attendant. I started in 1988, with ANA, in Japan, for international flights: New York, D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Paris, London, Frankfurt -- basically all over.

Q: How long did you work with them?

A: I worked with them for 12 years. I quit them in 1999, October.

Q: Why?

A: I met my husband on the airplane; he was a passenger on my flight. We were flying from Nagoya to Honolulu, and he was there.

Q: Was he from Hawaii?

A: He's originally from California, but he's lived here a long time.

Q: So you started a long-distance relationship?

A: Yeah, for about one year, and then I decided to come over, to move, and that was 1999, October.

Q: So that's when you started at Neiman Marcus?

A: I had to wait for a working permit, so Neiman Marcus was 2000 May through August.

Q: Where did you learn how to do manicures and pedicures?

A: That was my hobby when I was a flight attendant, so I decided to go to nail school in Japan. But we don't have any licensing system in Japan for nail technicians. That was 1995 (when) I decided to go to school.

So I graduated there, but I couldn't do that as my profession because I was working for the airline company and they don't allow us to have a second job. So I was doing it for my co-attendants, at the hotels where we stayed, and, of course, for my family.

Q: Does Hawaii require a license?

A: Yes. So when I started here, in 2000 November, when it was Malama Salon, I was actually selling cosmetics at the salon. I was the retail adviser. I was doing that for about a year, and then I decided to do nail (work), so I had to either go back to nail school or be an apprentice. Luckily, my manager allowed me to do an apprentice program at Malama Salon, so I started to do the apprentice program, which is 700 hours. If I go to nail school, it only takes 350 hours, but if you do apprentice, it has to be a double, 700. So I finished that, in five months. And I was selling cosmetics part time, because I had to make money, because as an apprentice we don't get paid. I didn't take any days off at all. That was kind of a crazy moment, but actually I really enjoyed it. I didn't feel any tired, so I just kept doing it. Almost every day I'd work almost 10 hours.

Q: Then you got a license?

A: Then I finished up the program and took a state test, and officially I became a licensed nail tech in Hawaii state.

Q: How many clients do you work with each day?

A: Maybe, like, eight to nine.

Q: How long do you spend with each client?

A: Each client, if it's a pedicure, one hour; if it's a regular manicure, 45 minutes.

Q: What do mean "regular"?

A: Regular means a basic manicure. Basic manicure we call essential manicure and essential pedicure. We also have a spa-type of manicure and pedicure. One is "elemental nature" manicure and also pedicure, and another one is called Caribbean manicure and also pedicure.

Q: Why would you call it Caribbean manicure?

A: Because we use a product called Caribbean body therapy. I know it's kind of weird, because we're living in Hawaii, but that's from Aveda Corp. and they make the Caribbean body therapy treatment lotions -- body cream, flower water, a bath soak. Also a salt, which you can scrub your body with, and also candles, too.

Q: Is there a routine you follow when you're doing a manicure or a pedicure?

A: We use blue oil, which is a stress-relief oil; so we put the oil on the customer's hands, and they can smell it and put it on their neck. We offer that to the guests.

Q: What kinds of tools do you use?

A: Our tools are all disposable, like the pedicure file, fingernail file, and orange wood stick.

Q: What's that for?

A: That's for, like, cleaning up the cuticle area, like if you make a mess. But it's all disposable, although we encourage the guests to take it home so they can use it at home.

And, of course, our own implements, the stainless steel implements, like a nipper and pusher for the cuticles, those things we each time disinfect them with hospital-grade disinfectants.

Q: Do you ever do anything fancy with your manicures?

A: Spa services can be very fancy. So spa-type manicure takes an hour and 15 minutes, and spa-type pedicure takes hour 30 minutes. And for spa-type manicure we do the basic manicure plus hand mask with aroma hot towel, and then during the customer waiting, we give them a complimentary neck and shoulder massage, which is very wonderful.

Q: Do you ever paint little designs on the nails?

A: Yes, we do, but the price is separate.

Q: Like what kinds of designs?

A: A popular one is hibiscus -- of course, here -- and plumeria, and little denti flower. Or rhinestones, which actually our rhinestone is a crystal stone, made in Switzerland. It's a real stone, not acrylic.

Q: What's the ingredient of the paints that you use?

A: That's acrylic. (Laughter)

Q: What kind of people are your customers mostly?

A: My customers mostly are local.

Q: Women?

A: Women, mostly 90 percent local customer we have. We're very local. They're very professional, very fun, loving people. I love them so much. My customers are really sweet people, I have to say.

Q: Do you ever get men in there?

A: We do sometimes. Maybe about 5 percent of the guests. They come in mostly for hair cuts; color, of course, retouch. Sometimes for the body massage.

Q: Who does your nails?

A: My nails I do myself. (Laugher) It's sad. But, no, I enjoy doing myself.

Q: Your feet, too?

A: Yes, I'm so flexible. (Laughter)

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