Review of the Year 2014 - The Sad Sad Tale of Quirk

Hi Goddesses

Today's post is a sad one, and a story which has touched me personally this year, as it centres on one of my closest DD pals, Kerrie from Pish Posh and Polish.


For as long as I have, Kerrie has run a blog.  As a guitarist, she has short nails, and has endured endless trolling for not having pretty claws like other bloggers.  Despite it being upsetting, Kerrie has handled it like a pro, and I salute her response to such bullying.



Last year, she finally did the thing she'd wanted to do for ages, and launched her own indie brand - Quirk (which I named).   It was the first UK indie which for me had the same creative and qualitative aspects as the best of the US indies, and I supported her however I could.


Unfortunately, life is full of bitter people, and someone who had a personal agenda against Kerrie reported her polishes to the Trading Standards people.  Unlike in the USA, in Europe, each polish has to be tested and proven safe before it can be sold - not possible when the certificate costs £200 per polish you create.


So this person reported Kerrie, and as a result Kerrie lost her business, her future and her passion.  Other UK indies closed shop too, out of fear.  I have a few other thoughts - but let's hear Kerrie's story first.

****************************

I had always wanted to start my own Indie polish line. I like to analyse  things (which probably stemmed from my Degree in English Literature)  and love polish that represented things. I always wanted to create a line that was inspired by my favourite things, where every single glitter had a particular representation and a real reason for being there. 

I had been making my own polish for a long time before the first Indie Polish brands launched in the UK. As soon as I saw polish base (which due to restrictions in the UK had always previously been hard to buy in bulk) was now available in the UK I jumped at the chance to make my dreams a reality.



Two years ago I had come out of University with a degree but was unable to find work so for me making polish was always a business and not just a hobby. This meant I became extremely stringent with testing and the professionalism of my brand.

In October 2013 I launched my first four polishes after 6 months of testing (and countless more of other tests and research).



The Indie Polish scene in the UK was sparse when I started but I already wanted to create a high calibre product.  By the Christmas of that year (three months) I had been voted as having released two of the best polishes in the UK indie Awards (for Peace is Free and Fantine) and was overall awarded second place for best brand. For only being open three months this made me incredibly proud! 

I only had a small capital when I started Quirk so was unable to create large amount of polish however I always sold out very fast which I hope meant my polishes very quite popular.



The UK indie scene flourished quickly, I helped admin a group of UK polish makers and really supported other makers. I held lots of giveaways that encouraged the makers to take part and expand their following (like my Support small business giveaway and the Digit-al Dozen Giveaway). In all everyone was quite supportive of each other.

After having moderate success with Quirk I took the big step to put Quirk on hiatus. As I said before Quirk was my business, I was now self employed. Due the quality of my ingredients and the time that went into creating a high quality product I was actually selling at a small loss. Therefore I took the big step to sell most of my personal polish / makeup stash to triple my initial investment into Quirk.

I bought all my ingredients and started production again.  One day in June just before I started mixing polish I logged onto my laptop as normal (to check for Custom orders) and I found a message from Trading Standards saying that my handmade polish did not meet EU regulations, because they were not tested in a lab, and I must stop production immediately.



So I had to stop, to this day I still have many bottles of stock I cannot sell. Hundreds of pounds of supplies I haven't been able to sell and loads of bottles of glitter / pigments / polish in different phases of testing.

A few other Indie polish makers in the UK shared my concerns over this and decided to stop selling although many continued after me at their own risk.



No one else has been contacted by Trading Standards either before or after me.  This includes UK indies that have sold vastly more bottles of polish in my 8 months of selling, EU based Indie makers and  UK/ EU stockists of Indie polish.

I have been in constant communication with Trading Standards since then as I am working on the legalities of selling my product and the logistics of getting the appropriate tests done.  My base is tested and passes EU regulations and so does my glitter but when mixed together they need to be re-tested in a lab, something that I will never be able to afford.




At the time of my original blog post I thought I had been unlucky that I had been found out, however since then Trading Standards have VERIFIED that they recieved a notice from a 'member of the public' asking if my product was in a legal position to be sold. The only person that would know this would be a member of the polish community.

***************************

I really urge you to read Kerrie's own blog post.  I've been with her every step of the way on this journey, and it leaves a really unpleasant taste in my mouth.  Either someone was jealous of her success, or they did it to be mean.


The only people buying Quirk were nail polish lovers in the nail polish community.  It wasn't big enough to be bought by the general public.   Additionally, the tone of the letter of complaint to the Trading Standards is not one of a concerned, uneducated customer; it reeks of set-up.


So why tell this story?  Well for one, it's changed Kerrie's life, and not in a good way.  Secondly, it's robbed her of her love of blogging, and her desire to be creative.  But it's also a cautionary tale of bullying, and how this community, despite being generally awesome, has some dark little corners.


