On May 8^th, I was on my way to work in a grayed, foggy, and damp New York City. Even though it was a sleep-inducing day, I was full of sunbursts, knowing that I was going to put up a post about The Fan Collection 2.0. I had a promising, rainbow-casting day ahead of me; the press samples for the new collection I’d been working on since July were scheduled to arrive, and what better way to induce a chorus of collective and euphoric “YAYs” from the ReBeLs than a new contest?

On the subway, my brain was pinging back and forth—how many winners should I choose? 4 again? Wait, that would not qualify for free shipping and I remembered that someone posted that I should add one more color to achieve that goal.  If I chose 5 winners, does that mean I will have to commit to 15 finalists? I wasn’t obnoxiously assuming that everyone would want to order all five colors, I was merely providing free shipping options for those who requested this. As soon as I entered the studio, I started crunching the numbers.

I uploaded my Fan Collection 2.0 post, and while I was approving and reading the comments, I suddenly felt my face burn up. My heart was beating so fast that it rang in my ears and then my legs started to shake. I was typing as fast as I could to defend myself, but it felt like I was typing for two hours to reply to each comment. My post must have been dreadfully misinterpreted, misread, or not carefully read, and the flood of personal attacks had me in dismay. Who are these people? And why did they want to bring negativity and theatrics to the blog?

I immediately emailed my writing teacher to make sure that the blog post was not offensive. She had edited this piece for me as well as last year’s Fan Collection. Of course, she was absolutely astounded by the comments and started showing the post to her colleagues—who had two reactions—“she sounds sassy” and “I want in!” This affirmed my decision to stop defensively replying to comments and to seek some consolation from two of my trusted sources of comfort—my husband and delicious food. He is a veteran nail-drama soother. He reminded me to watch out for the aftermath: viruses in my emails, bad reviews, and facebook drama. A very kind person on facebook alerted me that she detected a Trojan virus on our site and I sent out an SOS to my Webmaster.

The next morning, I begged the ReBeLs not to reply, even as I was approving all the comments bashing me personally. At approximately 10AM, my latest blog post completely disappeared right before my eyes. I started scrambling, changing passwords, running scans—a message to the person who gave me this beautiful gift of 10 viruses: please stick to my personal emails and not my website. It took us three days to restore the post, and no, my post has not been edited. It  appears exactly as it did originally. I always approve all the comments I get and I never delete any bad reviews—that’s just not how I operate.

I reply to every single email personally, with the exception of bloggers’ press sample requests. I don’t reply to them because  our policy is stated on our website: “Due to the large volume of press/product review sample requests, we are truly sorry if your email has not been replied to. We work with a handful of bloggers with whom we have had a longstanding working relationship. We do not participate in any promotions or sponsorships. “

If I have offended anyone for not replying, I apologize, you have no idea how many daily emails I receive regarding sample requests. If you know my brand and me, you know that we do not offer giveaways in exchange for following me on social networks. In fact, I much prefer that our followers grow organically and getting to know them that way. And yes, I re-tweet your tweets—that’s not done by some intern or a PR firm. It’s all me, because I want to get to know you personally.

Do I have regrets about the scandalous post? Yes, I wish I could have added “Will I search if you have placed orders from us in the past? Of course I will! How else will we speak and communicate our language of nail polish colors, for I have no interest in other brands and am clueless about what is going on outside of RBL world. But sales are not as important as where you are in our social network community, you must be in the loop.”

This collection is called The Fan collection after all, if I were to call it The ReBeL collection, that would be an elitist thing to do. However, I didn’t think I had to spell everything out. That post was about creating a new set of rules, it was not supposed to be sugar-coated. If you thought that I was being tactless—I’m truly sorry, but this is who I am. You will never get a corporate droid out of me and I’m not naïvely disillusioned that everyone has to like me or my company. If you go to the timeline posted on our facebook page, we started our business in 1998. We are a private company, but we have history, credibility and proven longevity. I’ve reposted comments from last year’s voting process to remind everyone how that had turned out. I really did not want to repeat that experience again. Many of you will not be chosen as a finalist and many hearts will break—but please don’t take it personally. I see many familiar names from last year’s post comments in the current 2.0 comments. Please do not mistake any decision from the contest as a personal attack, this is not a lottery, everyone votes publicly on this blog. For the past few days, I have received numerous emails containing a proof of purchase as an intro to the emails. This is really not necessary.

