Swatches I Promised

Here are the final swatches for Pop Tart, Elphaba and Galinda.

Please see my previous post.  I'm taking orders through email right because of what I have explained there!

Pop Tart: For these swatches, I have the first version on my index finger in three coats, the new version on my middle finger in three coats, the first again on my ring finger in two coats over a white cream, and finally the new version on my pinky in two coats over a white cream.  There isn't much difference between them, but the glitter is completely different.  The only change I had to make colorwise was replacing the more pink-fuchsia hexagons with a lighter purple that is also slightly holographic.  I have bottles of both versions at this time.

Elphaba: For these swatches, I have three coats on my index, middle and ring fingers and one coat for comparison on my pinky to show opacity.   My camera couldn't pick it up very well on the nail this time, but the gold hexagons are holographic.  You can see a little of this in the bottle I'm holding.

Galinda: For these photos, I have three coats of Galinda on my index and middle fingers.  On my ring finger is two coats over a pink cream and on my pinky is two coats over a white cream.  My camera couldn't pick it up on the nail this time, but the purple is holographic.  You can see a little of this in the bottle I'm holding.

Thanks for checking these out!

All My Best Laid Plans...

I'm just going to get the news out of the way and explain after: I will not be opening my Etsy store this week.  Any plans for that are on indefinite hold, but I'm not hopeful for it in the least.

If you're a frankener yourself or you've ever been interested in it as a hobby, you probably have heard of TKB Trading and their magical suspension bases.  They're pretty much the main ingredient in all my frankens because I'm not a chemist and I don't cook it up myself.

The bases used to be sold in pints, which I ordered to get started and received half of what I intended to have to fill any orders on Wednesday.  TKB recently announced, however, that they are no longer selling their bases in bulk publicly because the demand from their private customers is too great to supply everyone.  I emailed them about my second order, which hasn't been filled, asking whether it would be filled or if it would be cancelled.  They responded promptly, saying that they would fill it, but eventually.  I'm taking some time to decide whether I just want to wait, however long it takes, since it is likely the last base I can get my hands on, or whether I want to cancel it because I'm so disappointed.

So where, exactly does this leave everything?

First of all, I am so sorry for making promises to anyone.  I'm ultimately responsible for how I chose to handle things and to say that I would be selling my products when this sort of thing could happen.  In my head, this was one of the reasons why I shouldn't have tried to start this business.  When I was debating turning my hobby into a business, I asked myself: "What if your suppliers discontinue a product?  You'll be limited by them."  So I apologize to anyone who might have been interested in my polishes.

Secondly, I do have premixed bottles of polish in anything from 4-8 bottles of any given shade that I've showed you that I would like to move, to get them out of my hands.  I would like to sell them and try to recoup some of my investment, because as it is, I'm in the hole with my husband now, not that he is at all worried about that.  It's more something that I'm worried about and I may be finally having a blog sale soon from my stash as well.

Pop Tart, Galinda and Elphaba do not have final swatches done and posted.  That was originally what today's post was going to be about, so after this, I am going to force myself to go edit those pictures.  There were a few minor tweaks to the glitter blends in each shade, but essentially the colors in each are the same.


Here are the final swatches.

If you wanted to buy a bottle of any of my opening shades, please send me an email at thebroadstroke@att.net with the shades you wish to purchase.  I'll fill any orders I can until Friday, March 16th, when I will ship them all out.  If I run out, I'll post again and let everyone know.

Bottles will be $6.50 with shipping at $3 for the first and $1 for each additional bottle.  Please include your Paypal email, as it is the only way I will accept payment.  I'm still only shipping to the US for now.

Thirdly, aside from trying to figure all this out, I'm going to take a break from my other nail blogging.  I need some time to myself to figure things out and I feel like all my energy and excitement has been stripped away by this stupid mistake.

Thank you for reading and hopefully understanding.

Face Off! Julep Portia Vs. Warpaint Glow Turq: FIGHT.

I typed in my title and realized that I was having one of those, "Oops, I forgot to eat..." days, but I've decided to leave it because even after eating, it amuses me.  I've been cleaning the house today and running errands because we're having friends over to our cozy abode this weekend and I have nail polish EVERYWHERE.  What else is new?

In any case, today I have a comparison post for you.

