brand and her strategy for conquering the US nail care market. Inside Retail: How would you describe The Gel Bottle? Daisy Kalnina: The Gel Bottle (TGB) is a fast-growing, global leader in professional nail care. We are best known as the original creators of Builder In A Bottle (BIAB), a product that revolutionized the nail industry. At our core, we are a community-driven brand built by professionals, for professionals. More than a decade since I launched TGB, we remain dedicated to providing nail techs with everything they need to scale their businesses, from high-quality innovation and trendsetting shades to gold-standard education. IR: How did you first come up with the idea for the brand? DK: I was a working nail tech and running two busy salons in Brighton, where our UK headquarters are now based. I’ve always loved design and color, but there wasn’t anything on the market that was exciting for my clients or me, so I started reaching out to some labs to create my own range of gel polishes. I wanted to create something that felt more fashion-forward, with better formulas than the ones we were using. After testing them in the salon, it was actually my clients who said I should start selling them, and things went from there! The range began with a small collection of gel shades, followed by base and top coats. It was TGB’s Extreme Shine Top Coat that led me to develop our trademarked Builder In A Bottle. I also wanted a product that would provide unparalleled strength and durability, so that clients could get more from their manicures and even grow out their natural nails. My goal was always to provide nail techs with products their customers needed and wanted. BIAB was a huge disruptor in the nail market because it addressed a clear gap for both nail techs and clients. Inside Retail: In a hypercompetitive field like the beauty industry, how does The Gel Bottle differentiate itself from competitors? How does it fill a market gap? DK: First and foremost, we listen to our community. We don’t just drop a product; we provide the business tools, communities, and gold-standard training required to make that product a success in the salon. A massive pillar of this is the TGB Academy. Since launching the Academy in 2018, it has evolved into a powerhouse global training platform featuring over eight accredited courses, spanning everything from our “Beginner Gel Course” for newcomers to specialized upskilling courses such as online conversion courses and business foundation workshops. As we accelerate our US expansion, recreating this educational infrastructure across the States is a primary focus. To meet requirements, our US educators visit local salons to provide tailored, in-house training, ensuring teams are confident in our application techniques while fostering real-world relationships. We are also actively partnering with beauty schools across the country to ensure the next generation of nail professionals establish a relationship with TGB right from the outset of their careers. Just as we did to become the number one professional nail brand in the UK, we are tapping into the distinct culture of the US pro community to ensure we are evolving to meet their exact market requirements. Inside Retail: What were the toughest challenges you faced in the initial stages of launching and running the brand? What strategies did you incorporate to overcome these issues? DK: In the early days, the biggest hurdle was finding manufacturing partners to help bring my vision to life. From day one, I’ve been very particular about color, formulation, and performance, so every launch involves a lot of trial and error to ensure it meets the standards. Of course, launching a new brand in any industry is challenging, and I knew from the outset that TGB had to do things differently to succeed. Without an existing reputation to lean on, I had to go out there and prove myself and my products, and that meant no marketing fluff, no bold claims, but instead showcasing products that delivered real results for both customers (the pros) and their clients. I was lucky to have a strong network of nail techs from my salon who were willing to try the products and share their very honest feedback. That early community was instrumental in helping TGB grow, and I’m so proud that some of these early adopters now work for TGB and still share their honest feedback to this day. Inside Retail: What have been the biggest highlight moments of running the business thus far? DK: There have been so many amazing highlights, but seeing my products in the hands of some of the absolute biggest celebrities in the world will never get old. TGB has been worn by the likes of Kim Kardashian, Olivia Dean, Chappell Roan, and Zoë Kravitz, and last year seeing our products on Madonna was a total “pinch-me” moment! Beyond the red carpets, growing our global footprint and entering entirely new territories is incredibly exciting. I already feel so proud of what our team and community are achieving across North America. To watch a brand that started from my own passion expand into a household name for nail professionals across the Atlantic is pretty special! Inside Retail: As a UK-based entrepreneur, what do you think are some of the unique challenges faced by brands trying to expand into the US retail scene? How are you trying to overcome these hurdles? DK: Expanding into the US presents unique challenges for any UK-based entrepreneur. The market is huge, but with that scale comes extreme saturation and a landscape of established brands that pros have used for decades. Our job isn’t just to introduce a brand; it’s to shift a deeply rooted salon culture. With so many legacy substitutes out there, our approach is to redefine the modern American salon menu by focusing on education and physical accessibility. Through our new coast-to-coast distribution partnership, we are launching across 487 Cosmo Prof locations and online via CosmoProfBeauty.com. This gives us an immediate, powerful retail footprint right where US nail professionals shop. Inside Retail: What steps are you taking to expand the business internationally? DK: International expansion for us focuses on physically embedding ourselves into the local nail culture. Our US strategy balances industry education with high-visibility consumer awareness to shift the market. To help cultivate a community across the States, we’ve successfully launched our brand advocacy program, TGB Insiders, powered by Duel. We already have over 100 active US nail technicians regularly engaging with the brand, completing challenges for rewards, and utilizing affiliate codes to monetize their own content. The community-to-career pipeline is very real for us; in fact, we’ve already recruited one of our TGB Insiders to become an official TGB Educator. While we are a pro-first brand, we know that consumer demand drives salon bookings. To educate the client on why they should ask for TGB, we heavily lean into the US awards season and red-carpet events. Sponsoring celebrity nail looks has been an ongoing activation for us, creating high-fashion visibility that directly drives clients back into the chairs of our TGB nail artists. Inside Retail: What is one piece of advice you would give to the day-one version of yourself on your brand founder journey? DK: If I could sum up my advice, it would be to work hard, stay agile, and never stop listening and learning. It’s rarely easy, but by staying laser-focused, your passion and hard work will pay off. Giving up has never been an option for me because I believe so deeply in our goal, but we’ve had to overcome plenty of challenges and steep learning curves. It’s why my team and I always try to anchor ourselves in listening to our customers and the community. Listening to their feedback completely shaped our communication strategy. While we have great instincts, we don’t know it all. We are always learning, and we value our community as a true extension of our brand. Inside Retail: What is your current favorite SKU from the brand? DK: Always a tough question, but I would have to say BIAB in the shade “Bunny”. It’s been a favorite of mine since it launched, and as of June this year, it’s now available in our brand-new Fibre BIAB formulation! As a mom of three boys, I have an incredibly active lifestyle, so I put my hands through a lot. The Fibre BIAB provides the exact enhanced structural support, durability, and resistance to breakage that I need. I’m so proud of this launch and feel excited by the opportunity it offers nail professionals to build out their service menus, ensuring there is a bespoke formulation and solution for each and every client. Further reading: Can Marc Jacobs Beauty harness Met Gala hype to stage a comeback?