Every time I see or read news articles about teen suicides caused by cyberbullies, I feel an abundance of compassion. It rips my heart open and the emotions don’t stop flowing for a long while. I know exactly how these kids felt, because I’ve experienced it more than once. When personal attacks come flooding in droves, it’s beyond hurtful or devastating—it’s tragic. I’m 42 years old, an adult who is well past the legal drinking age—thank goodness for that. I have a comforting husband who just holds me while I’m shaking in a fetal position. Am I being overly dramatic? Only those who’ve experienced this firsthand will know that I am not. I cannot fathom how a teenager could deal with this kind of cyber maliciousness.

If you hate the brand, and me especially–don’t come to this website. Stop following me, and please—UNLIKE me on facebook or any other social network. I’m a human being with a heart that beats just like yours does. I have emotions and am full of all the same sensitivities and insecurities like everyone else. I check the side fat that bulges out from my skinny jeans—just like you. Let’s  agree to a clean slate right now and click that refresh button. From now on, I will not reply to any personal attacks. ReBeLs, as always, I’m deeply grateful when you defend me, but let’s all stop replying as a united front. It just adds fuel to the fire, any back-and-forth argument is unproductive, exhaustive, and draining—I’m declaring a “No Nail Drama” zone.

From every event in my life, I try to find a life lesson to evolve as a person, and I have to thank all of you for this experience. This incident is a perfect example of why I’ve created the VLounge. To me, the VLounge is a hot, lovely bath in the middle of a cold, snowy day. Our community is lovely, and I would never taint it with any sort of malicious and aggressive energy. I have no plans to open our VLounge to the public in the future. Excessive? Sure, but I have a right to protect our environment as I see fit.

Obviously, we all share a mutual passion. We are in love with nail polishes and the magic of colors. We have a lovely thread on VLounge: “What Does Nail Polish Mean to You?”  I have to agree with many of our members, nail polish has no sizes and no racial prejudices. Polishing our nails makes us feel better no matter what upheavals are around us. It’s truly a “me time” getaway. Life looks better with beautiful colors on your nails. And if we all share this same interest, shouldn’t our nail community be more compassionate?

The love and support outweighs the hate in tipping the balance scale. Why would I cower in defeat and deprive five people from making their dream colors become a reality? Of course The Fan Collection 2.0 is on!

With Love,

Ji

P.S. If you’re internet shy, I respect your concerns of a possible invasion of privacy. If you’re entering the contest, just keep in mind that it was due to this privacy issue that I was unable to create a “meet the winners” post to share the back-and-forth slow dance in the amazing color journey the winners and I shared together.

Meet the finalists—11 nominees for the RBL Fan Collection—drum roll please….  

Originally posted on : Feb 15, 2011

These loving, passionate, and sometimes nutty submissions have been by far the most exciting, exasperating, strenuous, and grueling project so far in my career. What shocked me the most? 30% of our fans were inspired by sunsets and snowstorms from all over the world, 26% of our fans wanted the sunrise from all different situations and places, 17% of our fans were into peacock feathers and 16% of our fans jump with joy regarding all things bugs, butterflies and flowers. Then, of course, there were the 5% of technically impossible Goliath. Wait—let’s not forget the inspirations from pets and children—adorable, I might add. And for the halo situation requests, it is really expensive to produce and, as you know, we’re already scrutinized about our prices. (Although I have been studying it and have had some interesting quality time with it on mixing play dates…)

So, my editing process started like this: I narrowed down the percentages and was left with the unique individuals who stood out. Now please, do not be disenchanted or dismayed if your submission wasn’t chosen, as you all know that we need to produce a collective project, so I’m all ears (or is that eyes for our cyber world?!). You all know I love you guys and am here to serve you and to make you happy in nail polish heaven. We have fixed the voting process—there was a glitch the last time, so now the first three winners will get produced. If your color was selected, seriously consider contacting friends and foes, local barista or whoever might want to vote for your color. Start your own campaign immediately since we only have 48 hours to vote. For those of you who were not selected, if this project works out smoothly—I’m wiling to do this annually, because I heart all of you sillies!

