Hi Goddesses
I am really pleased to hear you've been enjoying this feature. I do like to ramble lol and enjoy my writing posts.
The last 2 weeks have been pretty low key. I am on gardening leave from work and job hunting, so part of my time each day has been spent doing that. When I've not been doing that .... I've felt guilty for doing my nails. As if there are a million more important things I should be doing instead. Oh AND it's been hard to not buy things ... gggrrrrr.
When I HAVE been doing my nails, I have been OBSESSED with pastels. I am just aching for them in a way I never have before. I used to hate "pukey pastels" but this year, they seem to signify Spring and renewal and hope, and all the things I am hoping the next few months will bring in my personal life.
I put all my favourite pastels in a separate box. I find this is a great way to be inspired by polishes - just seeing them all lined up together sparks loads of pattern ideas in my head. No buy notwithstanding, I did pick a few bargains up at The Factory Shop and used some paypal pennies to buy these Jessica beauties.
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A good friend has been obsessed with Jessica for ages, and I was "yeh yeh", but then I saw these in my favourite eBay shop and just couldn't walk away. My head is spinning with pattern combos lol, so expect pastels on the blog til about .... oooh May.
The last Crumpet's Journal post was all about the Digit-al Dozen, and our next challenge kicks off on Monday. I am WAY ahead of the curve this time, and everything will be scheduled by the time you read this. I even have all of March's DD manis done too. Now I have to say, that's a really unusual state of affairs - I usually do my DD manis from about 10 days out - but polishes I've swatched and bases I've done and stamping plates I wanted to try have just really lined up with the themes - so yay, go me!
I've been working on getting the vault super empty again. It WAS mostly empty, but if there's anything that's going to linger in there, it's swatches. Not review swatches, just swatches I've done of my own purchases. I know you want to see them, so I swatch them, but then it takes a real effort to get them on the blog lol.
Last week was pretty much Review Week on the blog, with a lot of stuff I'd received before Christmas finally making its way on to the blog. Mixed in there was a product I wasn't totally in love with, and which I felt had some flaws. I felt I offered a constructive rather than critical review, and gave the maker the heads up, and even offered her the chance to reply in the comments of the blog post if she wanted to.
What I got instead was one of the rudest replies I've EVER received. Here's a little snippet -
No I do not find the review to be constructive, nor do I find it honest especially since you claim you provide an honest review!
Well let me tell you that an honest review is not writing your opinion after failing horribly using a product .. instructions at the back of the product, which you did not even bother to read ..
When everyone else is getting it right (and I mean everyone) and you’re not………!
We of course take back our offer to run and sponsor a giveaway on your blog, nothing to do with your followers but you cannot give away a product you just claim not to like!
To say my breath was taken away was an understatement. Although I was impressed by her psychic abilities (claiming I had not read the instructions, when I had), I just don't get what is to be gained by such an attacking response. In all the reviews I've done over the years, this is only the 2nd time a maker has disagreed with me in this manner. Of course people are going to have differences of opinion, but to me, that was not the way to handle it.
So, why share this story with you? Well I am aware a lot of readers criticise bloggers for not being honest, and as a blogger who has been and will always be honest, I just wanted to show you what the rest of the argument looks like. Some makers may ask you for a review, when actually all they want is a fawning piece. Now, that should not influence the blogger at all, but I can understand how some people may not want to be on the receiving end of the sort of email I received.
As I say, it's only the 2nd time it's ever happened. The first was about 2 years ago, from an indie maker I was warned not to work with. I stated that her polish reminded me of another one, and she bombarded me with photos asking me if "THIS" was "really" what I meant (implying my eyes were dysfunctional lol). So, hats off to all the makers out there who can accept non-glowing reviews with the good spirit with which they're intended, and who are happy to continue working with honest bloggers.
So, that's been my fortnight ... how was yours?
