In the United States, online nail polish sales doubled over the pandemic period, according to data from 1010data provided to Business of Fashion. Demand for at-home manicure supplies driven by salon closures at the outset of the pandemic helped spur the polish wave that didn’t crash after closures ended. Mintel estimates that 41% of American consumers maintained their nails at home in the past year versus 15% at the salon. Brands like Nailboo, a dip kit and nail powder specialist from incubator Underlining Beauty that rapidly exceeded $12 million in sales, benefited tremendously from at-home maintenance.

The pandemic changes aren’t expected to vanish soon and, instead, have lasting ramifications for the nail segment. That’s good news for the nail brands that premiered of late, both from the aforementioned male musicians and a slew of others, including nail artists Brittney Boyce (Nails Of LA) and Gracie J (TenX), technology experts Florence Kwok and Kelly Wilson (Presson), and YouTuber Moriah Elizabeth in partnership with incubator Slate Brands (ME Nails).

“The pandemic illustrated the cost-saving benefits of at-home nail care and increased consumers’ comfort level outside of the nail salon,” says Lauren Goodsittt, associate director of global beauty and personal care at Mintel. “In reference to salon and spa services, 36% of U.S. women state that they are now more comfortable doing things themselves, and 23% said that they are buying more products to replace services that they used to get done in person.”

Press-on nails have been particularly popular, with 32% of consumers aged 18 to 24 years old using them over the past year. Ulta Beauty picked up press-on nail players Static Nails and Glamnetic this year. The retailer informed Business of Fashion that “pop-on” nails are a top-performing merchandise pillar in the nail category. Target brought on Chillhouse’s nail art press-ons Chill Tips. Spate, the online search consumer insights firm, has found gel sticker brand Ohora notched the highest search volume growth in the year ended October 2021.

Gracie J turned her attention to hand-painted press-on nails once salons shuttered in March 2020 and clients started requesting them. She’d toyed around with the idea of them ever since starting work as the lead nail stylist on the television show “Claws,” but notes, “It’s very time consuming and takes so much work and labor and, oftentimes, even if you are charging a high price for it, the return on investment based on the amount of time that you spend doing it doesn’t really cut it.”

Boyce ran into a similar roadblock while branching into the homemade press-on arena. When coronavirus hit, it was the first time in a decade that she wasn’t on set 12 hour days or catering to celebrity clients such as Shay Mitchell, Kehlani and Megan Fox along with her very public boyfriend Machine Gun Kelly. “As I was sharing my nail art on social media, either my own or ones I do for my clients, I’d get comments or DMs from people all over wanting to try my designs,” she says. “People inquired about them but it was cost prohibitive for a lot of people–each set took me hours and cost over $100.”

She pooled together $50,000 to cover manufacturing and production costs in order to launch Nails of LA in November 2020. The brand scored an Allure beauty award this year for best press-ons and has recorded 15% month-over-month sales increases. Nails of LA’s target demographic is older gen Z and millennial consumers. Boyce develops the nail art designs herself. They’re trendy and eye-catching, but not intended to go viral on TikTok and disappear the next day. “These are designs in colors that are meant to be evergreen like a half French tip, a minimal nude in a perfect oval shape with a gold cuff, geometric color blocking, etc.,” says Boyce.

It took Gracie J five years to find a manufacturer for her brand TenX, which launched in September 2021 and is an extension of her company The Editorial Nail. Its press-on nails come in matte and glossy options. Gracie J characterizes them as “shapeshifting” because customers can cut them from a coffin shape to a round shape to a lipstick shape without losing the integrity of the design. “It’s about giving people more options and versatility for different fun and interactive things they can do with their nail art at home,” says Gracie J. Her plan is to roll out designs seasonally. “I wanted to keep the same feel as when you do go to the salon,” explains Gracie J. “You don’t go every two weeks to get the same design over and over and over again, you want something new and fresh.”

Kwok and Wilson of Presson, a brand that’s being renamed Jelcie, originally sold handmade press-on nails, but discovered their customers weren’t satisfied with the quality. “We’re targeting people that were typically going to the salon, so they were like, ‘Oh, this product is just plastic that you glue on your nails, it doesn’t actually feel like salon nails,’” says Kwok. She and Wilson went back to the drawing board. They talked to several labs and sampled an array of products in January. By May this year, Presson relaunched with a collection of so-called “nail gellies.”

As Kwok describes them, nail gellies are upgraded nail stickers made out of salon-grade gel. Customers place them on their nails and hold them under a UV light to cure and harden the material. Kwok worked with a Korean company on the semi-cured gel nail innovation and says Presson is the first brand to bring the technology to the U.S. This year, the brand raised $500,000 in funding from Hustle Fund and angel investors, and will register a six-figure sales total. It’s on track to reach $3 million in 2022 revenues.

