Adrianna Gonzalez has nailed her business plan.
The Boston graphic artist is hard at work keeping up with demand for her Delush line of nail polishes.
“I’m trying to make something unique, something that’s not already out there,” said Gonzalez, a Mass Art grad who lives in Jamaica Plain.
By day, the self-described “girly girl” designs digital applications at Roundarch Isobar. But her passion for color extends long into the evening hours when the 26-year-old hand-pours and mixes all of her Delush polishes (delushpolish.com).
“I look like the ‘Breaking Bad’ star,” she said, laughing about the unfashionable gloves and mask she wears to create colors like Lucky in Love, a speckled mint green, and a glittery white Honey Pie.
Gonzalez said Delush is about giving her customers colors they will swoon over. Since launching earlier this year, she has invited customers to name new polishes and has taken shade requests.
“People think it’s just nail polish,” she said. “But it really expresses individuality.”
Which is why even powerhouse polish companies have introduced fashion-forward textured versions. Last month, OPI launched Raw Granite, which follows its recently debuted Liquid Sand collection.
“The response was strong, and we’re continuing it for holiday with gold and rose gold. It’s like wearing jewelry,” said Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, executive vice president and artistic director for OPI.
Weiss-Fischmann said the Raw Granite is intended to be worn matte (without a top coat), and looks best on short nails.
“For the past 25 years, we’ve been saying nail polish was not just nail color. It’s an accessory, and we’re living those days,” she added.
For Gonzalez, it’s Delush customers such as Victoria Quilliam who keep business exciting. Quilliam, who lives in Liverpool, England, and owns more than 600 polishes, has purchased every collection Delush has launched.
“Each set has just got better and better, the colors and effects she uses are unique, and I always get loads of comments,” Quilliam wrote in an email.
Gonzalez charges $9 per bottle ($12 for holographic colors), and hopes to expand from e-commerce into a local salon soon. She has also ventured into the world of celebrity marketing (Kelly Rowland tweeted a picture of her Delush-painted nails recently), and Gonzalez gifted a stylist from the ABC TV show “Scandal” a pair of earrings from her off-shoot line of nail polish-painted jewelry.
“Every night, I go home and start making polish. I do everything. I love that I have control over these things. I’m not answering a client. I am the client, and I have a high standard,” she said.
