Josh Espley is CEO of Blakk Cosmetics, whose first product, Alphanail , is being billed as “war paint for your fingernails.” (It’s nail polish, but for dudes.) Here Espley talks about his unlikely product, which is coming soon in a clear-polish version, for men who want to protect their nails without making a fashion statement.

FAST COMPANY: What is Alphanail?



JOSH ESPLEY: We realized a trend in the market, that men’s cosmetics are being more accepted in the marketplace. We launched Alphanail, and are working on a concealer line. The concept is not to mimic what girls already have, but catering more to what men would want.

Was there an aha moment?



Probably five years ago, I started seeing more guys wearing nail polish. But it hadn’t really been marketed for men. Men settled on using their girlfriend’s or their sister’s products lying around, or going to the grocery store and being relegated to going to the cosmetics section. That can be kind of taxing on your manhood.

“I could show you hate mail like you wouldn’t believe. You wouldn’t believe the threatening comments I get.”

Are there misconceptions about guys wearing nail polish?



The first thing is the gay assumption–that you’re gay if you wear nail polish. That’s the first thing out of anyone’s mouth.

If girls’ products are good enough for gay men, why not for straight men?



They should be. Honestly, it’s a marketing strategy. With our product, it’s not just nail polish, it’s a nail polish delivery system. The pen we use is a key piece. You click the pen with your thumb, and out comes no more nail polish than you need. You don’t have to daintily dip a brush. Any guy can use a pen. Another thing we’ve found out is that we don’t market to women, but we get crossover sales all the time.

How much of your market is women?



Sales? 10%. But in terms of interest–people visiting the website, leaving comments–I would say it’s about 50-50 on the site.

The only guy I knew who wore nail polish was Marilyn Manson. But your website doesn’t tout people like that–it types traditionally masculine guys like kickboxers who wear nail polish. You call the stuff “war paint” for your fingernails.



That was the original marketing concept. This was conceived five years ago. It’s just about expression, and function, and overall if you want to make a statement. It’s for alpha males who don’t care, guys who just take chances, who don’t run their lives off of what other people think. I don’t care if you’re gay or straight or black or white, it doesn’t matter who wears our product. On our website, we had to overmasculinize the product because of the taboos at the time.