P.S. Ironically, our summer collection was inspired by nature so we are obviously all tuned in with each other….

1. From: DeborahI love shimmers (not glitters) and pearl….and I love shimmer that has that opalescent/pearl quality.I dislike frost.What I would love to see is a very saturated, almost neutral (as in not LOUDLY cool toned) pink that is midway between fuschia and magenta. This is hard because color names are so subjective. It would be VERY saturated and its tones would be red/purple. It would be creamy (not jelly-ish) and very opaque. It would have a pearl microshimmer (alot of it!) that was a light shade of green. Im thinking something close to a seafoam color but with out the dusty quality of seafom green….that tone- but brighter. So if you saw this womans nails from a few feet away, it would look like a deep, lucious, jewel toned shade of “redish purpleish magenta fuschia pink” that was pretty, not loud. And when you walked over to ask her to look at her nails you would notice the pretty green pearls of shimmer glowing from within the color.
2. From: JaneI’ve attached a photo that shows several shades of perfect camel, from butterscotch to pale milky caramel. Not too brown, not too orange, not too pink-beige. Any of the shades in this photo would be dreamy……
3. From SarahMy inspiration is Princess Leia from Return of the Jedi, specifically Leia slave outfit “the gold bikini” at the moment she takes out the evil Jabba the Hutt. Although the outfit was a symbol of shame and degradation, in this moment she was symbol of underestimated power waiting for the perfect moment to strike! I would want the color to be a dusty burgundy, similar to the fabric in her skirt, that flashed a dirty bronze-gold in the light to represent the metal bikini. In the past I have said I’d like this to be a foil (which were overdone last year). And it still could be… every foil I’ve seen come close to this has been too busy, too blingy, too bright. But with your Tudor collection I realized there is a different type of finish possible that would be much better suited for this color. If it could be a stone finish like Anne sort of was, but a dusty and subdued scarlet with a bronze-golden shimmer like stone that would be the perfect way to represent the sands of Tatoine. There could be green particle olive green particle shimmer as well to add interest and symbolize the destruction of the tyrant Jabba.The end result would be the perfect burgundy subdued stone-like shade waiting for that perfect ray of sun to show it’s true duo-chrome/shimmery glory!
4. From: Kaydi-KatMy dream color was inspired by the BIRTHSTONE of my beautiful mom, LILY, who turned SIXTY in December 2010 (I swear, the older I get, the younger she seems!) VISUALIZE: A subdued TURQUOISE that can’t decide if it’s BLUE or GREEN because it LOVES being BOTH! Amidst the OPULENT base are hints of GOLD SHIMMER and PINK MICROGLITTER – giving this darling GEM a METALLIC IRIDESCENCE …. IMAGINE: Perhaps Mary Boleyn isn’t a member of the “REAL Housewives of the Tudor Dynasty” because she was only Henry VIII’s MISTRESS – but if ANNE’S SISTER had made the cut, THIS is the color she should have been!
5. From: NicoleMy Dream Color-would be the color of a tarnished copper penny. Which doesn’t sound so glamourous at first glance. But for me, I have been searching for that perfect shade. I’ve seen some that have come close to being right, but most end up being too bright, to sparkly, too copper. That says “new penny” to me. I like older, slightly tarnished. My shade would be bronzy-brown, and would shimmer when it hit the right light. Copper micro sparkle, not glitter. It would be different and unique, like many of your colors are, but still totally wearable. That would be my ultimate shade, and I hope that I’ve at least intrigued you!
   