When I got my March Julep box, I did a post about one of their other new shades, another glitter top coat.  I ultimately picked Sofia because it was green and I can't resist green, but after she betrayed me, I really wished that I had picked the box with Portia.  Portia is a light blue jelly with iridescent rainbow glitter, which makes her the pretty one.

Lucky enough for me, Julep had a Twitter promo where you could get 50% on all polish orders last Friday and since I #TwitterStalk anyone for deals and promos, I ordered Portia.  However, over the weekend, I was at the mall and my husband wandered into Hot Topic again, looking for band shirts and nerdy shirts, giving me time to go shop their nail polish.  I quickly found a sale, Warpaint Beauty products all on sale for $1.99.  I picked up Glow Turq and another neon shade (I needed it!).  I'm really surprised I didn't take the whole display with me...

In these pictures, I am wearing one coat of Portia on my index and ring fingers and Glow Turq on my middle and pinky fingers, over China Glaze Smoke and Ashes.  I probably should have grabbed my plain black, but I didn't.  Oops...

I bought Glow Turq specifically so I could compare it to Portia.  When I got them side by side, I could immediately tell that they had different sized, same colored glitter in a similar base.  And Portia was still prettier.  Actually, waaaaaay prettier.  

The difference on the nail is less noticeable, but because Glow Turq has finer glitter, my camera hated it and would not focus on it.  Portia is still prettier.

When I was playing with Glow Turq, waiting for Prettier-Than-You Portia in the mail, I grabbed Sofia and by chance found out that Sofia glows in the dark.  I couldn't get Portia to glow though, so I think she is inferior to her sister in that respect, but still prettier.  I tried over black and over white, just in case.  In this picture, I have Portia on my middle, ring and pinky fingers and Glow Turq on my index, just for a glow test.  That's also why the white layer is awful.  I was testing another bottle of white and it was...well, I am going to gift it to someone I hate.

In any case, you can see it a little better here, how Portia's glitter is more varied in size and prettier.  Because she's the pretty one.  

But what's the final verdict?  Do I need them both?

Well, no.  And I do like Portia more in this case.  I'm hardly ever in a situation where glow in the dark nail polish is noticed let alone desired for that simple trick, and that is the only thing Glow Turq has on Portia.  Well, that and being more budget conscious.  It was fair cheaper to buy Warpaint than Julep, especially considering the size of the bottles and the fact that I have never seen Warpaint not on sale.  (Last time, it was buy one, get one!)

But Portia is still prettier.

Lacquer Convention: Store Announcement!

Yesterday I was going to show you the last of my launch polishes, Buying Time.  When I went to reswatch it for photos, a lot of it had settle out, much worse than I anticipated.  Custom blended polishes almost always have a little settling over time, but it shouldn't have been this bad.  In any case, I'm pulling this polish for now so I have more time to observe it and fix its problems.

However, there is some good news!  I received all the materials to start bottling Galinda and Elphaba, thus, Buying Time will be replaced with not one, but two polishes.

With this finalization, I'm going to open my shop on Wednesday, March 14th and see how things go!

This is the line up of polishes, which will be sold in full size, 0.5 oz (15mL) bottles for the introductory price of $6.50 USD.  I'm only shipping to the US for now, with intentions to expand in the future, if things go well.

Galinda
Elphaba
Observatory
Much Ado About Blue
Hooker With A Heart Of
Red Light District
Streetwalker
Pop Tart

This will be the first batch, which is approximately three bottles of each shade.  If something sells out right away, I'll restock a couple more bottles.

I'm going to stock extra bottles of Pop Tart, as well as post swatches with the new glitter soon.  Galinda and Elphaba will be getting swatches updated too, so stay tuned!

China Glaze: More Hunger Games Collection Swatches!

I know you've been getting a flood of swatches from my own franken polish line, but I have also had a little time to go out and find a few more polishes from this collection.  It was honestly one that I was super excited about.  I went to Sally's and found Riveting and Fast Track, but they didn't have Smoke and Ashes, which was what was omitted from my order when it shipped.  By accident, however, I ended up at the mall, debating whether or not to buy it from Hot Topic for a couple extra bucks or if I should go find another Sally's.  Well, since another Sally's is a little out of the way...I bought it.  I don't intend to buy any of the other colors so I think it was all in all a successful haul.

The first one is Riveting, a bright orangey-red with a beautiful shimmer to it.  

