Nails Inc. is a

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

-based nail polish company founded by Thea Green MBE. The brand has previously collaborated with fashion and beauty insiders including Victoria Beckham, Alexa Chung and Poppy Delevigne. Its nail polish collections can be found in stores worldwide, including Superdrug, Boots, Sephora and Target.

Thea Green

Thea Green was born and brought up in

Hoylake Hoylake () is a coast, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the north west of the Wirral Peninsula, near West Kirby and where the River Dee, Wales, River Dee meets the Irish Sea. At the 2021 United K ...

on the

Wirral Peninsula The Wirral Peninsula (), known locally as the Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about long and wide, and is bounded by the Dee Estuary to the west, the Mersey Estuary to the east, and Liverpo ...

, near

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. Her father was a company director of

Littlewoods Littlewoods was a retail and football betting company founded in Liverpool, England, by John Moores in 1923. By the 1980s, it had grown to become the largest private company in Europe but subsequently declined in the face of increased compe ...

, and her mother a housewife. She completed a degree in

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

and

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

at the

London College of Fashion The London College of Fashion is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art university in London, England. The college offers undergraduate and postgraduate study, short courses, study-abroad courses and business t ...

. While studying, she assisted on the fashion desk at the

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newspaper, and then

Tatler ''Tatler'' (stylised in all caps) is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. It focuses on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper and upper-middle c ...

magazine. Joining Tatler as fashion co-ordinator on graduation, she became fashion editor aged 24. Green was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2011 Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours 2011 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 11 June 2011 in the United Kingdom,United Kingdom: New Zealand,New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, the number of nail bars that were easily available. Working on a business plan with business partner MT Carney, they raised £200,000 through investors, and launched their first store in 1999 in South Molton Street in the

West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, Central London, England, in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden and the City of Westminster. It is west of the City of London an ...

. After opening the first three stores in London, as the business expanded Carney left the business with her family for the United States. In 2000, Nails Inc opened

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...

concessions. In 2003, the company launched their training academy for beauty therapists in London. In 2005 they launched the luxury "champagne nail bar."

Present

Nails.INC is a homegrown, British nail brand. The company has concessions within key retailers, including

Selfridges Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of upmarket department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge in 1908. The historic Daniel Burnham-designed Self ...

, John Lewis, Waitrose, QVC, Amazon and Look Fantastic, as well as Sephora, Target and Sallys in the USA. The company now has stores in the UK, US, Australia, and Japan. In November 2012, Nails.INC opened a nail bar in the Harvey Nichols Beauty Bazaar - a concept store located in the

Liverpool One Liverpool ONE is a shopping, residential, and leisure complex in Liverpool, England. The project involved the redevelopment of 42 acres (170,000 m2) of land in Liverpool City Centre, the city centre. It is a retail-led development anchored by ...

shopping centre, in the centre of

. In June 2020, Nails.INC posted a message with its 240,000 followers on Instagram: Nails.INC will contribute proceeds for the whole month of June to Black Lives Matter. "We stand with the fight against systematic racism," the beauty brand shared on the 1 June post.

Awards

*2002 CEW Achiever Award *2011 Awarded MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) *2011 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year *2011 First Women Awards Retail & Consumer Winner *2019 Allure Best of Beauty Award

References

{{reflist Retail companies established in 1999 Companies based in the City of Westminster Nail care Retail companies of the United Kingdom Cosmetics companies of the United Kingdom British brands 1999 establishments in England