It was after what felt like 100 emails and calls that New Orleans-based LaPierre Cosmetics founder Brandi Blocker finally got a response from DreamWorks. Yes, that DreamWorks. The mom of three and entrepreneur behind the clean beauty brand had made it her goal to grow the company’s creativity in a major way. Blocker was sure that the next big move for her nail polish-focused company was a movie collaboration.

“I didn’t give up,” she says of her relentless courting of the animation studio under Universal Pictures. “I made my pitch in August of 2020 and that was it. My takeaway was that you always have to try. You never know what you can accomplish.”

Blocker is no stranger to facing challenges head on. She founded LaPierre in response to her mother Jaquelyn Marie LaPierre’s 2013 lung cancer diagnosis. Chermotherapy and its side effects made it impossible for LaPierre to enjoy the mani-pedi dates that had become staples for her and her daughter over the years. “It broke my heart that she couldn’t have that normalcy,” Blocker says.

A vegan, non-toxic nail polish formula was the answer, and Blocker was dedicated to not just bringing this product to other cancer patients, but to creating a legacy for her mother.

“My mom passed away before I launched the first collection,” says Blocker. “But the brand has really become her legacy, and that has been healing for me. It’s everything that she was: elegant and classy with a spark of New Orleans.”

And it’s that spark of New Orleans that made the Shrek franchise the ideal DreamWorks pairing for the LaPierre brand. As Blocker notes in the brand’s Instagram posts, “All good things are found in the swamp!”

The popular movie series is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its original film this year. And while nail polish inspired by characters such as Donkey and Lord Farquaad is pretty unorthodox, Blocker says it was the ideal opportunity to have some fun and give customers something unexpected but nostalgic.

“We wanted to embody the humor of the movie. The stuff that makes the movie still so popular after all of these years,” Blocker explains. “But we also wanted to make it relevant because Shrek‘s original fans are adults now.”

The result is a collection filled with vibrant shades like green (of course), pink and glitter that clearly reference the movie without coming across childish. They’re bright but wearable, eye catching but approachable.

“It was definitely a totally different process than we are used to,” Blocker says of the creative process. “We’re used to models but now we have an ogre!”

The full collection launched online on November 1, alongside plenty of behind-the-scenes content that gives customers a glimpse into every aspect of the collection’s creation.

“My goal is always to bring joy and a smile to our customers,” Blocker says. “I always want to be figuring out ways I can bring that to everyone.”

LaPierre Cosmetics is available online here, as well as in Macy’s and Reformation. For more information on the brand and to check out all of the nail polish shades, as well as a brand-new vegan red lipstick, visit lapierrecosmetics.com.