6. From: DanielleEver since I lived in San Francisco I have been oddly fascinated and intrigued by a simple plant I saw every day – the succulent! They are so perfectly shaped like a flower and have the most beautiful variations of gray green, pink and violet with an almost translucent quality to them. In the morning with the dew on them I couldn’t help but occasionally give a gentle squeeze to one of the plump little leaves. Since then, my nail polish dream has been to find a light to medium grayed green like the color in the leaves where they begin to meet the center that is a creme but a little bit jelly-ish in formula with a subtle hint of pink, violet and silver micro shimmer.
7. From: M. Faymysteriously orangey….two words….
   
8. From: NoraNo one has gotten it quite right yet. I’ve been searching for a nail polish in Yves Klein’s signature color, International Klein Blue, for years. It’s an impossibly bright electric blue with a hint of blurple (based on synthetic ultramarine pigment). A jelly finish would be my dream, but the color may need opacity to retain its vibrance–it should never look black. Klein painted everything in IKB in the 1950s and 1960s–canvases, globes, models… and I would love to paint my nails with it now. The art world would go wild for it!
9. From: Diane
   Here’s my idea. A dark grey, with subtle pink shimmer. The base colour would be like the attached file.. and the pink would be like a candy floss pink shimmer Gosh, how beautiful does that sound?
   
10. From: JoyMy inspiration is my passion for duochromes, and the “Johnny” filter of the iPhone “Hipsta” filter of the same name. I’m a graphic designer and fascinated too with Photoshop and how filters can completely transfer the mood of the original subject.The photo below is a simple photo of water and sky at dusk, see how much richer, vibrant and saturated it is using the “Johhny” filter
    
11. From: Neeta
    CuprumColor:royal blue creme with copper shimmerInspiration:I’m a chemistry student and one of the elements that has always fascinated me is copper. In its solid form, copper is the metallic reddish brown people associate with pennies and pipes. But in solution, the color of copper is suddenly transformed into a brilliant blue hue. The dual nature of this element is something I’ve always wanted to capture. A royal blue creme with flecks of copper shimmer would mimic undissolved copper fragments floating in a copper solution. I’ve attached a picture to show how complementary the two colors can look in combination.

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Dear ReBeLs,

The Fan Collection was the most exhilarating and exhausting collection I’ve ever released to date. Am I delusional for hosting this event again? Of course I am. As the leader of ReBeL nation, isn’t it mandatory for me to be just as passionate, obsessive, and devoted as our fans? And who am I to deprive another four fan members their dream colors come to life? Besides, I know that there are those of you who are pouting, seething, and throwing darts on my face secretly in your basement because you missed out on Aqua Lily and IKB: 2012 (it’s not coming back people—please do not give me anymore grief). This will be the perfect project to divert your anger so you can focus on the promising future—and you might win!

Inhale and exhale—don’t cancel any meetings just yet, in late July you can submit your dream color inspirational board to me, giving you plenty of time to meet the following specifications.

Qualifications

Like its namesake, this is called The Fan Collection, therefore you must be a genuine ReBeL and be part of our virtual community. Will I search if you have placed orders from us in the past? Of course I will! But sales are not as important as where you are in our social network community. ReBeL nation is not ruled by an unreasonable dictator. If you have admired us from afar, you now have until July to debut your passion. This is not a ploy to gain more followers. I simply learned my lesson from the last contest. I received numerous submissions from non-ReBeLs and one of them was even a winner. To my dismay, she had no idea when bloggers even reviewed the collection. This time, I will take my time and comb through and examine each potential candidate.

Wow me

Submit your dream color presentation with an edited and precise version of your inspiration story. Send this along with as many visual images as possible—PMS (pantone) colors are welcome. Aqua Lily was chosen without a picture and, to my uttermost regret, the most painful, rambling email correspondences were exchanged as a result. I have vowed never to revisit that experience ever again. If you want me to convey your depiction, think—Pinterest!

