Researchers transform popular beauty products using materials from unexpected source: 'It's about rethinking the entire design process'

When the discussion of beauty waste comes up, it usually places the blame on overconsumption and large items like shampoo bottles and eyeshadow palettes. But many people forget that plastic lives in both the packaging and in our accessories, like temporary nails.

A team of researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder's ATLAS institute authored an article titled "Bio-e-Nails: a Sustainable Design Approach to Biobased Nail Interfaces" that researched eco-friendly alternatives to plastic temporary nails. They presented it at the 2025 Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction conference in France.

"With Bio-e-Nails, there can be a second life, a third life, a fourth life," Eldy Lázaro Vásquez, lead author of the research and doctoral student at ATLAS, said, as relayed by Phys.org.

The Bio-e-Nails are made from agar (a derivative of algae) or chitosan, sourced from shells of shellfish and other animals. Currently, the recipe for the nails is available for free online and is easy enough to DIY at home with a few extra ingredients found at common grocery and craft stores.

Nails can be customized by adding food coloring, glitter, and even computer chips to link tech to your nails. Once the nails are used, the researchers encourage the consumers to melt down the nails again to create new pairs in their mold of choice.

"Sustainability goes beyond merely replacing plastic with a substitute material," said Mirela Alistar, one of the study's senior authors and assistant professor at ATLAS and the Department of Computer Science. Lázaro Vásquez added, "Composting should be the last alternative. We want to keep the materials in use as long as we can."

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Acrylic nails that are applied by professionals can last up to eight weeks; press-on nails that are applied at home can last as short as a few hours, if only worn for a special event. Both types of nails are made with plastic and contribute to the 877 pounds of beauty waste that end up in North American landfills every minute.

What the team of researchers hopes to do is to change the mindset of the everyday consumer and retailers. While nails seem insignificant and small, the millions of nails used every year add up.

"In biodesign, it's not just about replacing traditional materials with biodegradable ones — it's about rethinking the entire design process, considering the life cycle of the material and eventual products, and how they can stay in circulation and be transformed before they ever return to nature," Lázaro Vásquez added.

Which of these factors would most effectively motivate you to buy a refillable product?

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