A few years ago Josh Espley, former marketing director of a sex toy company called Fleshlight, noticed that his taekwondo friends were wearing Polish clothes to cover up their banged-up nails.
He noted that the practice has become increasingly popular among the mixed martial arts crowd: former Ultimate Fighting Champion Chuck roddell wore delicate pink nail polish in the fight.
Espley occasionally watches American weekly.
He said, help him talk to women.
And saw Poland in male celebrities like Zac Efron, Jared Leto, Dave Navarro and Johnny Depp.
So in 2009, he created Blakk cosmetics to increase his income.
Its first product was Alpha nail polish, which the company sold for $12, such as "Cocaine "(creamy white)
"Rubber Fuel Consumption "(dark navy)
And "gasoline "(charcoal gray).
Alpha Nail's website shows bloody dirty fingers applying Nail polish;
Hand models fight each other, repair cars, and launch rifles.
"Our website is far more than the top.
"We think we have to make it clear that this is for men," 35-year-old Espley said at his home in Houston . ".
How much is he finding?
The non-artist, Nongtai, bought his product.
"This has shifted to everyone who wants this extra talent," he said . ".
The company sells about 400 pens a month.
"It's profitable [from our expense [being low]
But in terms of high salaries, this is not the same . "
Jennifer Berardini, a makeup artist for musicians such as Jennifer Lopez, started the men's beauty product EvolutionMan series in 2010.
Last year, he added "nail polish", doubling sales every six months.
His color is also very avant-garde.
A black shadow simulates the appearance of the sidewalk.
They all dried up in less than a minute because men apparently didn't like to wait for their Polish dishes to set.
Berardini also started his route after seeing that he would not doubt being a Polish athlete.
"I 've heard some stories from the manual workers who use it so that their nails don't turn yellow from the product they're dealing with," he said . ".
Recently, he worked with punk designer Indashio to make black paint with golden spots.
"Colored nail polish is like a temporary tattoo.
"Without the promise of ink, you can express yourself," Berardini said . ".
Fashion basketball player Dwyane Wade released a photo of his toenails in July.
His title reads: "matte black paint . . . . . . Rock star is . . . . . . ".
Although the women nail polish market is developing in an all-round waytime high—
Sales in the US in 2012S.
Reached $0. 768 billion, up 32% from 2011
Virginia Lee, senior research analyst at Euromonitor International for cosmetics, said the market for men was limited.
"Gender norms have become more relaxed in recent years, but men wearing" nail art "are unlikely to get compliments from another man.
"This is a very niche market," she said . "
John Allen, the owner of a chain with the same name
End men's grooming club in New York, Chicago and Toronto has been offering free haircuts and manicure services since 1988.
"When I first started, I started to break a lot of stereotypes.
"You are considered less masculine because you are taking care of yourself," Allen said . " Allen's company caters to the types of Wall Street, these types of people who pursue "burn-up" rubber
"Today, I think men understand that this is just a good appearance," he said . "
Allen's stadium is softer than Espley's or belardini's, but it works as well: "I said one thing to my customers: "Do you think your partner likes the feeling of a nail falling off her back?