Battle Of The Celebrity Nail Polish Brands

As a nail polish fanatic with an egregious collection of hundreds of bottles, a trio of recent nail polish brand launches piqued my interest. Why? Because they were all from famous celebrities. And not just any celebrities, but three of the most successful, fascinating cis male celebs at the top of their game: Harry Styles, Machine Gun Kelly, and Tyler The Creator, all of whom have decided to dip their toes/nails into the celebrity beauty brand boom. I’ll buy pretty much anything a celebrity tells me to, but I was dubious. Even though Harry, MGK, and Tyler were famous for rocking painted nails on the red carpet, what innovations could three famous dudes possibly bring to the nail polish category?

Since each brand is marketed as gender-inclusive, my theory is that they’re all attempts to tap into an ignored segment of the consumer population: male-identifying, pop culture-loving, nail polish-curious newbies. To test my theory, after trying the products on myself, I also painted my boyfriend’s virgin nails to get his impressions of the products and packaging.

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Pleasing by Harry Styles

It’s no surprise that musical legend, fashion icon, and Gucci muse Harry Styles’ new beauty brand Pleasing was among the buzziest celebrity beauty launches of 2021. From the outset, Pleasing felt intentional, tasteful, and purpose-driven. Watch this calming yet mysterious ASMR-y Tik Tok video (narrated by Styles) where he describes Pleasing not as a beauty brand, but rather, a “life brand.” In a splashy cover story on Styles in Dazed magazine, he doubles down on his lofty ambitions for the brand. According to Styles, Pleasing’s mission is to “bring joyful experiences and products that excite the senses and blur the boundaries.” He eschews the idea of exploiting his audience by slapping his celebrity face on a product that he doesn’t believe in, but rather envisions Pleasing as a “community” and “safe space” for his fans. Pleasing isn’t just gender-neutral — instead, it sets out to “dispel the myth of the binary existence,” which feels like a lot of pressure for a line that currently consists of four nail polish shades and two skin care products. Pleasing is serving me Goop-ified, Z-ellenial, genderqueer brand energy and I’m honestly here for it.

The bottles of nail polish are easily the most stunning bottles I have ever seen in my life. Essie and OPI are literally shaking. The marbled, orb-like tops have a soothing, hefty, gorgeous look and feel. There’s something undeniably sensual about the packaging. While much has been said about the bottles’ resemblance to a sexual butt toy item, I can not emphasize enough how the packaging made me feel weirdly horny in a way I can’t quite describe, which is honestly exactly how Harry Styles makes me feel.

Pleasing Nail Polish

The shade range felt a bit random, and immediately reminded me of Mother’s Circus Animal cookies. They’re inspired by Harry’s love of pearls — the shade names are Perfect Pearl, Pearly Tops, Inky Pearl, and Granny’s Pink Pearls, and all have a slightly pearly, iridescent finish. The formula itself felt luxe and applied easily — it’s apparently made of sustainable, plant-based solvents and is biodegradable, vegan, and cruelty-free. Inky Pearls was my favorite — it had an unexpected, subtle blue glitter shift that popped in certain lights. I was intrigued by the sheer Pearly Tops shade. The website says it can “go solo as a barely-there effect” or “top any polish to transform it to a matte finish and enhance its luminescence.” Two swipes on my bare nails imparted a sheer, iridescent, my-nails-but-yaasified-type finish. Perhaps it was Harry’s answer to the cult classic Dior Nail Glow? I could absolutely imagine Harry’s GF Olivia Wilde (who rocked short, bare nails in her February Vogue cover story!) wearing this.

Pleasing Pearlescent Illuminating Serum

I really appreciated the appearance of Pleasing’s Pearlescent Illuminating Serum, particularly its space-age, pearly balls that reminded me of this beloved discontinued soda from my childhood. Harry says the serum is “inspired by Japanese female pearl divers” and their “fresh, shining skin.” That’s just f*cking chic. The serum claims to moisturize all skin types with vitamin B5, antioxidants, and amino acids, and its encapsulated pearls are created with lab-safe mica for a subtle, smooth luminescence. On my skin, it left a slightly tacky and subtly shimmery finish. Look at those glittery mica chunks! I had to rub it in a bunch to make sure all the chunks of shimmer were dissolved. If I were as gorgeous and facially symmetrical as Harry, I could maybe see myself wearing this serum alone to subtly enhance my perfect face. But in reality, this product emphasized my skin texture and acne in a way that was not remotely pleasing.

Pleasing Pen

The Pleasing Pen was a double-ended demi-matte lip oil and hydrating eye gel. Both ends had a cooling metal rollerball applicator that I absolutely appreciate in any product. I tried the eye gel under my beloved Dieux eye masks, and it left a soothing, hydrating sensation. After I removed the patches I even felt a tingle! The lip oil sat on top of my crusty winter lips and never fully sank in. I could easily see this working for Harry though because he’s perfect and probably doesn’t have crusty winter lips.

