Yes, We Are!

Hi everyone, I hope y'all's week was a great one. It's almost over! 

Just a quick post as I have so much to do today.

First, Yes, We Are! Has been added to the site. 

I'd like to talk about this collection a little.

Life at times tries to knock us down. We get so busy with everyday things. Things like getting the kids to daycare, school, extracurricular activities, doctors appointments, get food on the table, work. Then, it starts all over the next day. This is especially true for the single moms/dads. Heck, single people with no kids feel the stress too. Before you know it, you're staring at yourself in the mirror wondering what happened. I've talked to many a woman who think their not pretty enough, not thin enough, not sexy enough, not worthy enough. Just, not enough. I'm not gonna even lie and say I haven't felt like that at some point in my life. Because, at one point I did. Sometimes, the devil still tries to get to me using negativity, insecurities, anything to try and get me down. But, I have a post it on the bottom of my shoe letting the devil know exactly where he's at and where he can go! We are magical creatures with special powers. We're Mesmerizing, Enchanting, Ravishing, Tantalizing, and Bewitching! Yes, We Are! Never forget that! I say, go look yourself in the mirror and say for all women, "We are Mesmerizing, Enchanting, Ravishing, Tantalizing, Bewitching! Yes, We Are!" 

Yeah, I can be a bit over dramatic! Haha! 

Have a great day! 

Today is the day!

Hi everyone,

It's Thankful Thursday! Woot woot! I have so much to be thankful for today!

This is going to be a rather long post. And, of course, I speak about my faith!

Dear Lord,

When You put me on this path I promised never to be embarrassed or ashamed of my faith in You. I promised to always give You the honor and glory for all You do for me. You will always be the forefront of this brand, not me. Thank you for casting Your wonderful and glorious hand of favor on me!

Guide me on this journey You've set me on. I will follow wherever You take me. I may not know where that may be, but I do know it's going to be the best place in the world! Guide me to always make the right decisions. Lord, I know there will be some who want me to fail and some who don't understand. I know I don't have to worry about them, As always, got me in the palm of Your hand. Let the love I have for what I do shine through in all I do! Most of all, let my love for YOU shine in all I do! In Your name Jesus, Amen.

Ten months ago I was searching the internet for a basic cuticle cream to add to Funky Nails. Well, what started as just a search led me into a whole new world! A world filled with lotions, creams, scrubs, body butters, and much more! I've taken online courses, read so many books, read a bazillion blogs, and joined so many forums to learn all I can. While I may not know everything, I'm certainly much more knowledgeable than I was when I started. I've made A TON of lotions, scrubs, and creams! Let me tell you, it was not easy. I had some epic fails! But, I had more successes than failures. More importantly, I learned!

Here's ten months of practice. :D

In addition to nail polish I'm adding seven new products! YAY! I decided to start with products that go hand in hand with nail polish.

Let me introduce you to Funky Town's newest addition: Underground Cosmetics. When deciding on a label, I wanted something simple, yet funky. I was showing my boyfriend different labels and asked for his thoughts on them. He said, "I don't think they're 'Indie' enough." I asked, "What's 'Indie' mean to you?" His response was, "You know that underground look." There you have it, that's how I decided, very urban chic (I think anyway). Funky Nails has a sister! Woot woot! Ok, here are the products and availability:

Cuticle Oil - ten available
Cuticle Cream - two left
Hand Scrub - sold out
Hand Lotion - four left
Foot Scrub - four left
Foot Conditioner - sold out

P.S. At the end of the post you'll see why I'm sold out of most products.

Here they are. :D

When coming up with the formulas for these products, I asked myself as a nail polish blogger/creator, "What do I want to accomplish? What ingredients do I want in my product to keep my skin and most importantly my cuticles in healthy condition." Or, as healthy as can be given all the torture I/we point them through. In my opinion, I've chosen some great skin loving ingredients for our skin. I won't list the ingredients I use in this post, since it's already a long post. But, I do encourage you to read the ingredients list for each of my products and research the benefits to our skin. I will be updating the tabs to include this next week. I also have several other products coming out later this year! WOOT WOOT!