I really liked this one in swatches online, though I wasn't crazy about it when I swatched it myself.  It's very pretty, but it's not speaking to me.  It could be because its formula was once again iffy.  I've read quite a few comments talking about how inconsistent the formula in this collection is.  Normally, China Glaze doesn't disappoint me in this area.  However, these polishes vary not only from color to color but bottle to bottle quite a bit.  This one was too runny for me, but not the worst.  These pictures show three coats, which still had a tiny bit of nail line showing.

Maybe I will warm up to it one day and wear it, because it is pretty.  Just not spectacular.  

Smokes And Ashes is another source of disappointment for me.  It's a black base with green-blue shimmer.  My camera definitely made it appear less interesting than it already is.  I mean, yes, it's pretty and a nice polish, but it still isn't speaking to me!

And this is the one that I looked for first and was sorely disappointed by not getting in my original order.  I'm just not feeling it on.  It had a far superior formula to the others, save Stone Cold.  These pictures show two coats, though it could have been a one coater.  It might be a fault of mine right now, that I don't feel like these colors.  I want to wear lighter and girlier things lately...

I will need to revisit Smoke and Ashes when I am in more of a mood for black.

I ended up wearing this last polish, Fast Track, as my full mani...and I am about to take it off again.  Ugh, more disappointment here.  This is a polish that I accidentally fell in love with, but unfortunately it doesn't love me back.  It won't dry.  After top coat and five hours, it is still squishy and dent-able, which I don't get with Orly Sec 'n Dry.  Insert biggest frowny face you can imagine here.

I really think Fast Track is beautiful, which is high praise from a girl who isn't all about neutrals.  Like I said, I have been feeling girlier lately and I actually wanted something more subtle that still had a little kick to it.  That's how I fell for this little liar.  Dry, darn you!  Why won't you dry!?

These pictures show three coats with top coat, but it was almost as shiny without it.  The formula frankly sucked, but I put up with it, only to be disappointed.  I wish I could love you, Fast Track, the way other people love you, but you and I aren't working out.  

So there you have it for my Hunger Games reviews.  I wish this second post wasn't full of disappointment, but I'm significantly less thrilled with them.  

I'm reswatching my last polish from Lacquer Convention to show you.  I looked back at the photos I had and they're pretty horrid, so it will be up later today on the blog  =)

Thanks for reading!

Lacquer Convention: For Good Duo

On the Facebook machine, I post a lot of franken pictures for my friends and family to see and this is a result of one of them. I posted the first polish, Elphaba, with another franken I did and loved and my BFF suggested that I name it Wicked and do a collection based on the book/musical.  I considered it, but after some thought, I decided it was a good idea, but I didn't want to do a whole collection.  I did get to talking about doing the second polish and I knew that I was at least going to mix something with that in mind.  So here I am, showing you my two Wicked polishes: For Good Duo.

Bottle shots!  They're in the test bottle stage right now, so I do anticipate some tweaking with glitter and formula!

This is Elphaba, a black jelly packed with fine mixed green and gold glitter and large holographic gold hexagons.  I have to get my micro glitter options out and fiddle around with them before I make a final call on how I want this to look, but this is a good prototype!

Galinda is a bubblegum pink jelly packed with fine pink glitter and larger periwinkle and holographic purple glitter.  It's really sheer at this point and my nails are yellowed from constantly wearing polish, so I layered it over Barielle's Sailors Delight for this manicure.  I'm probably going to shoot for something a tad more opaque, but I still want to keep it relatively sheer so it won't change too much!

I wanted to name them Wicked and Popular originally, but I didn't want any confusion with Revlon's re-release of Starry Pink as Popular, so I fell back on these names.  I'll be showing you more swatches soon, I'm sure.  I wore Galinda as my manicure over the weekend and it wore fantastically well for almost four days.  I'm so so glad that I found a top coat that wears like armor for me!

Anyway, back to the point!  I'm projecting that these polishes might make the initial line launch, but I can't say for sure.  They might be available a little while after.  I'm waiting on materials again to produce more of them and finish the formula!

Thanks for reading!

Lacquer Convention: Streetwalker

Today's polish is the third and final working girl polish, Streetwalker.

Streetwalker is a silver base crammed with fine holographic glitter and silver hexagons of various sizes.  She's like sparkly sidewalks!  This is three coats.

I tried to blur this picture a little to show the holographic sparkles but I think I failed more than succeeded and I will probably reswatch this one along with Red Light District.

Thanks for reading!

Tomorrow: The final launch color, Buying Time!