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3 Dec 2012

*A* Alter Ego Nail Enamel [Indie Guide Project]


Hi Girls!
I'm so happy to be back with another Indie Brand !
Today I'm presenting you Alter Ego Nail Enamel, by Cynthia !! 


Olá meninas!!
Estou super feliz por hoje vos trazer mais uma marca Indie !

Hoje Apresento-vos a Alter Ego Nail Enamel, da Cynthia !!



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For those who don't know what I am talking about (Follow me through Facebook to know a lot more!) I am making an Indie Guide A-Z! 
This will be a huge project and a enormous pleasure to do! So .. what am I going to do? Everyday, I'm going to show you a different brand of Indie Nail Polishes (and some of their major stockists too!! )

Para quem não sabe do que eu estou a falar ( basta seguirem-me também no Facebook para saberem as novidades em primeira mão ) estou a fazer um Guia de Vernizes Indie.
Este é um projecto enorme e muito trabalhoso que tenho imenso prazer de partilhar convosco!
Então, o que é que vou fazer? Todos os dias, vou-vos mostrar uma marca diferente de vernizes indies com entrevistas com as meninas ( e meninos) que os fazem! Além disso, tambem vos vou trazer entrevistas com as maiores lojas onde eles se vendem!
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Your Name: Cynthia Decker

Brand Name: Alter Ego Nail Enamel

Where are you from? I was born & raised in the NW suburbs of Chicago, moved to the Madison WI area full time about 1997.

When have you started?  I opened my store April 07, 2012.

Is there about a story behind the name of your brand?  At the time I was thinking of what to call my line, I noticed a LOT of polishes names are song lyrics/titles, random phrases, and puns.  I wanted something different, something recognizable and not so forgettable.  I considered several different names, I almost went with naming my enamels after stand up comics, but then I could see myself getting sued for their share of my sales!  So the thought of things people do, the jobs people have, the experiences they have done, thought of doing, wish they could do if they had the nerve, that sort of thing came to mind.     


How many polishes/collections have you created?  I don't have formal collections like most others have, I try to release new colors in small quantities, so far 5-8 at a time. I do not follow the holidays or seasons for the most part.  We all get inundated with promotions during certain times of the year and I have a tendency to tune out all that stuff, so I'm certainly not going to do that to buyers!  I release my colors as they are completed without thought to hold any back just because they may not be appropriate for that particular time of year-that time will roll around again:)  At this time I have 34 different enamels listed. 


Is there a special polish/collection? Why?  They are all special to me:) 
Where you a polish addicted before starting making polishes?  Absolutely! I am old-I started "doin' my nails" when I started high school, that is more than 40 years!    
Did you have a blog before making polishes or have you started one after?  I do not have a blog.  I did start a Facebook page for Alter Ego but try to keep posts to a minimum.  I will post giveaways I have contributed to, nail art, interesting posts by bloggers, tips and hints I know to work, that sort of thing.


Whats your favorite thing about making polishes?  Finally getting what I see my in head into the enamel and that it looks like what I was hoping on the nail!  I have so many ideas rolling around, notes scribbled here and there, at my FT job I send myself emails to remind me of something I'd like to try.

Can you tell us a curious thing that has happened to you with some client or something funny?  Just recently two customers each got a free polish of Alter Ego because I thought I had marked the packages correctly before I labeled them-they did wind up with what was meant for the other:)  They had good humor, patience and understanding for the situation, after all, they each got a freebie for my error!

Is there anything you'd Like to share: 
 Alter Ego is entirely hand created.  I do not use any commercially prepared base, I use my own formula, additives added to top coat.  I am always experimenting, and will continue to do that.  My base is a little heavier, not badly, but heavier than some commercially produced polishes, and believe it or not, lighter than others.    I do make my base ahead of time but no complete polish is "sitting on the shelf", the colorants are not mixed until the enamel has been ordered. 
Back in the day, colorants ALWAYS settled after a time.  Today's modern additives suspend the colorants longer, but they will settle after a time.  There is nothing wrong with the polish when it does this.  When I was younger, polishes were the consistency of my Alter Ego is now-they have thinned out quite a bit in recent years and that is not necessarily a good thing.  If you needed more than 2 coats back then that was not considered a quality polish.
Glitter in polish is a fairly new phenomena-I do not remember them in polishes way back when.  Some polishes had a little shimmer or some pearl effects, but the glitters were added to the wet polish on the nail, not in the bottle.  People need to have patience while the industry catches up to the desire for this look and figure out what glitter bases are solvent resistant. 
People need to understand what reflective lighting does to the appearance of some glitters.  Just because it APPEARS to curl in the bottle does not mean that it does when applied.  Some glitters grab the light and look curled in photographs but does lay flat when applied.
  
