EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with Sami of INCIDENTAL TWIN

FOREWORD : 

Hi there, my darlings! As part of the current indie featured giveaway with Incidental Twin, I will be posting a review of a selection of the brand's products soon! But in the meantime, here's an exclusive interview with the maker, so people can get a little glimpse into the world of the face behind the brand! How can one get to know a brand without getting to know the maker a little, right? So, I present to you my interview with Sami of Incidental Twin! Read on for a peek into the woman behind the brand!





1. How did you first get into making polish?


Accidentally! A few years ago, I was living in a city I didn't like and couldn't find a job, so I was broke most of the time. There was a Walgreens a few blocks away and I'd cheer myself up by buying nail polish, so the collection got really big really fast and I started looking for polishes I didn't already own or didn't already have dupes of. I was looking at nail blogs and came across the word "frankenpolish", and then I discovered through Google that you didn't have to start with store-made nailpolish--you could get all the supplies and do it FROM SCRATCH. Within three months I'd opened Incidental Twin from my desk in the living room and launched my first three lines--the original five Firefly colors, the first five Doctor Who colors (one of which is still a best seller!), and the Metalurges line, three sparkly glitter topcoats.



2. What was the inspiration for the name "INCIDENTAL TWIN"? Is there a story behind the name?


Well, at the time that I discovered that indie polish was a thing, I was living with my best friend for almost a decade, and we'd developed so many injokes that people thought we were speaking twin-speak. One time, someone asked if we were twins, and we said yes, from different mothers, in different states. We were incidental twins. When I needed a name for the shop, that was the first thing I thought of!


3. What inspires your collections (or where do you look for inspiration)? What inspired your latest collection? Any hints/ideas about upcoming collections?


My collections are half-planned and half-whim. For instance, I've had on my calendar for ages that I was going to do something for Limitless in February, because I love that show, but I also did a set of four for Nikita and a set of four because I read A Gathering Of Shadows and the book-hangover was so strong I HAD to do something. (Seriously, go read that book)

I get impressions of books and TV and people and music--these combinations of color and pattern or texture--so when I see something that sparks a lot of impressions, I just HAVE to make polishes for them. That's where I get my inspiration--geeky TV, mostly, or books, movies, sometimes comics, sometimes music (I have SO MANY Florence + the Machine colors now). Most recently, 12 Monkeys has been updated with the most new colors in that line. It's a very visual show with a whole lot of neat ideas, and it keeps poking me to make more. The MCU colors, especially Loki Stole My Feels, are very popular and always getting updated. I'm going to be adding a Women of Marvel line starting this month, and Deadpool is practically asking personally for a color! I've also got some Dresden Files colors, and a Breakfast Club line on the list for March!





4. Do you have a favorite indie maker(s)? Favorite mainstream brand?


I LOVE the colors ILNP makes. Those were the first duochromes and multichromes I saw, and I'm super annoyed that I can't usually afford those pigments for my own polishes! I like Black Label Nails--she uses the same bottles as me, so we sort of bonded and help each other out, PLUS she has great colors. Indigo Bananas makes polishes that aren't like anyone else's. Gothic Gala makes awesome colors. Digital Nails has colors I keep missing out on buying because I take too long and miss the restocks! Which reminds me, I should check on that, it's been ages...
Mainstream, I'm so cheap. I like Sinful Colors and Pure Ice because they update with new colors all the time and cost almost nothing. I like those really awful ones from dollar stores (and I love when dollar stores or flea markets have like Chinese or Korean brands I can't get anywhere else). My fav, though, is probably Kleancolor and their hundreds of metallics and glitters!


5. What are your go-to products for nail/cuticle care?


I don't fuss a lot with cuticle care, though I probably should do more. I use normal off the shelf polish remover, and I swear my cocobutter for all skin needs. Or just straight coconut oil, the same you use for food. I do love the idea of cuticle oils, and I'm going to try some out and see if they're worth adding to the shop this year!


6. What are your favorite colors? In general? For summer? For fall?


In general, I'm a sucker for that hipster teal blue--I can't tell you how many bluey-green polishes I've bought, and you can see how many I've made! I also love emerald green and peacock blue, and duochromes or color-shifts are good for year round use. For summer, I like brighter colors--oranges and reds and more primary blues and greens. I'm always looking for a good yellow, but they're hard to find opaque and even harder to make, and if the color isn't good, it just looks like you have nicotine nails! For fall, I love classic fall colors. Fall is my favorite time of the year, all jewel-tones and red-orange-gold, and steampunky shades.


