This Week in Nails: What’s Hot & What’s Next — 12 October 2026
Pumpkin-spice colour, holographic lacquer and a new chapter for nail manufacturing
Edition: 12 October 2026 | News window: 5–11 October 2026
Warm colours and light-catching finishes lead this week’s edit, alongside a business announcement from a manufacturer behind familiar professional nail products. Here are three developments from the past seven days, with a distinction between seasonal inspiration, a brand announcement and confirmed industry news.
Pumpkin spice becomes a palette, not just an orange
Scratch’s 10 October feature brings together the cinnamon, caramel, copper and burnt-orange shades associated with “pumpkin spice” nails. Its examples span chrome, shimmer and velvet effects as well as softer colour blends. The interesting part is the range: the same autumn idea can look muted and cosy or much more reflective, depending on the finish.
This is a seasonal design roundup, rather than evidence that every featured colour is a new launch. For readers collecting ideas, it offers a useful way to think beyond a single orange shade: colour, texture and shine can each carry the autumn mood.
LIONYX announces a four-shade, light-catching collection
A brand announcement dated 9 October introduces LIONYX Lacquer’s Hollywood Never Dies collection. The four shades move from cherry-red Final Girl and grape-purple Road to Grapeness to Champagne Problems, described as champagne shimmer with an orange flash, and pearl-white Moon River with an icy-blue shimmer. The brand describes the red and purple as linear holographics.
These are air-dry lacquers, according to LIONYX, so the announcement is also interesting for readers following special-effect finishes beyond lamp-cured gel. The finish descriptions are the brand’s claims; we have not tested the products.
The announcement is US-based. A UK stockist or UK launch date has not been confirmed in the sources checked, so this is a collection to follow rather than a claim of local availability.
A new name and leadership behind a professional nail manufacturer
On 7 October, McConnell Labs announced its rebrand as Modern Chemistry Labs following its acquisition by Impact Equity Partners. The manufacturer behind Light Elegance also named Elizabeth Morris as chief executive and announced the acquisition of her ATTAIN Cosmetics brand. Its manufacturing base remains in Redmond, Oregon.
Why does a company change belong in a nail-news roundup? Manufacturers help turn colour and formula ideas into the products that eventually reach beauty brands and salons. The company says its next phase will serve growing and mid-sized brands across nail and skincare development.
That gives us a development to watch, but it is not a specific new UK product announcement. The confirmed news is the ownership, leadership and brand change; what reaches shelves next remains to be seen.
What we’ll watch next
The next useful updates will be confirmed stockist information for the new collection and concrete product announcements from the manufacturing story. In the meantime, autumn’s mix of warm colour and reflective finishes offers plenty of visual interest without needing to declare a single look the winner.
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