For Ms. Pinto, who worked in art curation, nails are just another form of art.

She made the switch in 2008 as the recession hit, beginning Vanity Projects as a pop-up at art events. “I said, ‘OK, well, it’s better that everybody spends a little bit of money, even if it’s a small amount,’” she said.

Six years later, the business had grown enough to open the salon. With a clientele including Whoopi Goldberg and Sasha Obama, the salon expanded to include a second floor, an international artist-in-residence program and a second location, which opened in Miami in 2015.

Pricing for soft gels — which typically can be soaked off in acetone, unlike hard gels, which must be filed off — depends on the length, size and brand, as well as any nail art. In New York City, where there are many independent nail technicians, soft gels can start between $100 and $400; Vanity Projects begins at $155.

Ms. Pinto said a partnership for the last five years with the brand Aprés, which created a soft gel extension process known as Gel-X, has allowed her to offer monthly specials of $100 for the brand’s soft gels, to try to attract more customers. She declined to put a figure to the discount; an Aprés representative did not respond to requests for comment.

Nail art and designs — like chrome pigments, illustrations, rhinestones, charms or airbrush finishes — can run up a customer’s bill, too. Depending on what a client requests, Vanity Projects sets pricing tiers for nail design as simple ($10 extra), middle ($50 extra) or complex ($90 extra). Typical appointments from start to finish can run about 75 minutes to two and a half hours.