7. This may be hard--but which are your 3 favorite creations so far?


Oh, man, this would probably change if you asked me tomorrow, or next week, or next month. Right now, I'm feeling Devil's Claw, a half-matte black-based duochrome I first made for the Polish of the Month Club, the Nebula colors (especially Triffid Nebula and Eagle Nebula, but all of them are so cool), and probably DoctorWho50th, which is blue on blue and so much fun!


8. Do you have any other hobbies? Are you involved with any other clubs, associations, or recreational activities?



I'm a writer! It's supposed to be my main job, but nail polish is an easier sell and I can make a lot more new polishes than I can books! I've got three novels and a few other things up on Amazon--look for Samantha Holloway. I also sometimes paint, I crochet, I run a fandom website called Professional Fangirl, I journal and I'm a planner junkie, and I love to travel, but I don't get to much anymore. I'm also a tea snob, I like wandering around flea markets, I like cooking, I like wearing and making jewelry...

I feel like I should focus more...


9. What is your most favorite thing about being an indie maker? What are some of the challenges? What advice would you give to people considering starting their own brand? Overall, are you happy with your decision to get into the indie polish world?


Oh man, I'm SO happy with it! I've met some great people and I'm still so excited to make new lines even though I put out new colors almost every month--I was a little scared that it would start feeling like "work" and I'd get bored, but it's not at all like that. My fav part is probably a tie between talking to all the people who love the same things I do, and having this constant outlet for all the colors that pile up in my head! Now everyone can understand what I'm talking about when I say someone is green, or shimmery, or whatever.





10. Fun facts : 

Astrological sign : Gemini! Monkey in the Chinese zodiac, so this is My Year! 

Favorite comfort food : I really love food, so this is gonna be a list instead of one thing: tiramisu or cannolli, gnocchi, fresh baked cookies, fudgy brownies, hungarian goulash, bean buns, chocolate almost anything, cheesecake, cocoa, pie, yaki soba...oh my god, I'm hungry now. 

Favorite beauty item besides polish : I don't know if they still make it, but Avon had this stuff called Magix, that was the best face primer I ever used. Benefit has this Some Kinda Gorgeous stuff that's half foundation and half face cream, and I love it so much. My favorite eyeliner is actually an old-fashioned style hard mascara from the Vermont Country Store Apothecary that I don't even remember where or when I picked it up, but it's so black and makes such good lines. 

Favorite fragrance : I got a sample one time of Yves St Laurent Parisenne, and it's SO NICE, but I can't afford it. My fav scents are rose, fruity scents, amber, and sandalwood, so it kind of hits all my bests! The one I wear most often is Rebel Rose from Avon, or various ones from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab--I like Annabelle Lee, Glasgow, and Bastet from them, but really, there's hundreds more I haven't got yet that I think I would die for. 

Favorite vacation destination : The UK! I'd move back to stay in a second, if I could! Favorite celebrity : Tom Hiddleston and Aaron Stanford, and David Tennant. 

Favorite family member or friend (you can pick one of each) : My sister Lin and my besties Hayden and Susen. 

Most recent read : I just finished The Reluctant Tuscan last night, and even tho everything he tried to do went wrong, it made me want to move to Italy! 

Most recent movie you loved : Deadpool! Oh my god, so much fun. 

Favorite TV show and character : This is a golden age for television, so I don't think I can pick one. If you go by how often I talk about it, 12 Monkeys and Cole by a landslide. If you go by how much brain space they take up, Blindspot, Limitless, Sleepy Hollow, Scorpion, Stitchers, Doctor Who, Sherlock, Dark Matter, Killjoys, and Agent Carter catch up with the Monkeys. That's by no means all the shows I love tho; I livetweet TV, so there's something almost every night of the week that I watch! I'm still carrying torches for Firefly and Farscape, too. 

If you won a million dollars, first thing you would buy is : Well, the very first thing I would spend it on is paying off my decade of school loans, but the first thing I'd do for myself would probably be renewing my passport and visiting friends overseas! It feels like a human rights violation how expensive it is to get to another country, when I have people I want to see there!


So there you have it, my darlings! A little glimpse into the world of Sami of Incidental Twin!


I have a review of our custom duo shortly but in the meantime, don't forget to enter our giveaway HERE!


As always, I'm thrilled to hear from you, so don't hesitate to leave me your thoughts in the comments section below!



Until next time,
<3
B





No comments

Back to Top