Did it Myself! With Olive and June

Image Courtesy: People

Everyone knows that doing your own nails is not as easy as it seems. Nails have always been a fun way to add to your own personal style, but when the pandemic hit, nails salons closed. Just like restaurants and other industries, nail and hair salons were hit hard. People were extremely skeptical of the germs that could be spread when getting your nails done in a salon. With salons closed and an abundance of free time, Olive and June launched their own at home nail salon kits. 

Olive and June was founded in 2013 by Sarah Gibson Tuttle in Beverly Hills, California. She opened an initial salon named after her great-grandmother and her grandmother. A few years later, she began to sell her products online so people could get the salon experience without coming all the way to California. 

Olive and June has become so popular in recent months, especially amongst millennials, because of how good the brand is. Their products are cruelty free, vegan, non-toxic, all coming from an exclusively female owned business. These are such important factors of small owned business these days, and it is just another reason as to why this company became so successful during the pandemic. 

If you really think about the act of getting your nails done, it is not the most sanitary practice. Unless you are watching the employees cleaning each station after every customer, you can never be sure what types of germs you are being exposed to. Pre covid, people would stick their feet in tubs without even knowing if it was thoroughly wiped down. If anything, the pandemic has taught us how important it is to keep your workplace sanitized and germ free, no matter what client it is. That being said, there was a long time span where salons were not allowed to reopen based on their state Covid regulations. Hence, people had to improvise and find their own solutions. 

This is what led Olive and June’s company to sky rocket during a time where companies were losing so much money. They advertised their at home manicure kits all over social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. Priced at just $50 (with one nail polish) or $80 (with six nail polishes) the kit also includes: cuticle serum, nailpolish remover, a top coat, a clean up brush, one nail buffer, a set of nail clippers, and a nail file. With everything in one box, as well as a few polish colors of your choosing, the process could not be easier. 

Will this type of invention, as well as other brands’ at home nail kits, change the game for nail salons across the country? Will people stick to doing their own nails at home because it’s cheaper and more sanitary? These are questions that we will find out soon enough.

Strike Out,

Writer: Amanda Kravitz

Editor: Rachel McCarthy

St. Louis