60 SECONDS WITH... JEFF PINK

Jeff Pink founded nail care brand Orly International in 1975 and trademarked The Original French Manicure in 1978 when he worked as a movie make-up artist in LA. The white tip and nude nail combination has since become iconic around the world. Friday caught up with him at the official launch of Orly International’s latest 2014 nail lacquer collection in the UAE at Beautyworld ME. How did you start Orly? Professional hairdressers, nail technicians and Hollywood studios needed suppliers as in America at that time brands were only stocked in department stores. I wanted to have a stand-alone brand, so I opened a store named Orly (after my wife) targeting them. Eventually I discovered the untapped needs of nails in an industry where then there was only the top coat, base coat and nail polish available. I invented Romeo, the first nail strengthener, then I came up with Ridge filler, to fix uneven nail surfaces and then of course, the French manicure, which really put me on the map. Tells us the story behind the French manicure’s creation? I was talking to a film director in Hollywood who expressed his desire to have one nail colour to suit every style of wardrobe change without stalling production. I applied white nail polish at the tips then countered the brightness with a coat of fleshtoned colour to create a clean natural look – the director loved it! If it started in America why is it called the French manicure? It started off being called the Natural Nail look. But returning from Paris, where I’d introduced my nail wear to models at fashion shows, I thought the name wasn’t very snappy. It was a huge hit in Paris so I renamed it the French Manicure. What made it so popular? In America it took off in the mid70s and was huge by the early 80s. Barbra Streisand and Cher catapulted it to star status when they had French manicures and appeared on Johnny Carson’s talk show. The first thing he asked them was about ‘the white thing at the tip of their nails’; the rest is history. Why should we choose Orly? It’s not just our great variety of colours; we have 26 different nail treatments too. You bite your nails too much? We have something for that. Smudged your nails before the polish could dry? One coat of our paraffin nail fixer will smooth it out. And our polish is infused with Vitamins A and B5. Who do you count in your celebrity following? In Hollywood we have worked with stars like Rihanna and Katy Perry. At the last Oscars we did Bette Midler’s nails for the red carpet. What’s the latest Orly invention? Our latest, unique entry is a BB crème for nails. It’s like a foundation – it brightens, whitens and covers flaws. Name another classic nail colour other than the French manicure? Red is definitely the most classic colour and lasts longer than others. What’s even better is there’s a shade of red to suit every woman!