Local Woman Invents Fashion Style, Snakenails, Hits LA and NY

18 Sep, 2012

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Greta Gustafasson accidentally invented “Snakenails” in Rockford, IL, after her pet Boa died. The world’s oyster, lots of money, and popular demand for her stylish invention are now her’s to share with everyone.

A local Rockford woman has combined her love of snakes and her passion over handsome nails into a lucrative and cutting edge business that is rocking the runways of New York and the alleys of Los Angeles. When Greta Gustafasson’s boa constrictor, Elton, recently molted, she was left with 15 feet of snake skin to throw into the trash. However, a closer inspection of the skin revealed how similar in size the individual scales were to the tips of fingernails she had been applying to many local woman. In a zen moment that rarely hits most locals, she innovatively “cut 10 of the scales that matched her own fingers and applied them to her hands– and went to work the next day.

“Most women in Rockford stay home when their nails need a makeover,” said Greta. Little did she know of the “revolution” she was starting.

“The next day at work,” says Greta, “I was mobbed by all the customers at my local shop and all of them wanted snake skin nails. So I returned home that night with my friend Karen and we cut out about 10 sets of ‘Scalenails’ to bring to work the next day. Conveniently– and by the luckiest of stars– one of that following day’s customers took her new nails on a trip to Manhattan and the rest is becoming, well… history!”

Her customer, Felicia , who could not be contacted, has a cousin who is a fashion editor at a local New York Paper. One look at those Scalenails and they flew Greta out to Manhattan with a few hundred samples and now there is no turning back. Greta says that she has been “swamped with orders.” The only problem is sourcing the molted snake skin. During our interview, Greta was packing her bags for a trip to Florida to deal with some large snake wranglers down there. “The snake guy thought I was crazy when I called him initially. He later talked to his wife, and she called me back– and also wanted me to bring my nail kit ’cause she wanted a set of Scalenails, too!”

Greta will be returning to Rockford and plans to open a nail salon called, “The Garden of Eden Nails,” with the money she has made off of these initial sales from people in other states who have money.