Hey everyone! Today we have another Indie Spotlight featuring Sparkles by Julie! But before we get to that I just want to let you guys know that I have A LOT to do in the next 2 weeks. I have to finish packing and move and try to get settled in my new place. Please bear with me! I will try to have a few guest posts up for you guys and post when I can. If you are interested in possibly guest posting for me, please email me at
diy.polish@gmail.com Thank you!
Now on to the good stuff!
Sparkles by Julie - mostly glitters and fun colored nail polishes inspired by everyday objects, the beauty of nature, life, our universe, mixed with a little bit of my craziness =)
What is the name of your polish and where can it be found?
The name is Sparkle by Julie and it can be found:
Etsy Shop:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/sparklesbyjulie
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Sp4rklingNails
Blog:
http://sp4rklingnails.blogspot.com/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/SparklesbyJulie
How long have you been making polish?
I started making polish for fun last May (2011), I started selling my own creations late March this year (2012).
What made you originally start making polish?
It all started with an extremely sheer gold nail polish that I bought. I had to put on four layers to make it opaque! So I decided to buy another gold nail polish to replace it, but couldn't bring myself to throw it away. That's when I found out about Frankening, so I bought a cheap red nail polish, mixed it with the sheer gold, and I was hooked. Here's the blog post with pictures;
http://sp4rklingnails.blogspot.com/2011/05/my-first-successful-frankenpolish.html.
After a while though, mixing ready made colors wasn't enough so I started sourcing pigments, micas and glitters and spent most of last summer experimenting for fun. I also started making colors that I wanted but could not find, or if I bought a polish that looked good on pictures but bleh on the nails I would make a "better" version myself (at least what I considered better). An example is my "version" of Teenage Dream;
http://sp4rklingnails.blogspot.com/2011/09/real-teenage-dream.html (This is not for sale btw, I have a similar color though called Nebula which is a red/orange tone with rough holographic glitters).
My boyfriend started saying that my creations looked way better than what I bought, and another friend of mine asked me why I was still buying nail polish when I could just create anything I wanted, so I started playing with the idea of expanding my little projects and started to think about names and collections, still just for fun. After a while I found that others were selling their creations, and I thought that would be a great way to finance further research and experiment! But still I thought it was a bit scary since the competition seemed so fierce, there are so many indie brands popping up! When I showed my boyfriend other indies he started nagging, and he didn't quit until I said, "OK, I will give it a go", and ordered supplies for a small batch. I think maybe he just wanted me to start a new hobby so he could play more video games!! LOL! Without the support and encouragement from my friends and my boyfriend I would never have the courage to start.
Where do you find inspiration?
I find inspiration in so many ways. The easiest way to explain it, I think, is that creation can happen in several ways. One way is when I think about a color, or a color combination and then start experimenting. Another way is that I will think of a name and then start to think about how that nail polish would look. Sometimes I will just put some glitters in my clear nail polish base, and then start adding stuff, where the polish almost creates it self. It's kinda like writing a song, you can start with the music, the lyrics, or the meaning behind it.
Also there are several things that inspire me, the Galaxy Collection is inspired by my inner geek and the Mauna Kea outpost on Big Island as well as beautiful pictures of, well, the Galaxy! Other polishes were inspired by my pet mice, I have four =D Lily Vanilli is a white Siamese mouse with a sassy attitude which inspired Water Lily. Coco Chanell is our feisty little brown baby mouse, which was the inspiration for Coco ;-) I also find inspiration in other polishes, or color trends in clothes or just accessories. I can spend hours clicking through Etsy checking out all kinds of handmade items and just be inspired by fun color combinations.
What has been your most popular polish to date?
According to my Etsy stats the most popular polish is Dots n' Stripes, followed by Lost in Space and Water Lily. These are the ones that get the most views and favorites. In sales these three are almost identical! Which might actually make Water Lily the winner as it was posted fairly recent.
Which of your creations are you most proud of?
I love all my polishes and each are created based on some kind of inspiration so I am proud of all my colors. I am mostly proud of just being able to actually sell my creations, and I love it when my customers will send me a text saying how much they love my polishes. But if I have to mention some; Lost in Space was the one that started me on the glitter craze, and this one looks absolutely gorgeous on tanned skin, so I think this is the one I am most proud of. For my fair skin though I really do love the look of Water Lily and Murky Waters. At the moment these two are my personal favorites. In the beginning Nebula and Out of This World were my favorites. I also really love to see swatches of Coco. A friend of mine was wearing Moon Dust for about a week, and people kept asking her about it, unfortunately its beauty doesn't transfer too well to pictures so it doesn't really sell. But I love it, so it will stay in my shop =) So basically, I just love all my polishes!!! =D
Describe your dream polish:
My dream polish is one that dries instantly, looks incredibly smooth, and lasts for weeks!! Hehehe! In the beginning I was considering making my own base from scratch to ensure that all the qualities I wanted were present. In the end though, this turned out to be very difficult and way out of my budget. And as well these qualities are likely incompatible with glitter nail polishes. For example if it would dry too fast the application would be dreadful! My dream color nail polish changes all the time, which keeps me experimenting =)
How long do you test a polish before you decide to release it?
Some of the pigments and glitters I am using have been tested for over a year since that was when I started experimenting. I also try to make nail polish that I would want to wear and test them out for drying time and durability. When I find a glitter or pigment that works well I tend to stick to the same brand or supplier to ensure that they will have more or less the same quality. I have found a lot of glitters that seemed good on paper but started to bleed after a few weeks, so I tend to keep these bottles around to remind myself not to use those glitters, but I can't bring myself to throwing them away! Hehe! So in short; if I have a new color of glitter but from the same brand and quality I will not test it too long, maybe a couple of days to a week, depending on the material of course. If I am trying out a new brand I will usually test it out for a few weeks at least.
A major company comes knocking on your door, what do you do? And what is your dream company to create for?
Oh I am pretty sure that wont happen! But if it did; I would probably ask them for some proof, or just laugh and ignore it cause I would think someone was trying to make fun of me... To be honest, I don't really know if I would want to create for a big company, though the resources would of course be great help. I think it would take away some of the fun, depending on of course how the collaboration would work. If I would be able to make something unique with just their backup in resources I might consider it. Right now I am happy with being tiny ;-)
Right now I actually have mostly indies myself, I have Lynnderella, Girly Bits, Aqua Daisy, Candy Lacquer, Pretty & Polished and Amy's Nail Boutique polishes. Often the major companies post the same or at least similar colors over and over again, and they often skimp out on the glitters it seems! I think the Indie world is so much more fun ;-D After the indies I do have mostly OPI's though since I really like their application, but again, they're a bit boring ;-P Also I do not like how major companies keep re-releasing different looks like it is something new, instead of actually creating something.
But that's just my 2 cents ;-)
