After launching its first at-home mani system in 2019 and then expanding to the world of press-ons in 2021, Olive & June is growing its at-home nail empire once again. On Thursday, it launched its gel mani system, which will become available at Target in January. In the future, it will launch at Walmart and Walgreens.
“Gel has always been top of mind because of our salon heritage,” said Olive & June founder and CEO Sarah Gibson Tuttle. Prior to the pandemic, Olive & June operated three nail salons in Los Angeles. “People love gel, and it’s getting more popular in the market. And we know the demand for at-home options is there — 47% of gel users we surveyed are doing gel more at home than at the salon,” she said.
The new kit offers soft gel polish. Hard gel, an increasingly popular salon offering, could follow, Gibson Tuttle said. “We humbly believe we started the DIY nail revolution,” she said. “We’ve taught millions of people to paint their nails, and now they can up the ante.”
The system includes a gel lamp that “cures” all five fingers at once, hardening the gel polish. A differentiator is the peel-off base coat that doesn’t need to be cured. “People can put the gel on and then they can peel it off whenever they want,” Gibson Tuttle said.
In addition, the brand worked to eliminate the typical primary ingredient in gel nail polish — HEMA, or, hydroxyethyl methacrylate — which causes some people to have allergic reactions, said Anne Reigle, Olive & June’s head of product development. “[HEMA is a] really small monomer that can soak into the skin, and that’s what causes redness and itchiness, and it affects a lot of people. … Unfortunately, that ingredient is really good at making your mani last a long time, so that’s why a lot of other brands use it. We tested a lot of different ingredients to find the perfect proprietary blend of adhesion promoters that would last up to 21 days.”
The kit also includes a traditional base coat, a top coat, the brand’s signature “Poppy” tool to make polish application easier, a cuticle pusher, a nail file, a clipper, a buffer, a cuticle serum, a cuticle remover, a clean-up brush and a polish remover. With one polish color, the price is $85; with six, it is $115. Twenty-eight bestselling Olive & June shades are available.
Using the system, an at-home gel mani will cost $1.92 when the user purchases the $115 kit, according to Gibson Tuttle — 10 manicures per $10 bottle of polish is typical, she said. “True inclusivity includes price inclusivity and accessibility.I want to be able to walk into my local Target [and get a great gel manicure].”
To market the new category, the brand is leveraging social media campaigns, influencer partnerships, paid digital ads, celebrity placement and email marketing.
“A key part of our strategy is unique influencer seeding,” said Gibson Tuttle. “We developed ‘challenge boxes’ that put the claims of the product [specifically, that the gel mani lasts 21 days] to the test.” The boxes were seeded to individuals including gel skeptics and those who’ve reported poor experiences with gel manicures. These influencers were encouraged to test the product and share their authentic reactions.
In addition, the brand secured celebrity placement and is using the resulting imagery to tease the launch. Selena Gomez wore the color Cosmic Silver to the Academy Gala this past weekend.
Olive & June declined to comment on its revenue, but it is said to have surpassed $100 million in retail sales in 2023. It is currently the No. 1 nail brand at Target.
