Case Study: Building a Real-Time Virtual Manicure Try-On App

 COSMO Group is a global cosmetics leader with a portfolio spanning over 2,500 products and a distribution network across 38 countries, including Poland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, South Africa, and more. Within its umbrella, NEONAIL is a standout brand known for its innovation in nail care and styling — offering over 400 shades of UV gel polish and a wide array of accessories. 

NEONAIL approached React Coder with a bold idea — to create Color Match NEONAIL, a virtual manicure app that lets users try on nail colors, shapes, and decorations in real-time with astonishing realism. Available on both the App Store and Google Play, the app also integrates directly with NEONAIL’s ecommerce platform, allowing users to seamlessly purchase the products they love.

The key challenge was to deliver a true-to-life, 3D augmented reality experience that would work smoothly across a variety of devices, platforms, and camera qualities.

NEONAIL had observed a critical trend: customers were far more likely to purchase nail products in-store, where they could confirm color accuracy and visual appeal. Online shopping lacked that tangible, visual feedback.

To overcome this barrier, NEONAIL aimed to:

• Recreate the in-store experience digitally
   
• Boost ecommerce conversion rates
   
• Attract and engage users from home
   
• Stay ahead in the competitive beauty tech space

• Build a cross-platform app for iOS and Android
   
• Create a natural and accurate AR-based try-on experience
   
• Ensure smooth integration with ecommerce
   
• Optimize for performance across various device types
   
• Deliver a flawless, intuitive UX to encourage usage and repeat visits

NEONAIL entrusted React Coder with end-to-end product ownership — from ideation to deployment. Our services included:

• Product & Technology Consulting
   
• UX Research & Product Design
   
• Machine Learning & AR Development
   
• iOS and Android App Development (React Native)
   
• Ecommerce Integration
   
• Project Management & Quality Assurance
   

Our multidisciplinary team comprised ML engineers, AR developers, C++ specialists, UX researchers, product designers, and QA testers — all orchestrated by an experienced project manager.

Creating a convincing virtual manicure experience involved tackling several complex issues:

• Ensuring realistic color rendering and seamless overlay on nails
   
• Adapting to low-quality cameras and variable lighting
   
• Supporting multiple devices and operating systems
   
• Recognizing and stabilizing nail shapes, directions, and boundaries
   
• Handling AR rendering performance while maintaining high FPS and low memory usage

We began with a PoC using public datasets to test complex nail design overlays and validate technical feasibility.

• Collected high-quality nail polish images under optimal lighting
   
• Captured videos from multiple devices with diverse hands and backgrounds
   
• Maintained versioned datasets for consistent ML training
   

We built a scalable annotation pipeline, established labeling teams, and implemented a quality review process for consistent model training.

• Trained machine learning models for fingernail segmentation and direction detection
   
• Used real-world data to ensure accuracy across noisy, real-life conditions
   

• Unified processing via a Common C++ engine to streamline image processing across iOS, Android, and Python
   
• Smoothed nail-skin boundaries for realism
   

• Enhanced FPS and reduced memory usage with model pruning, quantization, and C++ vision code optimization
   

• Stabilized nail detection and polish patterns
   
• Designed intuitive interactions to guide users through try-ons and purchases
  

We followed an Agile Scrum framework, conducting regular sprints, demos, and progress check-ins with NEONAIL. Our team actively:

• Conducted user testing and gathered feedback
   
• Translated ML progress into non-technical demos for better understanding
   
• Presented experimental results and welcomed iterative input
   
• Provided model documentation and training infrastructure
   

This agile, transparent approach fostered strong collaboration, continuous improvement, and quick decision-making.

The Color Match NEONAIL app was successfully launched, meeting all business and technical objectives:

• ✅ Realistic, 3D virtual try-on of nail colors and patterns
   
• ✅ Seamless UX with ecommerce integration
   
• ✅ Available across platforms and devices (iOS & Android)
   
• ✅ Increased user confidence and online sales
   
• ✅ A reusable AR foundation for future beauty-tech innovations
  

 “React Coder delivered a best-in-class solution that brought our virtual try-on vision to life. Their attention to detail, agile collaboration, and technical expertise made this a true partnership.”
— NEONAIL Product Team