8 Black-Owned Nail Polish Brands That Should Be On Your Radar
STUDIO 85 – www.MyStudio85.com
Founders: Tiffany Burriss, Tamika Myers and Tammi Allen
Launched: 2011
What is Studio 85?
“We would describe our product as a fresh funky brand of nail polish that caters to fashionistas from our hometown of Washington, DC. As city girls and blood sisters, we’ve watched DC transform styles from the 1970s through 2000s and you can ï¬nd colors in our four collections that reflect 30-plus years of glamour and style with unique names to match.”
What inspired you to create a nail polish company?
“The inspiration for our nail polish brand is deï¬nitely our city and our family. We wanted to honor our city in our favorite way through our favorite beauty product: nail polish. [We] have been painting each others nails since we were little girls and experimenting with designs. It was a fun experience designing the colors for landmarks and sayings that you ï¬nd in our hometown of DC. We expanded on the idea of the DC Collection with our City Girl Southern Gal Collection which has colors that highlight our parents’ southern roots.”
How did you break into the business?
“We broke into the business by launching our brand to our city. We have always been involved in community events and so we started there, in the community in which we’re from: southeast, DC. We reached out to our neighbors, local universities, friends, family and colleagues, and pitched our idea. The response has been amazing. Homegrown fashionistas loved the concept of nail polish colors named after things they have been around all their lives.”
What is the most popular color in your collection?
“The most popular color as of now is Mambo Sauce. This is a color named after DC natives’ favorite condiment from our local carry-outs. Since actual mambo sauce can be various colors depending on what part of town you’re grabbing food, we thought we’d merge them all together. Our nail gloss color in Go-Go is a close runner-up, designed after our favorite genre of music. It’s black with gold flakes.”