What I will delete

So many of you submitted similar presentations last year. It wouldn’t be fair to pick just one of these subjects: nature, pets, your child’s precious eyes, hair, and earth orbits (you get the picture). And please refrain from personal remembrances, for I’m a sap and will be emotionally drained with your sad stories (remember, there are thousands of emails for me to read). Sending me a designer bag or a runway picture will not do. If you’re a ReBeL, you know what I’m compelled by, so let’s speak our language of colors.

Please read this post carefully before you leave a comment—if you’re going to be the winner, we’ll be working together for the next year or so, therefore, communication skills are pure gems. All further announcements will be announced from ReBeL nation—good luck, and most importantly, have a blast!

Love,

Tiger Mum

My Darling ReBeLs,

Without fail, my in-box explodes once again during the pre-order shipment process.

This year, our Fan Collection pre-orders came in record-breaking numbers. Please know that our goal is to ship your orders as fast as we humanly can, seriously. I already have my military-precise prep list ready and have recruited my packing posse.

Once we start shipping out orders, you will receive a shipping notice in real time, except on Sundays, since the US Postal offices are closed. Without fail, on our facebook, basking with exhilaration, our fans will collectively post that they’ve received their shipping notifications. If you haven’t received yours, refrain from panic and pouting, remember, we ship in the order received—the first order placed will go out first—quick-witted ReBeLs order exactly at noon for this very reason. The taunting won’t stop there; you’ll see uploaded pictures of the early birds’ pure happiness.

To get an idea of when you may receive your nail polishes, the first orders received from the first few hours of our pre-order might take several days to ship. No, you’re reading this correctly—days. I will update you on our facebook page about the order time status that we’re packing daily.

Withhold the desire to email me. Please check your email confirmation that your order was received. Run and check your SPAM folder—I did see some emails that were bounced back to me—if you haven’t gotten a conformation, this is the time to email me (like, right now) at ji@rescuebeauty.com, but only at this address. Do not PM me on facebook, VLounge, Instagram, Twitter, or leave comments on this blog. Remember, the more time I’m away from orchestrating the packing party, the further you’ll be withholding the assembly line, which of course, will delay your beauties’ arrival to their new loving home. And you know that I answer every single email that comes my way.

Please don’t make me age with rapidly-appearing wrinkles and dodge my bookkeeper’s angry verbal bullets by cleverly emailing me to see if you can pre-order now, change, edit, add, combine, or subtract orders already placed. It’s impossible to go back, edit, track and process manual transactions—you’ll never get your orders. Oh, speaking of which, this is not our first pre-order event, I’m not going to disappear into the night with your money, nor am I going to lie around the studio lounging and eating bon bons all day. Kindly, do not send me seething emails.

For those of you who missed the pre-order event, after the last pre-orders are out the door, and after I pick myself off the floor and recharge my strength, The Fan Collection will be made available to the public. You will receive our email blast.

We work extremely hard to serve you and my life is on hold (including these blog posts), until every single order is out the door, and ReBeLs—you all know I love my life.

I love you ReBeLs,

xxxPanda mum.

Before every pre-order event takes place, my inboxes become filled with inquiries, and as might be expected, about an hour before the pre-order, our facebook page ignites as if on fire. To avoid any future waves of panic and hysteria, here are some tips about how it all works—oh, and a warm welcome to our newbie ReBeLs!

I will make an announcement via VLounge, facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr to confirm the exact date and time of the pre-order (all our accounts are rescue beauty). Pre-orders are usually held for 48 hours at a time I will choose, and I follow the EST time zone. Since our fans are scattered all over the world and EST can be confusing, click here and enter New York City under “search for city.”

You must sign up on our website under our V.I.P. list to receive email blasts. My pre-order blast will include a special link—which is a hidden link that is not made available to the public—be sure to check your junk/spam folder on the day of the event if you do not receive the email.

You may have a “log in” account on the shopping part of our website, but the sole purpose for this account is a smooth, fast, and easy check out experience. This account has nothing to do with the V.I.P. email blast. I highly recommend opening this account ahead of time to comb through all of your information, make sure we have your correct shipping address, including apartment numbers, and the correct spelling of your email address. You’d be surprised how many people make this mistake. Remember, your log in is not necessarily your email address; we do have a radio button on the log in page for “I forgot my password” just in case.

