Wednesday, September 14, 2011

on 33 comments

Aquamum - Spectraflair franken

Here is my teal franken, which I'm actually calling aqua now, cause it really isn't teal at all (and it was much easier to come up with a corny name for it using 'aqua' rather than 'teal').  Sorry Kejal, I'm way off on the colour with this one. 

But even though I'm way off the proposed 'teal' colour, I pretty much managed to dupe Ozotic 515. 

So here is my Aquamum franken, or for you US ladies Aquamom.



Below is a quick swatch I have thrown in of Ozotic 515.  See how the colours are almost identical.  The holo effect in my franken looks a little less holoie than the Ozotic, but for ladies who live outside Australia, maybe a franken like this might just curb your lemming for the too hard and expensive to get Ozotics.


Ok, back to my franken pics now.




Recipe, using a 5ml bottle (so multiple for a bigger bottle)
  • 8 drops of Kleancolor Metallic Aqua
  • fill the remainder of the bottle with clear.
  • 3 incy wincy straw spoonfuls of Spectraflair coarse grade
Now, just a quick word about the colour morphing powders and spectraflair stuff.

I wanted to thank so many of you sweet ladies. I’ve read some really lovely comments on various forums/boards and in the many hundreds of emails I have received in the last month or two.  So many of you have recognised the huge amount of work it has taken for me to take on this whole colour morphing and spectraflair business.

But there are always haters, those who think I’m trying to rip people off and make a squillion dollars in the process.  There have been some telling me they can source Spectraflair and on-sell it at a cheaper price.  Others that have jumped on the colour morphing powder bandwagon and will now be selling it too.  You know what? I don’t care. Knock yourself out! Do you really think I’m in it for the money?

I know I’ve done a good job.  I have provided people with a quality product, packaged in a convenient and usable way.  I kept postage as cheap as I could.  I processed orders as quick as possible (especially given the length of time it took for me to receive the products).  I’ve aimed to keep everyone informed and updated.  

In calculating my costs, I’ve had to factor in powder/spectraflair costs, shipping costs to Australia, plastic containers and stationary (paper, envelopes, tape and mini zip lock bags).  So I can sell spectraflair at $15/gram, I made a bulk purchase (costing thousands of dollars) using my own money, which will only be recouped once I sell at least 85% of it.

I’ve spent hours manually completing customs declarations to post 90% of my orders internationally.  Many, many more hours manually measuring and weighing each individual container to ensure you get what you’ve paid for.  In total I have packaged more than 650 individual containers with either colour morphing powder or spectraflair.  It’s taken a lot of work, but 99% of you appreciate that, which makes it all worth it.

So again, thank you all the lovely people who’ve recognised my efforts.  MWAH to you!  And a big fat up yours to the haters.

33 comments:

  1. There are jerks everywhere and unfortunately, they feel the need to let us know that they are there. Being jerks. *sigh* I didn't participate in your sale but I read your posts and none of them gave me even the least feeling that you were out to scalp people or rip them off. The haters should be ashamed of themselves.

    Now to that franken. I just fainted. Fabulous. :)

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  2. Cathy, your franken is spectacular - I am totally loving your franken posts!!!

    Can not believe some people, *SMH* & I bet some of the ones that have said they can do for cheaper have wanted to buy from you once they actually look into it

    "And a big fat up yours to the haters" LOL - couldn't have put it better myself

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  3. You've worked incredibly hard at this. The reason no one has done it before? Because it's too much work! You aren't ripping people off at all; if they do their research they will find that this stuff is expensive. Not just that, but also hard to find in small quantities. People always have to be so negative; if they don't like it they don't have to buy any! But to me it's worth it and I really appreciate you doing this for us!

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  4. I just want to add that it isn't just the purchasing, packaging and mailing that you've done--you have made awesome frankens and shared the recipes with everyone. So many people who make a cool franken guard the recipe and/or sources for ingredients like they're government secrets! Your generosity with your knowledge and experience has amazed me. Thank you!!!!!!!!!

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  5. Thank you for all your hard work. I haven't used my color change pigments yet, but just knowing they're in my drawer ready for me makes me happy.

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  6. I agree with Katie, you are servicing the community AND going the extra yard by sharing the recipes.

    You are amazingly polite to deal with and so informative.

    Haters are gonna hate but try to ignore them.

    You're doing an amazing job.

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  7. This one is probably my favorite so far - I think I like it better than the Ozotic!
    You know, I didn't participate in the sale because I hadn't been able to, but I can see you're not in this to make a mountain of money. Are you even seeing a profit? Because you're putting in hours upon hours of work with everything that goes along with packaging!
    I'm glad you're not worried about the haters. Good on you!