Kerrie and I both know who did this.  Unfortunately we'll never be able to prove it, and I think it's a very sad reflection that we live in a world where so much can be lost just by one person's mean streak.


This story has defined Kerrie's year, and changed the UK indie scene.  Hopefully, that gave someone a lot of pleasure.

Drool Britannia - ALL The UK Indies

Hi Goddesses

For a long, long time, being an indie maker was a no-go if you lived in the UK.  The price of materials was prohibitive, and my dreams of being the next Nikole / Dolly / Amanda had to go on hold.


Recently though, there has been an utter EXPLOSION of UK indies, and I wanted to take a moment to celebrate the ladies who are changing the UK polish world.    This may not be all of them - there's a new talented lady popping up every week lol - but this should give you a good overview of who and what is out there.  Each lady has been hyperlinked to her Facebook page.  In no particular order -


Quirk - Kerrie

I started Quirk to embrace my love of polish and pop culture. My polishes are all inspired by things that I really admire, be it Books, Music ,TV, Movies or even just a quote that has stuck in my head. I wanted to create a  brand of polish that embraces the Quirky side of life yet still remains of the highest quality. I have always been a really creative person and starting my own brand was the next step for me.  

My first collection is called “Blame It On The Boom Boom” and is inspired by an American rock band called Black Stone Cherry. There is a polish called “Peace Is Free” within that collection which is proving to be a big hit with the fans. Honestly I can’t pick one polish above the others as my all time favourite though, maybe once a few more collections have come out I could choose! 

My plans for the future are to keep expanding and strengthening my brand. I have lots of fun collections planned for the future as well as a hand and nail care line. I also have some other exciting things in the works but it would ruin the fun of it if I told you it all straight away wouldn’t it? 

You can check out my review of Quirk polishes HERE.


Nail Lacquer UK - AJ



 I never actually started the brand... it just pretty much grew from my love towards nail polish, nail art and the constant need to do something new and exciting and to share it all with others. I still see myself more as a blogger than indie polish maker, it was initially meant to be just a small part of my blog where readers can buy my polishes but somehow it grew fast and within 2 short months I have sold over 100 polishes. Getting good reviews have been extremely encouraging and the negative feedback have been helpful to grow as a polish maker. 

 Most of my best selling polishes have circle glitter in, I think it is "in" these days hence the popularity... Also, people tend to love the cute charms I add to my polishes. Some of the charms are handmade by me (the small cake slices for example). I see more circle glitter polishes coming in the next few months and with the Christmas approaching fast there will be lots of red, green and golden polishes available in my shop. I also have a soft spot for pastels so that is something you'll be spoiled with. 

My plan is to offer unique and one of a kind nail polishes with adorable charms and great customer service for as long as there are people who love and support hand made nail polish.

Pocket Money Polishes - Charlie

I started the brand after a lot of encouragement from a friend (and indie maker) when I really wanted to make my own glitter topper. It grew from a 4 bottle collection into a new collection every month, singles and greatest hits – my theme has become music with every polish being named after and inspired by a song. 

My favourite polish… well… not really a favourite but the very first one would be Starry Starry Night but my best-selling polish is I Want Candy closely followed by Ice Ice Baby (as seen in nail art by SoYouBeauty) 

Keep making different toppers, maybe expand into colours. As long as it’s fun and my customers are happy then I intend to keep going. Always lots of new glitters out there and many many combos to explore. We will be having another US pop up store after the success of our way in September.

Magic Goose - Emma

Having blogged about nails since 2011 it felt to me like the High Street nail polishes just weren't exciting me any more. As soon as a trend comes along every brand will follow suit. Whereas with handmade polishes there is a lot more individuality; a bit of something for everyone. It's long been a dream of mine to create my own polish, and when I finally realised that I too could do it, I didn't waste any time in creating Magic Goose!

My best-selling polish so far is Electra, a glitter topcoat with purple and holo lilac hexes and turquoise holo stars. It's also my personal favourite, it makes me think of fireworks :) 

Hairy Legs London - Sanita

I started the brand because I have always been into vintage polishes, especially vintage glitters! I still am, but I think it's nice to be able to replicate some of those HTFs or create something that looks as cool as one of those oldies. Which brings me to the second point - I love to create and play with colours. I get inspired by the most random things (trolls, trainers, songs and all sorts of odd bits), and after that I try to translate them into nail polish! :)



Best selling definitely is Tainted Love, and I don't have a favourite per se. I do have to say I'm quite proud of Rainbow Troll because it really does look like its hair!!!


Future plans - Total world domination through nail polish :D In all seriousness though, I really hope to be doing this as long as people like my stuff, or I ran out of ideas! I'd love to be able to turn the attention of British muggles to our small but growing indie scene   :)

You can check out my review of Hairy Legs London HERE.


So, who's tickled your fancy?  What polishes would you like to see?  Do you think the UK can handle an indie scene as big as the US?  I'd love to know your thoughts xx