Please do not use Internet Explorer; it won’t let you load more than one item to your basket. Our website is friends with Safari, Mozilla and Google Chrome.

Naturally, you may order other items other than the new collection, but kindly keep in mind that all pre-orders are pre-paid and we’ll ship your complete order when the new collection arrives.

Be brainy and make a list in advance, especially when you see my announcement, since inventory items may run low. If you have any questions regarding sold out items, click here . Just to warn you, all baskets will be emptied right before the pre-order begins, and remember—I can not edit or combine pre-orders, I beg you to take your time when you place your order and don’t forget to breathe—good luck!

To view the Fan Collection again to perpetually obsess and ponder:

All Lacquered Up

 Kelli Gonzo 

Nails and Noms

Scrangie

My Heart Breaks…

Dear ReBeLs,

I have been truthfully dreading this day for some time, and am full of sorrow as I write this post. Unfortunately, this was inevitable and unavoidable. For the past two-and-a-half years, we’ve been going through some hardships that have arisen due to price increases from all corners of our business, especially involving the manufacturing of our nail polishes.

The nail polish industry is superlatively, gold-rush hot at the moment, ever since the acquisitions of two nail polish company giants that fetched jaw-dropping sums of money. Well, naturally, the labs took notice and so did everyone else. Everyone is jumping into making nail polishes and there are only a handful of labs that are able to produce them. Undeniably, this translates directly to the supply and demand chain and we’re the biggest loser at the end of the line—an artisanal small producer.

I am legendary at the labs for my texture tweaking and obsessive-compulsiveness with regards to colors and this added right into their equations. We fought like warriors, but ultimately, it doesn’t matter that I’ve had over a decade’s worth of a relationship with the labs; they want their money while they’re in demand and they want it now.

By closing the lounge and trimming expenses, we thought we could swing it at least until the end of this year. I’d even researched other labs that charged less, but they’ve failed miserably with my formula and gave me laughable color matches. Am I ready to jeopardize the quality of our formula and my colors? I think you know the answer to that.

A few weeks ago, I had received an email from our lab stating that all the prices of raw ingredients (pigments, micas, glitters: basically anything we need to make nail polishes—which, of course, are extremely costly and used very generously in my formulas) have increased—even tripled!

The labs told us that the only way we can retain our current cost is to “water it down” or “use less” of the ingredients. I’m a one-coater at heart and a firm believer in what you see in the bottle is what you get. It’s embarrassing to admit, but I’m not going to lie; my fat, raindrop tears were covering my keyboard, ok, I was bawling shamelessly.

Truly, I’d rather close our business than water down and use less of the raw ingredients in our nail polishes. We refused the acquisitions inquiries because I didn’t want to lose creative controls that are ruled by matrix spreadsheets and the dictates of colors according to a trend forecast that’s two years ahead.

Where is the fun and creativity in that? Every morning, when I wake up, I jump out of the bed and I am sincerely excited to go to work (as I’ve never experienced before so consistently). My husband has to pry me out of the studio/office at night. I’ve even befriended and have become nearly triumphant at using Quickbooks.

For me, I must continue to use the colors I mix and retain the quality control that I do. This is just the plain insanity of what RBL stands for and I’m always, sincerely, still yours. I grieve that the price of all our nail polishes that will be launching from 2011 onwards will increase to $20 per bottle. This is the first price increase in almost a decade. I pledge that I will never jeopardize the integrity and virtues of what goes into the nail polishes at RBL and I will continue to do exactly what I’ve been doing—sparing no cost and still using the best materials.

Today, I purchased a lipstick for $35, and although I know that this post’s recipients will grieve when it comes to the new prices of our nail polishes— however—is a bottle of nail polish so much different than a small tube of a lipstick? Something to ponder…

As ever (please don’t hurt me),

Ji