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  8. Cathy: its a gorgeous color! never mind teal, maybe another time. I must say what u've done is most amazing! Spectraflair went all over blogoshpere after u started holo frankens. Doesnt matter what people say! We know u've done an awesome job and continue to do so! I wish I was staying some place where I could buy polishes good enough to make frankens and I wud have jumped in the bandwagon too and ordered stuff from u! Until then I am enjoying seeing you have a good time with your polishes. Luv ur blog!! Lots of hugs <3

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  9. Love everything you do, I actually look forward to seeing your posts everyday and hope you crack the mystical white holo soon!!! :)

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  10. Thank you all so much. I'm feeling the love. You are all the ladies I send my big MWAH to!

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  11. Ah, you're right, you shouldn't worry because of all those stupid haters. They would write messages like this even if you gave the powders for free! Out of your head, 'cause they are not even worthy to be considered. ;)
    You really do a huge amount of work and I appreciate that sooo much! And not just me but people all around the world! :) Thank you! =)) Oh, and I agree with Kate sooo much, she's 100% right! :)
    I just can't wait to recieve my package to start frankening! YAY! =D

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  12. Well, I hope you do profit from the powders. That's fair. And I will think of you with love and appreciation every time I look at my own SF frankens. Heck, I think of you every time I see a holo polish. Poo on the haters! But, maybe their purpose is to inspire the rest of us to come to the defense of folks like yourself and love on you a little. :)

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  13. Sorry, I couldn't read too many of the words because I was too busy gaping at the gorgeousness in the photos. Wow!

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  14. As someoene who paid $17.44 for a gram sent to me from the same city I live in, you are giving people a very good price!
    Do what you do. Don't waste time on people who are going to talk regardless of what you do or say.

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  15. Ignore the trolls. Their job is to spew crap and they do it well (coz it's easy).

    I am amazed at how you've been doing it all especially with little ones to manage.

    I am thankful you have such a generous spirit to even think about doing all this for the rest of us who have limited access to the much coveted holos and colour morphing polishes.

    I like your last sentence, very well put!

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  16. I can't seem to get the right amount of polish and powder. =(

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  17. I for one am staggered by the amount of work you've undertaken to make sure that we can get our hands on these pigments. I couldn't be happier or more excited with what you've done. ♥

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  18. I am just in LOVE with your blog!

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  19. Thanks again everyone. Oh and BTW, the first international package was received yesterday in Singapore, the rest of the world can't be too far behind! I hope they arrive soon for you all.

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  20. I look forward to your posts especially the franken posts!! Screw the haters. Good on you for doing stuff you enjoy!!

    Xoxox

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  21. This is so beautiful! I've been really lemming ChG DV8 lately. I need to make something like this..
    I can't believe you are getting hate about selling the pigments. I think it is great that you are making them so accessible to people all over the world! I had been looking for months for somewhere to buy the Spectraflair and I was lucky enough to have a sample sent to me by a kind lady on MUA but I still want more and was so happy to find out you had it. So thank you! I am so excited to finally place my order when I get paid tomorrow night.

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  22. This color made me go eeeeek out loud and I scared my dog. It is so pretty I cant stop looking at it.

    You know the internet is full of bravery causing people to shit talk in a way they would never think about doing in person. You are great to take the time to sell this stuff. I am in the states and my purchase from you was very quick very easy.

    You even took the time to answer my question on base which you didnt have to do.

    Keep up the good work, keep on making these gorgeous to die for colors and I will sit here and try to figure out which color I am going to make first :) Oh and saying EEEEEEK!

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  23. pretty!! Even though we had a huge amount of holo releases here in Brazil, none is like this shade <3

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  24. Aaah I LOVE this! And I have all the ingredients at home - wooooooo :D

    As for the haters, screw 'em! You have done such an amazing job with this, Cathy, and I'm gglad you're not letting them get you down. I was so grateful you replied so quickly AND posted so quickly. As you've said, you have a full time job and you're doing this to make people happy. So good on you, girl :D I don't care if I can get it $1 cheaper (or whatever) elsewhere.. the ease and pleasure of buying it through you is worth a LOT more!

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  25. Absolutely beautiful! I love this!

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  26. PS-screw the haters! There will always be haters no matter what you do!

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  27. Oh, and I just wanted to add... I saw posts about buying Spectraflair from someone in the US who is doing what you're doing (but cheaper), and they had a lot of swatches using that Spectraflair... and I dunno, they can't be getting it from the same place as you because seriously, their frankens turn out really lumpy and gritty looking!!

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  28. Thanks Em. I saw the post your talking about, and I wish I could sell it for that price, but the straight spectraflair cost me more than that from the manufacturer. I bought 250 grams to make it worthwhile and to drop the price per gram! I also believe hers is the fine 14 grade. I definitely prefer sparkle in the 35 grade. Maybe the coarse stuff is more expensive?

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  29. How can there be haters? Ridiculous! I still have yet to order some from you though... (slacker!) I hope it's not too late! Your frankens are seriously GORGEOUS!!!!!

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I live in Canberra, Australia with my husband, Mr Ten and Miss Eight. My blog is all about nail polish, and a few other bits in between. You can contact me at morenailpolish@iinet.net.au