Believe your favorite bloggers when they tell you the polish they have reviewed is good enough to purchase. These bloggers have the experience and knowledge needed to honestly review the products, if they did not, they would not last.  Great bloggers do not insult, ridicule or belittle the products they review.  They may explain that they don't like a particular color or finish but will still give a fair and honest review.  The best bloggers will phrase discrepancies and issues they find kindly and with intelligence.  As their readers, it is up to us to discern what the bloggers observations are and decide if we want to purchase that product.  I personally will read several different reviews of the same polish before I decide to purchase, I want as much information and opinions as possible.
It seems the buyer accepts far more imperfection from a commercially manufactured product than they do from a indie maker.  Indie makers are not gods/goddesses and we do not have access to crystal balls-yes, occasionally a bad apple pops up but their poor quality and bad attitude is quickly found out and they do not last long.  Burning all indie makers at the stake for these few is not fair, not decent, it should not be considered the normal mode of operation.  If a buyer has a problem, by all means, contact the indie maker, the indie maker needs to know!  State your case with the facts as you see it, if the issue is something you can photograph please do that and attach the photos so the issue can be seen and better understood by the maker, and accept a compromise if that is all the indie maker can offer.  Indie makers, myself included, are just people  and we respond far more quickly and generously if we are approached as if we made a honest error and not that we tried to steal the buyers hard earned money from them!  We are consumers and customers ourselves, we will treat you as you treat us:) 
For most indie makers, their lines are part time for many years while they build up their business.  We work 40+ hours full time and work on our lines in our spare time so please have patience and understanding for that.  Not every indie maker can immediately respond to questions and comments.

^^ Now onto some swatches ^^


Alter Ego - Candy Cane

This polish must be in a Christmas Classics lists! As soon as I saw it I knew if was deliciously cute!


I have a (HUGE) sweet teeth and candy canes are indeed a craving! I haven't eaten a traditional american candy cane for years now and I do crave it a lot! Nhom Nhom Nhom




Well about the polish: This is a white  & red bar glitter mixture suspended in a milky white base. I thought it would curl or be hard to apply but it wasn't. 
I had the care of shaking it very well before using as it had been traveling in weird positions for a week or so (Cynthia sends her orders with a instructions card of how to mix! How cool?!). 







When applying it was easy to use and the bars spread amazingly well! Never thought it would be this easy. 


Also, the bars don't curl and the surface if quite smooth to the touch.  I thought I was going to need to use Gelous but it wasn't necessary. Also, for such a glitter It dried in 5min. I applied 3 coats over the brown base ( Kinetics Beige Anyway )and 2 coats over the green base. 




Este verniz devia estar numa lista de vernizes Clássicos de Natal. Desde o primeiro momento que o vi que o achei deliciosamente amoroso!

Eu tenho uma queda (ENORME!) por doces e as canas de açucar americanas são de facto um objecto de desejo! Já não como uma há anos e apetece-me imenso uma! Nham Nham Nham






Bem, acerca do verniz: é uma mistura de glitter de barra vermelho e branco numa base branca leitosa. Pensei que as barrinhas fossem encurvar mas não. Incrivel. 

Tive o cuidado de abanar imenso o frasquinho antes de o usar porque ele viajou cerca de uma semana em posições estranhas e eu não quis arriscar (A Cyntia envia, junto com a encomenda, um papelinho com instruções de como abanar o frasquinho e o que fazer caso fique grosso! Que fixe!).

Quando o apliquei achei que correu muito bem, espalhou-se facilmente e vinham imensas barrinhas de cada vez que ia lá com o pincel. 
As barrinhas não encurvaram, o acabamento ficou macio e nada rugoso ou com piquinhos, ao contrário do que eu temia que acontecesse. Nem usei gelous, que tinha ali à mão, caso fosse necessário. Apliquei 3 camadas sobre o castanho clarinho (Kinetics Beige Anyway ) e 2 camadas sobre o Purple n.52 Verde.





Alter Ego Olympic Contender


 Another super cool shade from Alter Ego! This is a multicolored glitter in a transparent base.


The Glitters are based on the 5 Olympic Colors! Such a funny Idea! 

Mais uma linda cor, da Alter Ego! Um glitter multicolorido com as 5 cores dos jogos Olímpicos numa base transparente.


This is a small round regular glitter, in 5 shades and spreads amazing over the nail. I Applied it over a mint green (Peggy Sage Caribbean) with 1 coat and by itself - 3 coats. 


As you can see both looks are equally beautiful and the surface ended up being smoother than I though it would be. Perfect spread and fast drying time! Loved it! 




Este lindo tem glitter pequeno em 5 tons, as cores dos aros dos jogos Olímpicos. Fica lindíssimo na unha e o glitter espalha-se bastante bem. Apliquei 1 camada sobre o Caribbean da Peggy Sage  e na unha do anelar 3 camadas do Olympic Contender sozinho.

Como podem ver pelas fotos, ambas as opções ficam girissimas e a superfície ficou menos rugosa do que o que eu estava à espera. Os glitters espalharam-se muito bem, não tive qualquer problema sendo o tempo de secagem de cerca de 3 minutos. Adorei-o!






Alter Ego - Naval Navigator


Last but not the least this IS my favorite polish of them all!

It might be my favorite Alter Ego!



