"Her Career's Moving at Quite a Fast Clip"
Deborah Lippmann, manicurist to the stars
June 20, 2003

Deborah Lippmann gets paid - and very well - to do celebrities' nails. She creates perfect manicures for her clients' special events, magazine covers and movie roles. Lippmann's success and a special celebrity client inspired her own nail products line, the Lippmann Collection, which is sold in locations including Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom.

Like her career path, Lippmann's typical schedule is anything but typical: photo shoots two days a week; creating new products for her nail line three days a week; doing personal appearances and teaching seminars in the department stores on how to do an at-home manicure; and tending to private clients.

Lippmann concedes her schedule doesn't allow time for many private clients other than the celebrities she serves on a regular basis, such as ABC-TV's "Regis & Kelly" star Kelly Ripa.

Lippmann's own dream of being a singing star, not manicurist to the stars, is what brought her to New York City from her hometown of Phoenix.

It was 1981. Lippmann was nearing graduation from Arizona State University with a degree in music. She suddenly realized that singing gigs might be few and far between. She shared that concern with her manicurist, who suggested Lippmann go to beauty school to become one.

"My manicurist said it's a skill I could take anywhere in the world while I pursued my singing career." Lippmann recalled.

Although Lippmann thought going to manicure school sounded like a good idea, her mother was definitely not supportive.

"My mom said ‘Over my dead body after four and half years of college are you going to become a manicurist, '" Lippmann remembered, laughing.

So, Lippmann took up the familiar job of the artist in waiting.

"I waitressed in New York City for a few days," she said, "but after dropping pasta on people's heads a few times I thought um...maybe I will try the manicure thing."

Early on, Lippmann acquired an important perspective on giving a manicure.

"Some of my very first co-workers in this business explained to me that of all the beauty services, giving manicures was the most intimate, " she said. "When you're sitting across a small table from somebody and holding someone's hand your energy goes into their energy and vice versa. Because of this intimacy you have the opportunity to make people feel better and give a great manicure at the same time."

Lippmann's talent for giving manicures, and her gift for making people comfortable, has attracted celebrity clients like Martha Stewart, Mariah Carey, Cher and Sarah Jessica Parker. And her manicure clients led her to some marvelous opportunities in music.

"I remember thinking I'm never going to tell anyone in New York I'm a singer when I'm doing manicures," Lippmann said. "I was afraid New Yorkers would be like, 'Oh, God not another artist'."

But she found she got the opposite reaction--with clients eager to help her. When she worked at Frederic Fekkai, she had clients who would follow her to dive jazz clubs.

"My nail clients hired me to sing," she said. "Martha Stewart still hires me to sing at some of her parties."

A few years ago, Lippmann was called into Stewart's office to see segments of a holiday special.

We sat around and I gave her a bunch of ideas. Martha said ‘Great, go ahead and produce the music for my show'."

Still another celebrity encouraged Lippmann to start her own nail-care line product line.

"People kept saying you should put these colors out, you make really cool colors," Lippmann said. "Mariah Carey was going to the Oscars for the first time. I wanted to make a color just for her. At that time, I was thinking of doing a nail products line, but I was really afraid. I was saying to myself, 'wait a minute I'm a singer, doing nails is my waitressing job'."

Carey encouraged Lippmann. She said, ' You've got to stop being afraid and just do it. Everybody will like it'." Lippmann related. "Three -and-a-half years ago, I took Mariah's advice and launched the Lippmann Collection."

In the beginning, Lippmann hovered over the fax machine waiting for orders. After finding success, she figures if it all goes away tomorrow "we have not failed because we've grown leaps and bounds -- we never dreamed we'd be running a business like this."

When Lippmann says "we" she means herself and her husband of five years Jude Severin. A former acting student, he is her vice president of operations and production. Also, on the team: Lippmann's brother Mark, who is vice president of sales and art.

"Its been hard," Lippmann said, "because I've had to be a boss, a sister and a wife."

Lippmann, the musician added a musical touch to her nail line.

"I named the nail colors after song titles like "Makin' Whoopee" and "Sophisticated Lady'," she said, "because I want to evoke a feeling for whoever was wearing it."

Lippmann even named a nail polish color that she created for Mariah Carey, after the singer's hit song "Butterfly".

Lippmann even sings at fashion shows and special events in department stores She and her husband try to spend whatever down time they have in their Chelsea neighborhood. They also like to eat at favorite haunts like the Coffee Shop at Union Square and Nobu in Tribeca or spend an evening at their favorite jazz clubs Birdland and Village Vanguard.

"I love New York, as challenging and as expensive as it is," she said. "The diversity of the culture, the pace, the architecture, the high standards, the people--everything about it is inspiring to me. Everywhere you look is someone with the ambition and talent to get you excited about what you're doing. It inspires you to work harder and better."

Could there be a Broadway musical in this story? After all, people reveal their deepest secrets to their manicurist. Lippmann quipped, "My friend and I thought about it and even wrote a couple of songs. We thought it would be a great off-Broadway show -- in my spare time."