Pretty polish - What's Hot - New nail polish product technology uses advanced films - Brief Article - Product Announcement

DSN Retailing Today, August 26, 2002

Rather than offer women nail polish in every color of the rainbow, a host of suppliers are now aiming to give them the rainbow itself; in a bottle of course.

Innovators, such as Sally Hansen, Revlon and American Woman Cosmetics, are using bleeding-edge color technology to create a prismatic effect. Category leader Sally Hansen took inspiration from vibrant objects, such as butterfly wings, to create Nail Prisms, its new lacquer promising a rainbow in every bottle. "It's the idea of having fun. It's color in motion," Mona Monaghan, senior vp and general manager, told a gathering of beauty editors in New York City last month.

The look is a product technology that relies on advanced films, coatings and nanometric pigments layered on top of each other. Nail Prisms began making its way to the nail care aisle in July for $5.95 a bottle. Revlon, second only to Sally Hansen in the segment, is set to follow suit with the introduction of Revlon Color Illusions Nail Enamel, a line of 10 nail colors that, like Nail Prisms, creates a metalized prism effect.

The multidimensional pearl formulation creates a "color flip" effect by changing color from fair rose to taupe cream and opalescent white to soap pink. Revlon will rollout Color Illusion Nail Enamel in October at a SRP of $4.75. American Woman, a division of Toma Industries, also is hoping to capture the mother-of-pearl effect in a bottle with its new brand, ICE: It's so cool. The six-shade collection features will rollout the first quarter of 2003 for $3.99.