This New Press-On Nails Brand Promises All Of The Style With None Of The Nail Health Consequences

While adhering to Boston Consulting Group’s black, white and gray dress code, Yongxi Tan, who was formerly an analyst in the private equity group at the management consultancy, sprinkled in aspects of her personality through vibrant press-on nails. “That was my strategy of being a bit more authentic to who I am and my style, my creativity,” she says.

Although they were great vehicles for creativity, every time she took off the press-on nails, her natural nails would be damaged underneath. She was discouraged by the tradeoff that had her either depending on press-ons to cover nail damage or avoiding them for months to reset her nails. Tan says, “It was always frustrating knowing that the current press-on nail products offered on the market didn’t really care about my natural nail health.”

Tan and Aidan Neziri, who met in college at Wesleyan University, developed Bessie Nails to provide consumers press-on nails that don’t compromise their nail health. The brand characterizes itself as selling “the first zero damage press-ons.” It has $22 and $28 kits that include 24 press-on nails, a dual-sided file and wooden stick, wipe, nail glue, nail strengthener and an acetone-free plant-based removal serum. The serum is the secret to limiting damage. “It allows you to take off your press-on without any pain, without any tearing,” says Tan.

Once Bessie’s customers remove their press-on nails, they can apply the brand’s serum to dissolve the glue residue that tends to remain on the back of press-ons, a process that allows its press-ons to be more reusable than most. Tan says, “We’re hoping to really end the cycle of single-use press ons, make it more sustainable and better for the planet.”

Bessie is participating in Tower 28’s Clean Beauty School, where Tan hopes to gain clean beauty expertise. She emphasizes the brand’s mission is to make it cool to care. “We’re starting from nail care, which goes into the bigger message of caring for the world, caring for the workers and caring for people around us,” says Tan, who has family members working at consumer packaged goods factories in China to help ensure Bessie’s products are produced in safe environments with fair labor practices. During the development of Bessie, she and Neziri traveled to China to tour factories and get a sense of the working conditions.

Bessie’s press-on nails are priced at a premium. Tan says press-on nails on average are priced at $15 to $16, amounts she says don’t allow for workers to receive proper wages. For Bessie, she underscores that fair wages are “personal because the worker who is packing these items for us can literally be my second cousin or my aunt. So, it is something that we do not take lightly.”

Leading up to Bessie’s launch in August, the brand was building an audience on Instagram and TikTok. Its first TikTok video gave a dose of New Year’s Eve nail inspiration. Tan and a social media intern produce Bessie’s posts. They largely revolve around nail care, pop culture commentary or promoting an online nail quiz Bessie has to direct people to the right nail length, color and shape for them. About 40,000 people have taken the quiz so far.

“As many of customers are gen Z and first-time press-ons users, we wanted to make sure that our name and branding are approachable and welcoming to them.”

The brand’s target customer demographic is young millennials and gen Z, and the name Bessie was chosen with gen Z in mind. It’s a portmanteau of “best pressie” and sounds like “bestie.” Tan says, “As many of customers are gen Z and first-time press-ons users, we wanted to make sure that our name and branding are approachable and welcoming to them.”

The merchandise is meant to appeal to young millennials and gen Z consumers, too, and encourage daily wear. Bessie has a broad range of styles, from classic French tips to boldly colorful designs. Tan says, “Whether you’re going to the office and school or going out to a club or a music festival, we’re envisioning people’s activities and all of the places they will go and thinking about what nails will look good during those occasions.”

Inclusivity is a consideration as well. Bessie’s press-on basics collection is aimed at people with warm and cool skin undertones. Tan says, “Just like there are many shades in foundation and makeup, we want Bessie’s press-on nails to give customers variations in the more basic nail styles.”

At the outset, Bessie is in direct-to-consumer distribution. The brand expects to eventually branch out to retailers, where the bulk of press-on nails are purchased. Tan says, “There is different customer behavior. There are people who buy it monthly, weekly, but I think majority of the people buy it for some kind of special occasion, so having that flexibility to be able to make the product accessible is really what we’re hoping for.”

Press-on nails have been a hit of late. NielsenIQ estimates sales of artificial nails reached $160 million in the fourth quarter last year versus $154 million for traditional nail polish sales. The market research firm states that the quarter represented the first time artificial nail sales bested traditional nail polish sales. In 2022, gen Z artificial nail buyers jumped 39%, and millennial artificial nail buyers jumped 9%.

Amid the press-on nail boom, Bessie plans to spend the next two to three years primarily dedicated to boosting brand awareness. “Press-ons as a product has always just been an add-on to other beauty products. People are selling body care, and they also sell press-ons. People are selling lashes and makeup, and they also sell press-ons, but we want to be the press-on nail company,” says Tan. “Hopefully, in the next five years, we’ll change how people do nails.”