A big draw of the nail gellies is that, contrary to typical gel manicures, removal isn’t damaging to the nails. “If you’ve ever done your nails with acrylic or gels, you have to, like, hack it off,” says Kwok. “With the stickers, all you have to do is put a little bit of acetone remover around your nails, and it comes off really smooth like butter.” A video of the removal process has 3.5 million views on TikTok.

Pre-pandemic, consumers would sacrifice nail health for long-lasting, Instagram-friendly nails, but that sacrifice is no longer considered worth it. “Women took the time to rehab their nails from gel and acrylic nails, and realized there are healthier alternatives,” says nail artist Deborah Lippmann. Her namesake brand’s cuticle treatment therapy set and Rich Girl Hand Cream are two products that quickly sold out online. Lippmann says consumers have “learned the proper ways to maintain groomed nails and cuticles and that DIY nail care is easy.”

Sales of Anise Cosmetics’ stalwart nail care brand Nail Aid have been stoked by consumers’ penchant for nail health. Buoyed by TikTok, its Biotin Ultimate Strength nail treatment recently achieved a five-figure sales sum in three days, per co-owner Neal Wallach, who says the sales were “quite extraordinary” in the nail category or for “really any beauty product.”

Rare Beauty Brands has acquired the nail care brand Dr. Dana. Its founder Dana Stern’s private dermatological practice focuses on nail health. “Many of the nail color brands have line extended into nail care, but it’s hard to find somebody that focuses on nail care, and it’s impossible to find someone who focuses on nail care with Dr. Dana’s credibility,” says Chris Hobson, president and CEO of Rare Beauty Brands. “It’s a category where we can leverage the differentiation and the really strong credibility that Dr. Dana provides to really revolutionize the category and take it to the next level.”

Orly is among the nail color brands that has nail care products. Its first two offerings released more than 45 years ago were the nail strengtheners Romeo and Ridgefiller. Founder Jeff Pink came up with concepts for the products after listening to technicians complain about weak nails. The brand traditionally served nail professionals and is tapping that customer base with the launch of a new portal, Orly+. Orly VP of business development Tal Pink says the portal empowers artist “with continuing education master classes for lacquer, gel and gel extension application tips and tutorials on demand.”

Orly’s customers have skewed younger in the last two years as consumers shifted to e-commerce. Women aged 24 to 35 years old constitute the majority of its customer base, but customers aged 18 to 24 years old doubled as a portion of its customer base in 2021. Male-identifying customers also increased 50% from 2019 to 2021. Orly’s partnership with Lisa Frank is attracting the younger set. The brand says the collection contains “bright shades, whimsical nail toppers and easy-to-apply nail wraps” that quickly sold out at Ulta stores. Orly’s e-commerce business has surged 600% since 2019. “With people at home, people wearing masks, nails became an outlet for creative expression,” says Tal. “We were able to introduce a whole new customer base to the brand.”

The brand Make It Real’s ColorFusion is targeting an even younger consumer with its Nail Polish Maker that launched in September 2021. It invites customers aged 8 to 14 years old to mix over 200 nail polish colors and create their own glossy or shimmer finishes. A representative for the brand says the Nail Polish Maker was inspired by customization trends, pointing to fashion brands that enable consumers to add embroidery or prints to clothes and accessories. Make It Real has an exclusive partnership with Target for the original Color Fusion Nail Polish Maker. Its Deluxe Light Match Edition can be purchased at its website, Amazon and Learning Express stores.

If pandemic conditions improve, sales of at-home nail products could ebb. In fact, they already have. Tara James Taylor, senior VP of beauty and personal care at NielsenIQ, says interest in nail products seems to have faded as salons have reopened. She details, “In the last 52 weeks, we’ve seen a substantial decrease in sales across many major nail product categories (i.e., nail polish, polish remover, and nail treatments).” Overall, however, sales are up 7.7%, and Taylor remarks that many consumers have stuck to the DIY habits they adopted amid the pandemic. “We can expect at-home nail products to continue to resonate,” she says.

The opportunity to expand at-home nail merchandise is evident, particularly merchandise aimed at gen Z consumers, according to Goodsitt. “They are forgoing traditional nail formats and paving the way for growth in niche nail segments,” she says. “Affordable alternatives to salon services will continue to resonate with young adults. As they try to save money without sacrificing the appearance of their nails, they will look to brands to provide innovative offerings.”

Presson has introduced a mix-and-match offering for its nail stickers to encourage customization. Collaborations with beauty-adjacent brands are on the docket as well. Nails of LA, Orly and Pear Nova, which released a collection of polishes with “Claws” for its final season, are similarly planning partnerships. As far as nail art goes, Gracie J says she’d like to see more three-dimensional and movable options along with nail jewelry that can be reused. She anticipates launching a collection of the latter in February for Black History Month. She says, “It’s tied into nail culture and Black culture, and it’s a nod to the significance of merging Black street style and nail artistry.”