Brittany Golden launched press-on nail brand IGL Nails during the pandemic when salons were closed, and while she landed partnerships with indie retailers, it wasn’t until she redid her packaging earlier this year that buyer interest exploded.
IGL Nails rolled out to T.J. Maxx and Marshalls stores in May, and it was sold out at them by July. The retailers stocked the brand’s bestsellers, including a red and matte brown stiletto style, multicolor rounded French tip and marble design in a coffin shape. IGL Nails’ products are priced from $13 to $18.99, and its designs often cycle in and out based on the season. Golden connected with T.J. Maxx and Marshalls at BrainTrust Founders Studio’s Founders House LA event seven months ago.
IGL Nails’ refurbished packaging has a slit on its side that consumers can slide their nails into to appear that its press-on nails are sitting on top of them, providing a glimpse of what the press-ons look like on. The brand posted a video about it on TikTok that’s drawn over 500,000 views. It’s received thousands upon thousands of views on posts spotlighting the packaging on Instagram, too. In addition to the new packaging, Golden believes IGL Nails’ inclusivity has helped it secure retail deals. It has press-on nails for petite, standard and wide nail beds.
“It’s extremely important to me that we have nails that fit all nail bed sizes,” she says. “I always say, you don’t go to Nordstrom and just pick a pair of jeans and leave. You typically have to try jeans on because we’re all shaped differently. People don’t realize that our nail beds are actually the exact same. Some people are wide, some people are curved, some people are long, snd so it’s my mission to address each of those different aspects about our nail beds.”
With T.J. Maxx and Marshalls’ off-price model, it wasn’t always clear what doors IGL Nails press-on nails were in, a dynamic that Golden thought was crazy at first, but decided to leverage to drum up excitement among the brand’s customers. “If they went to their local T.J. Maxx or Marshalls and found IGL Nails, they were entered into a giveaway,” she explains. “I was able to use the content to tell people, oh, it’s at this store, but also gift my customers for creating that content for me.”
IGL Nails is in the process of raising money from friends and family members, with the goal of reaching $80,000 to fulfill its next purchase order. It expects to be restocked by the fourth quarter this year. Golden launched IGL Nails with $10,000 her father left her after his death in 2019. “I call him quite literally my angel investor,” she says.
Golden started painting nails as a way to destress during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020. She shared her designs on Instagram and YouTube, where she began posting six years ago under the handle She decided to turn her hobby into a business, hired a manufacturer and officially launched IGL Nails in 2021.
Within six months of IGL Nails’ launch, Golden placed the brand in 11 stores, including Textured Tech, Mirror Mirror Beauty and Glow and Flow Beauty. In tandem, she participated in pop-ups and applied to accelerators. In 2022, she participated in Goldman Sach’s Black In Business program, and it counseled her on identifying IGL Nails’ target customers and marketing to them. She won the pitch competition at the end of the program, was awarded $5,000 and featured on Revolt’s “Bet on Black” television show.
In 2023, IGL Nails was accepted into Target’s Forward Founders program. The brand was rejected twice before being accepted. The program informed Golden about what it takes to be retail ready, down to the importance of packaging details that stand out on shelf. She concluded the program with increased confidence in her retail pitch.
IGL Nails is in talks with two additional chains and is entering Hot Topic in the fourth quarter this year. Target is on the brand’s bucket list, but Golden still would like IGL Nails to up its preparation before entering the big-box chain. She says, “I want to make sure that when that opportunity comes that I’m fully ready.”
Licensing is a goal for 2025, and IGL Nails is in negotiations for a licensing partnership involving anime. Golden envisions the brand enabling its customers to sport their favorite characters and brand logos on their nails. She says, “Imagine going to an LA Sparks game and you’ve got the Sparks logo on, and what’s great with press-ons is you can take them off after the game.”
