BSc.Eng · Founder, IKON.IQ · Aachen, Germany

Why IKON.IQ exists

Robert founded IKON.IQ in 2009, after several friends in the industry developed career-ending contact dermatitis from acrylic and gel products. The purpose was to build professional nail products that were both the safest and the best performing – not one at the expense of the other.

An engineer's habit

As an electronic engineer and computer scientist he had already built a successful international career solving complex problems: fifteen years in the UK, Sweden and the USA supplying high-technology measurement instruments, data analysis software and miniature industrial computer systems.

Engineering, perhaps more than any other discipline, is reliant on measured fact. The safety of aeroplanes, medical instruments, household appliances – anything at all that uses mechanics or electronics – rests on measurement, verification and quality control. That is the habit Robert brought to nail products: measure it, document it, and let the evidence decide what goes in the bottle.

Salons, education and nail art

In 2006 he invested in a nail salon. Over the next few years he created salons in Stockholm, Kyiv and Aachen, and helped bring Russian nail art to Sweden and the UK. His academy taught on the Vicki Peters Nail Cruise in 2009 and was guest educator on the first Italian nail cruise in 2010. Classes in Orlando, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Long Island and Portland followed through 2010 and 2011, introducing Russian nail art and new nail shapes to an American audience. From 2006 to 2008 he also published ImagiNAILtion, the first international nail art magazine, and he has since written over 60 articles for the international trade press.

An education team across Sweden, Estonia, Ukraine, Russia and Moldova won more than 200 competition medals over the four years that followed, and their experience shaped the early formulations.

In 2015 Robert founded the first Facebook group giving fact-based advice on nail product allergies. He is an invited guest speaker at international events, and lives and works in Aachen, Germany.

Industry firsts

• 2011 – The EU's first hypoallergenic builder gel
• 2018 – The first one-coat colour hypoallergenic gel polish
• 2023 – The first hypoallergenic bottle builder gel

Books and courses

Robert is the author of Nail Chemistry and Nail Allergies, each published in a short Essentials edition and a full expert edition, in English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Italian. You will find them under Books in the menu. Each book has a companion online course, taught by Robert, at academy.ikoniqnails.com.