Glamnetic Founders Launch Trendy Press-on Nails Brand at Ulta Beauty

The founders of Glamnetic are betting even bigger on the press-on nails business with a second brand launch.

Called Digi Beauty and codeveloped with Ulta Beauty — where the line will launch Sunday in 450 stores and online — the range is debuting with 18 press-on nail sets priced $10.99 and under.

Aiming to resonate in particular with Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumers, the brand is characterized by its ultra-colorful and intricate designs, with some of its debut sets including “Pink Pop Star,” “Talk a Dot,” “Espresso” and more.

“Digi is bold, it’s expressive, it’s bright — it’s a lot more maximalist than Glamnetic, which offers more of a ‘clean girl,’ elevated look,” said Ann McFerran, cofounder and chief executive officer of Glamnetic and Digi, which will operate as separate brands.

Added Kaitlin Rinehart, vice president of merchandising at Ulta Beauty: “We know that one of Gen Z’s earliest entry points to beauty is through nails, and we have seen so much growth in the artificial nail category — since before the pandemic — but it truly skyrocketed during the pandemic.”

Though neither Digi Beauty nor Ulta commented on sales expectations for the launch, industry sources predict the brand could do roughly $10 million in first-year sales.

Other press-on nail offerings within Ulta’s assortment include those by OPI, Kiss and Glamnetic — which also sells at Sephora and Revolve, and was first launched in 2019 with a range of magnetic false eyelashes.

One year later, Glamnetic branched into press-on nails and saw near-instant success as pandemic salon closures led to increased consumer investment in at-home nail care. On Thursday, the brand launches two press-on nails collections per month.

“We saw a white space in the market where a lot of brands were offering press-ons, but they were mainly basics and neutrals — Glamnetic infused a little bit more style and trend into that,” said cofounder Kevin Gould, adding that Digi Beauty is essentially doing the same thing, just amping up the intensity with even more eye-catching designs.

“Right now we’re targeting Gen Z and Gen Alpha, but we’ve shown the brand to Millennials and they, too, seem interested — we want to see who we attract and kind of welcome all ages,” said McFerran.

“There are a lot of consumers who have moved from the salon to DIY-ing their nails…and if you think about Gen Alpha, they’re even skipping the salon — so we want to be their first foray into nails,” added Gould.

A number of Digi Beauty’s debut sets were initially ideated for Glamnetic, but put on the shelf until now because “they weren’t very Glamnetic,” said McFerran. “There’s no single unifying theme for Digi — we wanted each set to be unique and, in a sense, that is the unifying theme.”

The brand has enlisted 1,000 content creators to promote the launch via TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, with plans to pivot solely to the latter two if TikTok’s proposed U.S. ban is enacted.

“It’s a fun time launching a brand and doing it on a platform that might be shut down in a few days, but we want to build a real community around Digi. We’re planning on going heavy on TikTok out the gate, but we’ll pivot if something happens, because eyeballs and attention will shift to the other platforms if it does get shut down,” said Gould.

Besides, building a brand during unprecedented times is nothing new for the pair.

“Any brand that started five, six years ago — it’s been ongoing uncertainty since then. We’ll pivot based on where the space goes, and hopefully build a real stickiness, and a real community around Digi Beauty,” Gould said.