Where This Beauty Expert Finds Her Fill of Affordable Nail Stuff

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Los Angeles has more stores than anyone could physically tackle, but somehow we always keep returning to the usual suspects. To break out of the rut, we've asked some local shopping and fashion gurus to provide their hidden retail gems—those unique stores around LA that we might not all know about. Cue the Beatles: We're about to get a little help from our friends.

Image via Google Maps

Sandy Ganzer is a makeup artist who grew up on the westside of LA. She's been honing her craft full-time for a few years now, working with musicians like Adele, Devendra Barnhart and Fiona Apple; on advertising and editorials for Vogue Nippon, L'Uomo Vogue, and W Magazine; and for clients such as Coca Cola, Nike, Levi's and Ray-Ban. Here, she fills us in on her favorite beauty emporium in DTLA.

"A couple of years ago I got really into getting my nails done at Marie's in Los Angeles, and they are known for great cheap gel nails with optional designs. Since I'm a makeup artist, I started getting really into the design aspect, and began hand-drawing the designs I wanted on paper as a template for them. I had a standing appointment every two weeks and it got to the point where I was spending hundreds of dollars a month on these intricate designs I would draw myself and have them recreate. One day I had the bright idea that maybe I could just do it myself! I found Downtown Beauty and it changed my life. They have everything you need to DIY rad nails: tiny brush sets, nail polishes at ridiculous prices (I think I paid 6 for $12 on some, even cheaper on others), glitter galore, rhinestones and more. As an added bonus they have fake lashes $12! Now I change my designs depending on my mood, sometimes I even do it depending on what job I'm on. I did a Nike job and I walked in sporting lavender nails with neon swooshes, everybody got so into it I ended up painting half the crews' nails and one of the models! Two tips: bring cash and don't be weirded out by the sales people, they follow you around the whole time, seriously. I like to pretend they are my personal shopping attendants instead of
getting offended."

· Sandy Ganzer [Official Site]
· All Shopping Confidential Posts [Racked LA]

Downtown Beauty

519 South Los Angeles Street Los Angeles, CA 90013