Manucurist features over 90 nail polish colours. But behind every single one lies so much more than just a shade. It is a story of inspiration, teamwork, and expertise that brings your next manicure to life. Every bottle of Green™ or Green Flash™ polish is the result of meticulous craftsmanship by a passionate, wildly creative team. Wondering what goes on behind the scenes? Come take a look at how your favourite shades are made.
Inspiration: where it all begins
It all begins with an idea that takes root over several months. Imagining a new colour takes time and foresight. “We work 18 to 24 months ahead of the calendar, just like in fashion,” explains Célia, Head of Product Development at Manucurist. Because creating a colour means, first and foremost, listening to the world around us.
Tracking fashion and beauty trends
During this first stage, ideas flow freely. Célia, Junior Product Manager Marie-Julie, Manucurist CEO Gaëlle, and US Market Marketing Manager Lexi share their inspirations gathered from ongoing trend forecasting.
On the fashion front, they analyze couture and ready-to-wear runways to spot the clothing colours set to make waves in upcoming seasons. On the beauty side, they identify emerging beauty trends from leading brands. New launches from Glossier, Rhode, Summer Fridays, Typology, and Guerlain are closely monitored.
Brainstorming is in full swing with Gaëlle, Célia, and the entire Product Development team to define the next Manucurist shades.
The Manucurist community: an endless source of inspiration
While trends shape upcoming colours, the Manucurist community plays an equally essential role. Your feedback, wishes, and ideas are constant sources of inspiration for our team. Every new shade is designed for you and with you to meet your exact desires. That is why our teams engage with you year-round, especially across social media.
The Manucurist palette: a heritage to expand
Creating a new polish is impossible without referencing the Manucurist palette. Each new creation must fill an identified gap in this rich lineup of over a hundred shades, all while preserving the harmony of each colour family.
From these different avenues of inspiration, the team selects the colour or colours to be developed. Each chosen shade is captured in a moodboard that outlines the Product team's vision: featuring image boards (runway photos, makeup, but also culinary styling and interior design), material samples (fabrics, makeup, etc.), and the Pantone®️ code closest to the desired shade. This document is then sent to the laboratory.
Which colour will join the Manucurist palette? That is the question!
From moodboard to formula: the birth of a colour
That's where Emilie, colorist at Manucurist, steps in to turn the colour concept into reality.
The colorist's role
Guided by the marketing brief, Emilie embarks on an extraordinarily meticulous process. “I begin by selecting plant-based pigments and other components that will deliver the exact shade we are aiming for,” she explains. Choosing ingredients requires equal parts precision and intuition. There are countless different pigments, each with its own properties: some offer higher coverage, while others are sheerer. Moreover, not all are permitted in every country—particularly certain blues, yellows, and greens.
If the desired shade calls for a textured effect, Emilie must also choose from different types of materials. True expertise, as Emilie explains: “Pearlescent pigments are generally much finer and create a very even makeup effect. Glitter particles are larger and deliver a more scattered finish upon application.”
The art of blending ingredients to achieve a stable formula that meets regulatory standards in every country where the polish will be sold.
Once the ingredients are selected, Emilie blends them into a Green Flash™ polish base. Colour development always begins with Green Flash™, which has a more demanding formulation, before being adapted for Green™ polish. The resulting sample is then sent to Manucurist.
Dialogue to find the perfect balance
As soon as Célia and Marie-Julie receive the sample, they compare it with similar shades in the existing Manucurist palette to ensure this new colour truly stands apart. They also test it on their nails for opacity or sheer finish, texture thickness, ease of application, wear time, drying time, and more. A second test is conducted with Agathe, nail artist and manicure expert, who shares her professional insight.
Next, an ongoing dialogue begins between Célia and the laboratory to fine-tune the formula based on testing feedback. New samples are formulated and tested in turn until every single parameter reaches perfection.
Once the colour is approved in Green Flash™, the process starts over to recreate the new colour in the Green™ formula. A real challenge for our colorist, knowing how essential it is to Manucurist that shades match perfectly from one range to the other.
Developing a new polish colour in Green™ and Green Flash™: quite the challenge for our colorists.
Label design and bottling
Once the shade is approved and the formulation verified, one crucial step remains: finding its name. Evocative or playful, it always tells a story. Sometimes the name is an obvious choice: that was the case for Indian Summer, a brick-red polish created as a tribute to Yves Saint Laurent's iconic colour. Other times, it takes careful thought, unleashing the imagination, and playing with associations to find that perfect evocative name. And in certain cases, choosing a more marketing-driven term works best. But in every instance, we always make sure the name isn't already taken by another brand.
Designing the label is the final touch. Célia and Marie-Julie gather all the necessary information: shade name, ingredient list, pictograms, and regulatory mentions. The graphic designers create the layout, then the labels are printed and sent to the production facility. And just like that, production can finally begin… marking the official birth of the new polish.
Named and bottled, the new polish begins a brand-new life.
From the very first spark of inspiration to the moment the colour touches your nails, months of dedicated work unfold. Born from unique expertise, every bottle of Manucurist polish represents not just a new shade, but new shared emotions. A colourful journey the Manucurist team passionately continues to write for you and with you. Life in beautiful colors 🌈💅
