J. Hannah’s New Nail Polish Finds the Perfect Partner

Compost, the brand’s newest shade, has inspired a limited-edition bagel at L.A.’s cult-favorite shop, Courage.

J. Hannah’s New Nail Polish Finds the Perfect Partner

For most designers, a color heralded by market researchers as “the ugliest in the world” would not stimulate creativity, but Jess Hannah Révész isn’t most designers. In Pantone 448 C, a muddy, greenish dark brown hue, the founder of J.Hannah, a Los Angeles-based fine jewelry and nail polish brand, saw nuance and beauty that reminded her of ’90s Prada and Jil Sander pieces. “I am always thinking about color and I've learned that it's mostly context—i.e. texture, gloss, light, and other peripheral elements that inform the shade,” she says. She embraced the jolie laide palette of 448 C, reimagining it as a nail polish and naming it Compost after “something that’s technically super gross, but is actually a beautiful, transformative process.”

J.Hannah prioritizes unexpected brand collaborations: for a recent capsule collection, they worked with The Metropolitan Museum of Art on a set of mini polishes inspired by the “About Time” exhibition. Celebrating the launch of Compost, which came out August 4th, was an opportunity to explore the avant-garde. So, Révész contacted L.A.’s Courage Bagels, whose oblong, crusty creations have become an oft-sold-out cult favorite (and were included in the controversial New York Times article lauding West Coast bagels over those from the East Coast). As the daughter of a Montrealian, Révész is a devotée of Courage, which wood-fires their bagels in the Montreal style. The shop’s owners, Arielle Skye and Chris Moss, were immediately on board. “Before I could even finish reading the email from J. Hannah, Chris saw the color swatch and said ‘That’s the color of our caviar!’” recalls Skye. The green paddlefish caviar in question is sourced sustainably in partnership with the Oklahoma Department of Conservation. Using the savory, briny specialty item, says Révész, felt perfectly synergistic with the polish: “The caviar entered the picture as one of those quintessential nasty-fancy foods, and everything fell into place from there.”

Compost and caviar.

Photo: Jonathan Raissi / Courtesy of J. Hannah

Between August 19th and September 2nd, Courage will feature a limited-edition Compost bagel: crème fraîche, dill, red onion, and paddlefish caviar atop an everything base. The shop will also sell J.Hannah’s polish for those who want to bundle their bagel with a bit of unconventional beauty. 20% of proceeds from each order will be donated to the East Hollywood Community Garden, which is preparing to become a composting hub in the neighborhood. What began as a design challenge has come full circle.