Its so pretty and deep! In the shade it has a deep starry sky look and in the sun looks like a gorgeous glitter filled gelly.


 Its amazing to apply! Once, again, I gave it a couple shakes and it applied evenly. 2 coats for full opacity  no top coat in this pictures ( amazing right? )!

I will use it again, obviously! I was swatching Alter Egos and a couple of others and I had to make a huge afford to take it off!



Thank you Cynthia for making this piece of heaven!




Para último, deixei o meu preferido dos três e talvez o meu preferido de todos os lindinhos da Cynthia. O Naval Navigator tem um azul profundo e maravilhoso! Um acabamento digno de joia.


À sombra assemelha-de a um azul escuro de noite sem estrelas e ao sol tranforma-se num lindo gelly repleto de glitter.  Super facil de aplicar. Mais uma vez abanei-o e o glitter espalhou-se maravilhosamente! 2 camadas para este resultado, sem top coat nas fotos.




Vou mesmo ter que o usar de novo... Testei-o no meio de uma sessão de swatches e este doeu mesmo ter que tirar!





Alter Ego Nail Enamel Contacts

 Stockists: too many suppliers to name!

SALE:     During all day today, all purchases from Alter Ego Enamel Store will have a total discount of 20% with the code: a-z123112 ! 
Happy Shopping!!!

PROMOÇÃO: Durante todo o dia de hoje, todas as compras na loja da Alter Ego Nail Enamel vão ter um desconto total de 20% com o código a-z123112



Personal Notes from Betty:

Girls, Cynthia is such a nice person! And she is so cool!! A couple days ago she said (wrote) something that makes me laugh until now ( I'm lol'ing). Me and a couple other girls were talking in a nail polish group and one of them  said I was a liar (she was kidding) well.. then Cynthia intervened and said "hey hey no name calling !" Oh man I loled a lot! I know this may seem normal to US girls but for me, no one had ever used this expression in a conversation I was on (I'm Portuguese as you know)! I listen to this expression a lot in american comedy series and I relate it to funny moments! Thank you so much Cynthia, for being always so supportive to me, for being a friend, for being so funny and for being the first to like my cat's pictures! :D
Once again I  show my total support for Indie Makers and my full respect for their work.
I will not translate the interviews because words and meanings get lost in translation. I hope you understand. Please pm me or comment bellow if you have any doubts. 

If you are an Indie Maker and wont to participate in the project, please contact me through Facebook or email (blog.bettynails@gmail.com). You are still in time! 
Don't Forget to come tomorrow ! 

I'll have an Interview with Rockstar nails


Notas da Betty:

Meninas... a Cyntia é um espectáculo de pessoa! É simpática, prestativa e super divertida! Há uns dias atrás disse(escreveu) uma coisa que me faz rir até este momento! Estava a conversar num grupo de vernizes com uma menina ao que essa moça me chamou mentirosa na brincadeira. Num rompante, a Cynthia fez uma intervenção memorável : "No name calling here"  - "não se chamam nomes aqui"! Porque é que foi tão divertido? Porque eu estou muito habituada a ver séries americanas de comédia e acho sempre divertida a expressão e claro, nunca a tinha ouvido numa conversa comigo, quando ela disse achei um must! Um super obrigado à Cynthia, que eu já conheço há bastante tempo e que sempre foi muito muito prestativa e uma boa amiga! Obrigado!

O blog ( e eu claro! ) apoia totalmente as marcas Indies e agradece o apoio de  todas as meninas ( e meninos) que me ajudaram e estão a apoiar o meu projecto! Tenho imenso respeito por elas e pelo seu trabalho tão bonito.

Não vou traduzir as entrevistas que estão em Inglês.. acho que as palavras e os significados se perdem nas traduções. Espero que compreendam. Qualquer dúvida podem mandar-me uma msg privada ou deixar aqui em baixo nos comentários.

*Se fazes vernizes e queres participar no projecto não deixes de me contactar! Basta enviar uma msg no Facebook do blog ou pelo email (Blog.bettynails@gmail.com). Ainda vais a tempo!
Não se esqueçam de fazer like e seguir a Página do Facebook do blog porque lá vão vendo todas as novidades! 

Apareçam por cá amanhã! Entrevista com a RockStar Nails

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I hope you loved today's Post!
What was your favorite part? Let me know all in the comment section bellow! 
 Please do comment, follow and share if  you liked, your feedback is very important to me and to all the girls that invested in this project!
Kisses & See you tomorrow !

Espero que tenham amado! o post de hoje!

Qual foi a vossa parte preferida?
Contem-me tudo nos comentários abaixo! Se gostaram por favor comentem, sigam e partilhem! 
O vosso feedback é muito muito importante, não só para mim como para todas as  pessoas que  se envolveram no projecto.

Beijocas e Até amanha!! 




*This is a post for the Guide A-Z :Indie Brands*
You can find all the info in the Guide A-Z Indie Brands Page,on the top of the Blog, or check  the Indie Guide Tag

*This Polishes were sent to me as a personal Gift*

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