A robot is now painting nails inside an Ulta Beauty store in Union County, and it's doing the job in well under an hour for $25 flat, with no tip expected. The machine, installed at Ulta Beauty at Clark Commons at 1255 Raritan Road in Clark, is billed as the world's first full-service robotic manicure system, handling everything from polish removal to top coat in a single automated session.
The system, called 10Beauty, was detailed in a report from NJ.com, which described a five-step process that automates nail shaping, cuticle care, color application, top coat, and drying. According to the salon, the machine relies on computer vision and precision robotics to complete the full manicure in 30 to 40 minutes, using proprietary single-use polish pods for color application. For customers used to tipping their nail technician, the automated service comes with no tipping at all.
Seven Years of Trial and Error Behind the Machine
Getting a robot arm to handle something as finicky as a manicure wasn't quick. Alex Shashou, co-founder and co-CEO of 10Beauty, has said the system required seven years of research and development before reaching retail floors like the one in Clark. The first prototype, developed in Boston, reportedly took over an hour to complete a single manicure — the company says it has since cut that prototype time roughly in half.
The engineering behind that speedup traces back to a 50-person team of robotics engineers that worked on the system. CTO Chris Casey spent 13 years at iRobot working on the original team that invented the Roomba vacuum, according to PR Newswire. Inside the machine box, seven precision cameras create a 3D map of each nail, per a report from WBZ NewsRadio. The full manicure can be performed without human intervention, the report says.
No Blades, and a Fresh Pod for Every Guest
Safety and hygiene are built into the hardware itself. The machine uses filing that does not involve blades, according to Notebookcheck. Each manicure also draws from a single-use pod holding removal sponges and a non-toxic, 16-free vegan polish formula made in the U.S.; Prospyr reports the setup is designed to prevent cross-contamination between customers.
Even with all that automation, a human presence hasn't disappeared from the salon floor. During initial retail rollouts, technicians can assist customers; customers can customize their manicure through an app, and handrests are sanitized between uses, the same Prospyr report notes. The setup positions the robot as an added amenity rather than a wholesale replacement for the technicians working nearby.
Strong Early Bookings and Backing From Beauty-World Names
Shashou has said the Clark location has seen strong early bookings, and early customers have given the service positive reviews, with guests describing it as calm, gentle, and unlike anything they had tried before, per NJ.com's reporting. That early traction comes as 10Beauty scales up a much larger push: the company has raised more than $70 million, with backers including Shine Capital, Imaginary Ventures, and celebrities Karlie Kloss, Victoria Beckham, and Bethenny Frankel.
That capital is fueling a national retail expansion well beyond Clark. 10Beauty has secured pre-sale deployment agreements for roughly 850 to 1,000 machines across partners including Ulta Beauty and Nordstrom, plus fitness centers, hair salons, and hotel venues nationwide, Business Wire reports. The company also brings in recurring revenue through subscriptions for its single-use manicure pods.
Consolidating a Young Industry
Consolidating a Young Industry
Shashou and co-founder Justin Effron aren't newcomers to building tech-driven service platforms. Before launching 10Beauty in 2019, the pair built ALICE, a B2B hotel management software platform that Expedia Group acquired for $130 million, according to WWD. That track record of scaling a service platform through software appears to be informing how the pair is now approaching robotics in retail settings.
