A Trip to 411 Color Street
“How about a French manicure today? No, no wait. Maybe a ruby red. It’ll match my dress for tonight. Oh, but it won’t match my outfit for next week. Do you have anything that’s classy and neutral?”
If you’re anything like me, painting your own nails just isn’t an option. As I hold the brush, my hands shake as if I’m shivering in the brisk air. Nail polish escapes my actual nail, venturing towards my cuticles and skin surrounding the nail for an ugly mess. As a preteen, I recall strolling into Claire’s where I once (and I emphasize only once) purchased a set of fake nails that used sticky tabs as an adhesive.
Stepping foot in a nail salon can be a sensory overload. Nail polish bottles cover entire walls with a broad array of colors that make the big boxes of crayons from Crayola jealous of all of the tints and hues patiently waiting to spread their pigmentation over smooth surfaces of keratin. In addition to small bottles of Sally Hansen or O.P.I., nail salons now offer more durable alternatives to a basic coat of nail polish like gel, ANC, and acrylics. These options tend to become pricey when considering their lifespan is typically between two and three weeks. After that, the growth of your nail becomes exposed and it is recommended that you return to the salon (with your wallet, of course) to get a fill.
Through social media, I was introduced to a brand called Color Street. I’ve never tried the product before so I did some research about the innovative alternative to nail polish. Their story begins quite literally on the street. Founder Fa Park noticed a bustling woman in New York City attempt to paint her nails in a cab, an idea that might be even worse than applying mascara at a stoplight. From there, Park began ideating. Trial and error naturally become an innovator’s motto. Eventually, Park created a material to coat and adhere to nails without the mess of polish or the expense of nail art made by nail technicians.
Boasting an “easy peel and apply” process, Color Street nails are foolproof. In my mind, they could be considered (or at least equated to) fashionable adult stickers. With catchy color names that use quite a bit of alliteration and puns, Color Street is a largely affordable brand for nail designs. Solid color packages sell for about $11 while French manicures and nail art packages are sold for upwards of $14 each, less than half the price of some services nail salons offer.
Color Street cannot be bought at a brick and mortar establishment. Instead, they follow a similar sales format to AVON or GlyMed where “stylists” typically use social media to promote their products and make small profits off of each sale. It appears that you can purchase directly through the website if you do not have a Facebook friend involved with Color Street.
This new alternative to expensive salons seems to be ideal for the boy or girl on the go that long for flashy nails without the colossal price tag. For more details, visit https://www.colorstreet.com/. Your new nails are waiting!
Strike Out,
Writer: Mary Rufo
Editor: Lexi Fernandez
Graphics: Emily Boden
Tallahassee