10/04/2026
WHAT IF SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS NAIL POLISH COULD HELP SOMEONE FEEL A LITTLE SAFER?
In 2014, four students at North Carolina State University came up with an unusual idea: nail polish that could potentially detect certain drugs commonly associated with drink spiking.
The product, called Undercover Colors, was designed to change color when exposed to substances including Rohypnol, Xanax, and GHB. The idea was simple: a woman could discreetly test her drink by stirring it with a painted fingernail.
The team behind it, Stephen Gray, Ankesh Madan, Tasso Von Windheim, and Tyler Confrey-Maloney, said they were motivated by knowing people who had experienced sexual assault. Their goal was to create a tool that could help people identify a potentially dangerous drink and, more broadly, make would-be perpetrators think twice.
The invention won a university entrepreneurship competition and attracted a $100,000 investment, while also sparking a much larger conversation about drink spiking and personal safety.
It was an inventive idea, but it also raised an important question: how can technology help protect people without placing the responsibility for preventing assault on potential victims?