This last product was the most challenging, yet most fun to create. Many of you know the blog loodie loodie loodie. She has a post on how to make a DIY nail polish remover. I was intrigued and started researching. After a poop ton of epic failed batches, I decided to compare my polish remover to the brand she used (a few others too). I took notes on theirs and mine. Ok, let me back track a little. It's not as simple as adding the ingredients and your done. Well, it is, if it's for your own personal use and not for sale. That's just my humble opinion. And, please don't think I'm trying to insult her because I'm not. I owe her many thanks, she put me on the path to discovery. On that path, I joined a site for raw manufacturing suppliers. Why is that relevant? Well, one day I was looking through the site and came across a formula for nail polish remover! OMG, my eyeballs almost popped out of my head! Of course, I took a look at it! How could I not? I was a bit nervous because I was like, "What if I'm wrong?" When I read the recipe I said, "You go loodie loodie loodie loodie!" and high five'd her! Hehe! She had it right! I don't follow that formula exactly, I did create my own. But, it was confirmation that in ten months I did learn something AND I did it on my own! My goal was to create something moisturizing and also use for post cleanup. Let me explain. I was buying 100% acetone remover for post cleanup (very drying) and a regular remover for daily removal. Being able to use only one for both was key. It had to cut through the polish easy, not with a million strokes! And, keep my cuticles nice and pretty! I'm very happy with this product! So without further ado, here it is!

Now, the fun part! I can scent this with pretty much any scent! Cupcake, cinnamon sugar, apple, cucumber melon, raspberry, lime, lemon and so many more, the possibilities are almost endless! Yes, I made that many batches!

My cuticles post cleanup. No cuticle cream and no cuticle oil. :D

And, we can't forget the nail polish!

Sometimes we women forget we are magical creatures with  Mesmerizing, Enchanting, Ravishing, Tantalizing, and Bewitching powers! Yes, We Are! is the newest collection of topcoats. Never doubt the power within us!

Update: I have been swamped and challenged today. I have just one product on the site. Which is the topcoat collection. Please in the notes let me know which you'd like. Also, shipping charges are still last years rates. So, please take advantage while you can. I will be updating this today. If you need me for anything tweet me, email me, IG me. I will respond immediately!

About my products: I do use preservatives. In my Texas twang, "I ain't gonna kill nobody!" I can't be responsible for what someone does with their product, but I am responsible for what I do on my end. I use latex free gloves, I use a mask, and I put my hair in a hat. My work area and utensils are washed before each use, sanitized with a 10% bleach solution, sprayed with 91% alcohol and used ONLY for my products. Working in the restaurant business for 25 years if nothing taught me the importance of cleanliness and safety precautions. Not all of my products are what some would consider "all natural." Ten months ago I would have told you what I considered to be "all natural." That's not the case anymore. There are natural ingredients that can harm us (most are good). But, there are many synthetic ingredients that are safe too. Having said that. Natural is what you think it is, not me. What I promise you is to use quality ingredients. I will list all ingredients truthfully and I will never mask an ingredient (preservative) and call it a fragrance. I believe: You, as the consumer, should know exactly what you're putting in/on your body and have the right to make informed decisions.

Funky Nails/Underground Cosmetics is a place where we uplift each other. Not, tear each other down. If preservatives or synthetic ingredients are not your thing. That's fine, I get it. Just don't leave any negative, mean or rude comments. If you have nothing uplifting to say, don't say anything. Ok, this is the tough part for me. I don't like confrontation AT ALL. That's not to say I won't defend myself. Because, yes, I will. Nor, am I afraid to. I'm always down for an honest review. I do learn from honest feedback. What I'm not down for is plain rudeness! So please be nice!

