Charlotte Knight Is Over Crackle Nail Polish

Ciaté founder Charlotte Knight has some strong opinions on the nail-art world. "I think that historically, in my opinion, it has been tacky," she says, referring to "diamantes," "palm trees," and "zebra prints," before adding: "If you had told me two years ago that Ciaté would be known for being one of the most innovative nail-art brands, I would have laughed."

Long before Knight entered the cosmetics world, she gained some business know-how from neighborhood jumby sales — that's British-speak for yard sales — when she was just 14 years old. The young entrepreneur would offer up 20 percent commission for each item donated by friends' parents. "I should've thought of eBay!" she laments over the missed opportunity. Now the business-minded Londoner is known for introducing innovative DIY nail art kits to the Sephora masses. Her best success has been the brand's "Caviar" manicure, a two-step process that includes sprinkling wet nails with tiny circular beads, which launched earlier this year and was both controversial and beloved. What soon followed was a Ciaté frenzy, including holographic hues, velvet-textured ones, and the latest: sparkly flecks of multicolored sequins dusted over manicures. 

Yet Knight has no formal training in nail artistry. She learned everything she knows from a nail artist she regularly saw in London before moving to Dublin nearly ten years ago. Fearing that her new Irish home would not have a nearby salon, she asked for lessons in doing at-home manicures. But when she arrived in Dublin, even if she wanted to get a manicure from a professional, there wasn't a single salon to patronize. Within a year, she set up eight freestanding salons, and then three years after that, Ciaté was born. (It was originally called C.I.A.T.E., which stood for color, innovation, aspiration, trend, and extraordinary, but the rather clunky acronym was shortened to a French-sounding moniker.)

Now the spectrum of Ciaté shades can be spotted on the fanciest of fingers, from Adele to Blake Lively to Kate Moss and Rihanna. Along the way, Knight has collaborated with designers including Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, and Antonio Berardi. And, within this past year, the tiny British nail-polish company, which got its start from hand-mixed formulations by Knight herself, has become an international brand. She sat down with the Cut to explain how it all came to be.

Via: Charlotte Knight Is Over Crackle Nail Polish