Working with Bulk Nail Polish

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It is shockingly easy and affordable to work with uncolored, bulk nail polish base to make your own unique creations.

Our company started selling the material in early 2011.  I had noticed that there customers were talking about making "Frankenpolish" where they would blend together polishes from different manufacturers -- a half a bottle of an Essie green, a quarter bottle of an OPI gold, and top it off with some Sally Hansen!

They were having such a blast but my immediate thought was:  Gee that looks expensive.  They should be working with the uncolored base and add our mica powders to it.  So, we made that happen.

As with any DIY craft, it can be hard to scale up from making a few fun polishes with friends to actually running a business.  Among the many problems, concerns and tasks that crop up is coming to see yourself as a manufacturer.  That means understanding that you are working with a material which will have variations "batch to batch" and learning ways to work with that.

The main issues that come up for Indie polish companies, as far as I can tell:

  1. Ingredients List 
  2. Mixing in colors (clumping or streaking) of colors
  3. Viscosity of the base
  4. Reaction of additives
  5. Photography
  6. Labeling
  7. Shelf life
I will be happy to address these various issues in future blog posts.  Feel free to leave feedback letting me know any specific questions or concerns you might have and I will do my best to give you complete answers.

Kaila Westerman
TKB Trading, LLC



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