Thank you everyone for your patience and support. I never take for granted that you'll like my products and buy from me. I'm amazed and humbled that you even like what I do. Thank you for sticking with me. I'd like to thank my personal Facebook family and friends for putting up with all nail polish related posts and now body care. Oh, and thank you for not giving away my secret! Believe me, they're probably tired of hearing about my experiments and what not. Hehe! A special thank you to my Tia Rosie who offered me a place in her shop to sell my product. I love you Tia! Lots of hugs and kisses. I'll see you tomorrow to give you and your customers hand exfoliations and silky soft hands and feet!

Have a great day!

Topcoat Swatches

Hi everyone,

I hope you are having a fantastic week so far!

Today, I have some swatches of my topcoat collection. I had to get these from IG, I didn't have time to properly swatch them as I've been trying to get ready for tomorrow's post.

About the pics. They're in order of the bottles, left to right. The only one I didn't post is the one on my thumb. The last pic is the topcoat on my pinky, that is not a topcoat. I made that last year with same ingredient just opaque. It's three coats. If I were to use the topcoat version I'd probably need the whole bottle.

I hope you like them!

Have a great day!

Half Full by Shipra Taneja

Hi everyone, I hope you all are having a terrific Tuesday!

Today, I'll be talking about my inspiration for this collection of topcoats.

The lovely Shipra Taneja from Taneja's Bride is the inspiration behind this collection of topcoats. Shipra is Indian. "Indian with a dot not a feather." A line from from her book Half Full, so please, don't email me any negative comments. Click the link and buy it! It's a great book! This book reminded me, as women, we all go through the same things. We all hurt the same, we all love the same, we want to be loved for who we are, no matter our culture. And, because I'm always curious about other cultures, I went to her website to learn more. She had pictures of her wedding. And, OMG, she had the most beautiful bold colors! If you know me or been around more than five minutes, know I love bold colors! I oh'd and ah'd over all the beautiful colors! In my overactive imagination I pictured happiness and joy. A time of celebration. Dancing. Twirling in circles throwing gold and silver coins in the air in total abandonment. If that ain't overactive, I don't know is! Hehe! So, what started out as a collection of glitters quickly turned into a collection of topcoats (I've shared some of those glitters on IG). I created this collection to go over dark colors. I wanted something simple and chic to transform those dark colors into something special. I think I've done that with this collection. Shipra, you're an amazing lady :D

The bottles you see in the pic is not the bottle I chose to use.

Have a Terrific Tuesday! And, don't forget to join me tomorrow for swatches of these colors.

Opening Week Details

Warning long post. And, I share my faith.

I have so much to share this week! I'll be posting a lot of info leading up to the shop opening on Thursday. I have a lot of surprises for y'all too!

I've been closed for quite a while. Let me explain. At the end of last summer I graduated from school. Then, I did what so many expected me to do, I got a job. I had no time for nail polish. Well, about for 4 months ago I started feeling as if I wasn't putting all my faith in what God was wanting me to do. I was starting to believe it was me who was going to get me where I want to be. I was thinking in order to do all I want to do I needed a "real" job. As always, my Heavenly Father is at work teaching me it isn't me who's going to get me there, but Him. One day I was outside having me time with God. I started questioning why we choose the careers we choose. Why we stay in certain jobs. I won't bore you with all the details, but at that moment God gave me the answer. That was the moment I knew I had to put all my faith and trust and lean only on God for all my hearts desires. I resigned. It was not an easy decision to make. I'm so scared! I have to remind myself everyday that God has me in the palm of his hand.

I prayed long and hard about what to open with. I decided on a collection of topcoats. I was supposed to release this last year, but the time wasn't right. I can't wait to share my inspiration for this collection! I'll share that tomorrow as this a rather long post.

Also, I'm going to do something a bit different. Along with this collection, I have what I'm calling my Couture Collection. What is that? It's any color you see on the blog. I'll make it for you if: 1. It's mine and 2. I have the ingredients. More details on that later this week.

Have a great day!

Don't forget to join me tomorrow for the inspiration behind this collection of topcoats!