By: Jada Kelly | September 15, 2022
Four female UAlbany students have transformed their dorms and apartments into their own personalized beauty bar making nails, lashes, and hair accessories affordable and accessible for fellow classmates.
Tiffany Deaza, Janelle Quartey, Aleisha Medley and Destiny Nesbit have their own cosmetic specialties at the university where they offer services for several students living on and off campus.
Being that a majority of UAlbany students do not live in Albany outside of school terms, they do not have access to their regular beauty outlets.
Destiny Nesbit's Instagram account
Photo Credit: Destiny Nesbit / @__slaybydess
“This is our home away from home,” said Nesbit, a junior at the university, and one of the four students behind this project.
Specializing in wigs, Nesbit works part-time as a hairstylist for her business SlaybyDess in the comfort and safety of her apartment right across campus. With a space filled with an array of styling tools and talent, she is able to ensure she attends to her clients and makes them feel comfortable.
“Apart from getting your hair done, it’s also that comfortability,” Nesbit said. “That’s something that I try to give all my clients.”
Jenelle Quartey's Instagram account
Photo Credit: Jenelle Quartey / @naahairology
Jenelle Quartey, who lives on Colonial Quad, is another hairstylist that is making a big impact on how her clients feel as they walk around campus with a fresh style.
“After they get out of that chair, the confidence that they feel after is so different from when they walked in,” Quartey said.
Quartey said that if it was not for the motivation she received from her mother, she would not have given hair styling a thought, and Naahairology would never have come about.
“My mom forced me to do hair and I ended up liking it,” Quartey said. “She forced me to make a wig for her and I actually enjoyed it.”
With hopes of branching out, gaining more clientele and eventually opening a shop, Quartey said she appreciates what she can do for herself and students on campus when it comes to them feeling and looking their absolute best.
Tiffany Deaza's Instagram account
Photo Credit: Tiffany Deaza / @naileddbytiff_
If students are looking for more than a hairdo, they can turn to UAlbany junior, Tiffany Deaza, for a fresh and creative set of nails. Residing in Empire commons, Deaza provides nail services for students on campus and has constructed her very own business, NailedbyTiff.
Deaza said she started doing nails when the COVID-19 pandemic was in full effect. She found a talent she enjoyed, and took it from there.
In addition to the learned skills, there are financial benefits to having a self-made cosmetic business. When asked about the academic-related benefits, the four students all agreed that it is a useful asset for their college expenses.
“Doing nails, financially, is literally the best,” said Deaza. “You can make, like, $350 in a week,
maybe even a day.”
Alecia Medley's Instagram account
Photo Credit: Alecia Medley / @dalash.addict
To finish the full glam package, Alecia Medley can provide a fresh set of lashes through her business Dalashaddict. Medley is an 18-year-old lash technician on campus that embraces the competition.
“The more people there are, the more inspiring it is for other people to start,” said Medley. “I feel like it's hard to find one, so we need more of them.”
Comments