Indie Spotlight Series: Meet the Maker of My World Sparkles Lacquers!

Image credit: My World Sparkles Facebook 

Hey y'all! Today on the blog I have the next installment of my Indie Spotlight Series to share with you! This month's indie spotlight is all about the maker of My World Sparkles Lacquers, Elizabeth! I have swatched for Elizabeth a few times and love her polishes so of course she was perfect to interview for the series. If you want to meet the maker of My World Sparkles, keep reading!

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What inspired you to create your brand, My World Sparkles and how did you choose the name?

Well since childhood I have been fascinated with things that sparkled, wether it be a quartz rock on the ground to a simple bottle of glitter glue.  As I got older and more knowledgeable I studied gems and minerals and started a collection of gemstones, Swarovski pieces, and anything that sparkled.  I even graduated with a Graduate Gemologist degree just to learn more about things that sparkled.  As for my life I could never leave anything “plain” I always had to sparkle it up.  Cross stitch patterns were changed to add beads and sparkly floss, my very first cell phone was quickly covered with glue on rhinestones way before it was ever cool, I bought Pentel pens just because I could open them up and fill them with glitter, nothing was “safe” around me it all had to be “improved”!  I once had an employee that got me a key chain that read “I was going to conquer the world but I was distracted by something sparkly” that was perfect because that exact statement was me!  So needless to say the name came quickly to mind and nothing else seemed right!  My world is full of sparkles as much as I can make possible.  Now my inspiration for the brand was entirely my husband Jeff.  I was sitting on the floor in front of him as I excitedly went through my latest large box of nail mail.  I was showing him all the colors and saying my ohhhh’s and ahhhhh’s and he looked at me and said “baby you love nail polish and you love sparkly things so since you are a Gemologist and you are trained to know your colors why don’t you start your own polish company?”  I looked at him and said with some hesitation “really?” He said yes and so I sat there admiring the bottles and my mind started to race!  Six months later, many nights of startling him awake with a thought, and a lot of research I started to create my little beauties!  I did have some help in the beginning from a large well known indie brand owner and for her kindness and help I will forever consider her a dear friend.

What goes into your prototype/testing phase?

Well of course the first thing is an idea of what I want it to look like so I start with the color base.  I mix and dabble with combinations till I get it just perfect.  I then play around with different combinations of glitter, if there is to be any, till I get that right.  I take tons of notes so I don’t forget my mixtures and when completed I put it down in my “recipe book”.  I have pretested my colors and glitters for bleeding or other issues so the items I work with in the end are deemed good to use.  When all is said and done the finished piece sits for a determined time to make sure it stays perfect and I check it for any issued that may pop up after completion.  If heaven forbid there is ever an issue after the item has launched I will do a recall and notify each buyer and offer another color free of charge.  After the color has been completed and is ready to go I decide when to release it and I may pre-launch it as a Monthly Mini, a pre release mini size the month before it goes out on my webpage as available, or I give notice of it’s launch through amazing ladies who swatch and blog about it.  They are awesome at what they do and they do not get enough credit for their hard work!  I will also announce the release through my email news letter Sparkly News.  I will give sneak peeks throughout the process on my FaceBook pages to let everyone know what is in the works and to share the fun.  Sometimes I will have a themed release for a specific season or event and for those times the colors will have a set release date but are made well in advance, better to be safe than sorry.

How do you come up with the names of your polishes?

Oh boy there are so many ideas in my head and in notebooks I could create for a very long time!  I can be laying in bed about to fall asleep and an idea will jump out and I have to grab my notebook that I keep at my bedside just for those times.  Sometimes I will have a color idea and only have a name after I am done with it but most of the colors come with the name idea.  Once in a while my 13 year old will come to me with an idea and we talk through it and if it seems like it will pan out then I write it down for later.  Luminous Moon was actually an idea from my son and I tweaked the name.  Other times I will tell my husband about a color I’m working on and he will offer some suggestions, Mystery Splat! came from him telling me the bottle I was holding looked like mystery splat. :)  He didn’t believe me when I said I was going to use that until I showed him the labeled bottle.  I have been walking around or riding in the car and I will get a lightbulb moment and that gets written down right there before I loose it.  But most of all it’s the same way I used to design jewelry; I will look at the idea/item and think about it and a name will come to me based on the contents of the idea.  I like to be cute with some of them and others are named how they are thought up or based on their collection theme. :)  As for the Jewel Box collection well that is all up to Mother Nature, I will look at my gemstone collection and say who wants to be a creation?  And when one catches my eye then I go from there.  

With all the responsibilities of life, how do you find the motivation to keep going with My World Sparkles?

Again my husband has encouraged me to put all my time and effort into my polish.  I love the creation part most of all so when I am stumped or have a blurry moment I just look around at everything and sometimes even play with the bags of color and glitter and remind myself that these are all beauties and they have a place in something beautiful.  My husband is a huge motivator because when I am feeling down he will tell me “baby you love doing it and you are good at what you do so keep it up, you can do it I have faith in you” .  Flipping through my ideas is a great kick start when I am stuck and sometimes I just need to step back and take a day to just do nothing and then come back to it all and start where I left off. 

What do you think makes My World Sparkles a success?

I don’t know if I am a complete success just yet but I have a drive in me to keep pushing till I get things right.  My training and love for color as well as my knowledge of many beautiful things in the world is always there in my head helping push me along.  I keep doing till I have a “winner” and then I move onto the next one.  I think my biggest reward is when I am showing someone my swatch sticks or my iPad full of completed colors and seeing the joy on their faces and the amazement they have knowing that I created it really makes me proud to call My World Sparkles my baby.  I take great pride in it and therefore put my heart and soul into my work.  So if I am to be called a success I would say my love for what I am doing and the loving support from my family are the greatest reasons for my success.

Can you share a few photos of your mixing space/testing space with us?

Of course!  My workspace is in my home and when I first started Jeff teased me about the smell and came back in the room with his gas mask on from work!  I keep the door closed and all the windows open with different fans on so I keep myself well ventilated.  The gold “glob” is a mixing picture taken from a video I took while mixing it.  I though it was so beautiful how everything swirled and mixed together.  My work space is small and I have everything organized so I can get to exactly what I need.  I love labeling and organizing by color and product so the shelves are kept as a sparkly pretty work space!  Remember I love sparkle and whenever and wherever I can see it is a plus to me. :)  The small bottle collection is actually one bottle of every color I have ever made, except custom colors, and they are in the order they were created.  My husband says I’m a little OCD when it comes to my organizing and labeling. :)  The turnstile on my desk makes my little things and bottles easy to access.  The turnstile actually came from a Nordstrom makeup counter that was throwing them away!  I asked to have them and knew someday I would have a use for them. :)  I also have a love affair with Post-its and they are everywhere for quick reminders of ideas and things to do.  Jeff bought me the gemstone dispenser.  Always within eye view they make for easy and quick reminders.

           

I hope you guys enjoyed this month's Indie Spotlight with Elizabeth from My World Sparkles Lacquers. If you're interested in finding out more about her brand and keeping up to date on new releases you can follow her on Instagram and Facebook, sign up for her newsletter, join us in the MWS fan group, or email her with any questions you may have! All of her products can be found in the My World Sparkles store, HERE. 

Thanks for reading! 

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