Come with the tint

The new nail tint Gamay

Delicate yet sophisticated just like a sip of cold rosé in the sun, L.A. based jewelry brand J. Hannah creates sustainable designs, made of recycled gold and diamonds for example, that feel enchanting yet simplistic with the right amount of sparkle. Beside the delicate accessories, Jess Hannah Révész develops nailpolish – to be paired with with her collections or as eye candy just by itself.
By questioning the mass-market standard, she’s pouring out unusual shades and now launching tints: polish with a watercolor-like finish that instead of a opaque, fully covering color deliver a slightly transparent veil – just as red wine (here we leave the rosé behind) does on lips…

We talked to the designer about her perception of beauty.

a color called Compost

Do you aim to create something new – or something beautiful?

The industry is naturally concerned with what is conventionally ‚beautiful‘, but we like to toy with how beauty is created in ways that feel new. For instance, our color Compost, inspired by Pantone 448C a “drab” olive-brown referred to by market researchers as “the ugliest color in the world”, was grounded (no pun intended!) in the notion of Jolie-Laide, or a beauty found in something that has a touch of the uncanny as well. While I love keeping the jewelry classic, our polish is a fun place to experiment and play in what’s new.

How do you define beauty?

Beauty, at its best, is perhaps a bit ineffable! Maybe to pin it down is to miss the point?

How do you compose the colors for your nail polish collection?

We definitely consider the jewelry when researching colors, but our inspirations are much more far-reaching. Our polish brainstorming process can be surprisingly conceptual for a beauty brand I think, and we nerd out on carefully studied references. Of course we love for the pieces and polishes to ‚talk‘ to one another, however, we’re always into a good clash too. A lot of my design process is actually based in juxtaposition, rather than an initial match. Having said all of this, our latest release Gamay is the first drop of a new category called Glacé Tints, which is actually a direct nod to our classic Glacé Collection. It’s rather rare for us to connect the dots so strongly between jewelry and polish, however, we’ve been doing limited edition Glacé drops with different variations of translucent quartz and that got our wheels turning to create a line of sheer polishes. I guess you could say we found inspiration from within!

How does beauty feel to you?

I do think beauty feels open and expansive — ideas of it are often limiting, when it should really encourage the opposite sensation.

What is the best about working with your hands?

Now that my business has grown, I have the support of local artisans that physically make our jewelry, so I’d like to mention that there are many more hands involved than just my own now. That being said, I’ve loved working with my hands from a young age, and the best part about it is the synthesis between mind and body, it’s a bit transcendent; that is in a sense how beauty feels, and also how it is made.

What’s the most beautiful thing you‘ve ever had your hands on?

A big part of why I became a jeweler was my early interest in tinkering with my grandmother’s jewelry. She had accumulated a lifetime of pieces that all had different significance for her. My favorite piece of hers, and perhaps the most simple – has delicate oval beads that sit stationary separated by lengths of intricate rope chain. I think the sentimentality of jewelry makes each piece that much more beautiful. Whether it’s my own family piece or something you get for (or from) a loved one, you imbue your own meaning that makes it special and beautiful.

And the most beautiful thing I’ve had on my hands recently – is our newest color, and first edition to our Glacé Tints line: Gamay. A wash of plum reminiscent of wine stained lips at the close of summer evenings.

[Photo]

[Editor]

Laura Dunkelmann

August 19, 2022