Who It’s For: Honestly? Only Harry Styles. Or his fans.

Boyfriend on Pleasing: “The packaging reminds me of a butt plug. Or a glass pipe. Or an elegant chess piece.”

UN/DN LAQR by Machine Gun Kelly

I’m not a fan of Machine Gun Kelly’s music but I’m very much obsessed with his over-the-top, semi stunt-y, objectively-romantic relationship with Megan Fox. Which means I was very excited to try Colson Baker aka MGK aka the number-one “achingly beautiful boy’s” new nail polish line, UN/DN LAQR. (It’s pronounced “Undone,” because vowels are straightedge, duh). UN/DN is specifically designed to be gender-inclusive and “champion self-expression.” The website encourages you to “follow your mother f*ckn' dreams until those visions come to life” and is full of cryptic, emo phrases like “Death is the only due date.” The messaging is as aggressive and evocative as a Megan Fox Instagram poem.

Each bottle is encased in a sexy, chaotic cardboard prison emblazoned with handwritten quotes about self-expression and a sexy picture of someone’s nails around a tattooed neck. The aesthetic feels very early ‘00s, emo LiveJournal page, which I kind of j’adore. With all due respect to Mr. Gun Kelly, I was let down by the bottles themselves. The component felt cheaply made and looked generic. The lids squeaked when I opened and closed them. I refuse to believe that the creative mind behind an engagement ring that’s designed to physically hurt Megan Fox if she ever takes it off would ever sign off on the quality of the packaging. Maybe he was just busy drinking Megan Fox’s blood or something? I’ll give him a pass.

I was truly amazed at the shade range — currently 18 and counting! I opted to try this Never Done set, thinking it’d be fun to compare the black, white, and pink to Harry’s similar colors. Since black is MGK’s signature color on the red carpet, my hopes were high for Depressionist, the black shade in the set. While it went on easy, the color was super pigmented, and one swipe gave me a very intense color payoff. It reminded me of the “Blackest Paint in the World” that I’ve seen go viral on TikTok. It got everywhere, and even after I removed it, the polish stained the skin around my fingers for days.

The pink (shade name: Party Favor) was a sickeningly bubblegum pink that reminded me of Angelyne’s pink corvette. While it’s a bit too on-the-nose Barbie pink for my taste, I did appreciate these pictures of Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox wearing Party Favor at the UN/DN brand launch, at which they CHAINED THEMSELVES to each other via their nails. A borderline insane, completely romantic gesture I love to see.

My absolute favorite products from UN/DN were these confetti-esque topcoats that are meant to replicate a paint splatter effect. I put them on top of other colors, but they’d be great solo — kind of like a punk Funfetti aesthetic for your nails. They were easy to apply and impossible to mess up, a genuinely fun product perfect for a nail polish newbie who might not be ready to dip into the brand’s more intense colors.

Who it’s for: Someone who wants their nail polish to be equal parts angsty and romantic

Boyfriend on UN/DN LAQR: “I don’t like the logo. It reminds me of a store you’d see in a mall.”

Golf La Fleur By Tyler The Creator

Everything about Tyler the Creator is cool. His music, his fashion, his visual storytelling, his streetwear brand Golf Wang — he’s on another creative level. And the launch of his new lifestyle brand Golf La Fleur is as cool as you’d expect. Its store is located “on a mountain in Malibu,” but “the location of the store is ever-changing. The store itself is a nomad.” That’s right. It’s so cool that I have literally no idea where it is or how to find it. The brand is Tyler’s first entry into the beauty space, with a small capsule collection of three nail polish shades that are 13-free, non-toxic, and cruelty-free.

I was immediately struck by the fun, daring, pastel shade range — a baby blue hue (Geneva Blue), a muted yellow-orange (Georgia Peach), and a glittery topcoat (just called Glitter). They’re exactly the kinds of eclectic, colorful shades I would seek out to add to my rainbow collection. The bottles are a little Dr. Seuss-ian in the best way. They’re cheery, surreal works of art that are unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. I loved the flower cap (which is apparently Tyler’s patented FLEUR cap), and the scribbly cherub logo on the bottle is très chic.

I tried the two colors and I very much enjoyed and appreciated them. Funky springtime energy! These are specific and loud pastels to pull off — they’re definitely perfect for someone a little more daring and bold in their expression.

]Who it’s for: Anyone that’s cool enough to actually know how to find the Golf La Fleur store.

Boyfriend on Golf La Fleur: “The colors remind me of the Dumb and Dumber suits.”

The Takeaway

Harry, MGK, and Tyler certainly aren’t pioneers in the long and fabulous history of famous men who have challenged gender norms by experimenting with nail color. But they are pioneers in a different way — as three of the most high-profile male celebs to start a beauty brand in the celebrity beauty brand boom. And I hope there are more to come, because I can’t wait for even more famous men to make stuff I can buy.

We at Bustle only include products that have been independently selected by our editors. We may receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.