Bio-e-Nails are the way forward for eco-friendly manicures. Let’s ditch the cruel chemical compounds and plastic waste, and swap to biodegradable press-on nails.
Calm down, refresh, and go inexperienced eco-friendly nails.
A crew of researchers on the College of Colorado Boulder’s ATLAS Institute have created a brand new sort of press-on nail that is biodegradable, colourful, and simple to customise.
Manicures Go Inexperienced with Bio-e-Nails
The group’s designs, referred to as Bio-e-Nails, use widespread substances obtained from algae or the exhausting exteriors of shellfish and different animals. They arrive in all sizes and shapes: Do you want lengthy and sparkly nails? You may make them your self in your individual kitchen. What about shorter, shiny pink nails with built-in laptop chips? They’re attainable, too.
And, while you’re achieved along with your newest look, you’ll be able to soften down the nails and make a brand new set—or no matter else you’ll be able to think about, mentioned co-creator Eldy Lázaro Vásquez.
“With Bio-e-Nails, there could be a second life, a 3rd life, a fourth life,” mentioned Lázaro Vásquez, a doctoral scholar at ATLAS and lead creator of the brand new analysis. “The fabric might be remelted and reshaped into new objects. You may make a brand new nail, for positive, but in addition a coaster on your espresso cup.”
She and her colleagues unveiled their Bio-e-Nails in March on the 2025 Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interplay (TEI) convention in France (1
Trusted SupplyBio-e-Nails: a Sustainable Design Method to Biobased Nail Interfaces
Go to supply).
The crew’s directions for making Bio-e-Nails can be found at no cost on-line.They’re additionally straightforward sufficient that anybody can comply with them utilizing craft provides and substances on the market at many grocery shops.
Mirela Alistar, the research’s senior creator, defined that creating sustainable trend doesn’t imply sacrificing performance or magnificence.
Get Prepared for Sustainable Manicures with Biodegradable Nails
“Sustainability goes past merely changing plastic with a substitute materials,” mentioned Alistar, assistant professor at ATLAS and the Division of Pc Science. “Each the designer and the consumer additionally want to alter their mindset. That sort of change, which considers your entire lifecycle of the wearable, is what we’re tackling by our analysis within the Dwelling Matter Lab.”
Lázaro Vásquez famous that, for many individuals, going to the nail salon is a vital ritual, and a really seen solution to categorical themselves.
Nails: The Artwork of Self-Expression
“[Nails] could be a reflection of your character,” Lázaro Vásquez mentioned. “They signify one thing that comes from you.”
However treating your self also can include a draw back. Most of the chemical compounds that nails salons make use of can generate air pollution that pose dangers to well being of consumers and employees. They embrace methyl methacrylate, which helps acrylic nails bond to your actual ones. In accordance with one estimate, the worldwide press-on nails trade is value almost $700 million and rising quickly, which suggests a variety of plastic waste going into landfills.
“We’re not used to considering of nails as a waste materials as a result of they’re so small, however they add up,” Alistar mentioned.
Bio-e-Nails signify a brand new mind-set about that course of. Julia Tung, an undergraduate scholar who took a course on biodesign taught by Alistar in 2023, developed a set of bioplastic nails as a category mission. Following Tung’s preliminary explorations, Lázaro Vásquez and her fellow graduate college students Sepideh Mohammadi, Latifa Al Naimi and Shira David developed new biomaterial formulations and fabrication strategies for his or her nails.
Agar and Chitosan: The Secret System for Bio-e-Nails
To make Bio-e-Nails, designers start with certainly one of two powder substances: Agar (which comes from algae and is usually used as a vegan substitute for gelatin) or chitosan (which comes from seashells and different animal merchandise and is a typical well being complement).
In the event you’re utilizing chitosan, you first combine that ingredient with vinegar and water, then heat and funky the slurry in a water tub. Subsequent, pour it right into a clay mildew formed like your favourite press-on nails. After 48 hours, you’re able to peel off the skinny movie and trim away the surplus materials. (The instructions for making agar nails are slightly completely different however simply as easy).
Voilá—it’s time to indicate off these new nails.
Glam Up with DIY Bio-e-Nails
Lázaro Vásquez added that Bio-e-Nails are customizable for any aesthetic and will also be interactive.
You may, for instance, add meals coloring to create nails in shiny orange, inexperienced, blue or every other colour. You may additionally introduce sparkles or crystals for a bit of additional glam, even making nails that appear like a starry night time sky. The researchers experimented with incorporating tiny laptop chips into Bio-e-Nails. You may then program your smartphone to set off sure instructions while you faucet it along with your nail—resembling displaying the quantity on your emergency contact or pulling up instructions house.
Bio-e-Nails are designed for short-term use, Lázaro Vásquez mentioned, making them excellent for events like an evening out. The analysis crew proposed 3 ways to increase the life cycle of the supplies, with composting because the final resort. A greater choice is to reuse these supplies on your subsequent look.
“Composting ought to be the final different. We need to preserve the supplies in use so long as we will,” Lázaro Vásquez mentioned. “In biodesign, it’s not nearly changing conventional supplies with biodegradable ones—it’s about rethinking your entire design course of, contemplating the life cycle of the fabric and eventual merchandise, and the way they will keep in circulation and be reworked earlier than they ever return to nature.”
References:
Bio-e-Nails: a Sustainable Design Method to Biobased Nail Interfaces – (https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3689050.3704426)
Supply-College of Colorado at Boulder
