Two and a half years ago, my husband got a new job, and we moved from the Minneapolis area to a “small” town in central Wisconsin. Living three hours away from family and friends left us with a lot more down time. My husband said I should get a hobby. At the same time, my family asked me to try and come up with some ideas for what they could get me for Christmas. I don’t know how exactly, but I stumbled upon a polish making forum on the Purse Blog. I was hooked immediately. Believe it or not, before making polish, I hadn’t really worn nail polish since I was in junior high. I had always had problems getting it to stay on my nails. Right away, I started making regular nail polish and sandwiching it between gel polish base and top coats. Now I could get a full week of wear, and use my creations.
2. What was the inspiration for the name "Limitless Lacquer"?
Just as I was getting started, I had some friends from Minneapolis come to visit. We sat around my dining room table and made polish for almost the entire weekend. Seeing how much fun they were having made me want to get into polish making that much more. Up to that point, I hadn’t come up with a name. Through some brainstorming, my friends helped me come up with the name Limitless Lacquer. I think the name fits my brand perfectly because rather than make a large number of bottles with the same formula, I would much rather make individual creations. With all of the glitter and pigment choices, the possibilities for making unique polishes are limitless!
3. What inspires your collections (or where do you look for inspiration)? What inspired your latest collection? Any hints/ideas about upcoming collections?
I have yet to come out with seasonal collections (at least on Etsy). I tend to focus on creating singular, unique polishes. For friends and family, I have made multiple small, one of a kind, collections based on their individual preferences.
4. Do you have a favorite indie maker(s)? Favorite mainstream brand?
I have never actually bought any other indie polish (it is terrible, I know). I now do have a nice collection of mainstream RNP (about 250 bottles) and SOG (about 80 bottles). As far as RNP, I probably have the most bottles of Revlon and China Glaze. For SOG, I really like RCM, Gelish, and FingerPaints. I also recently got the thermal gel collection from Bundle Monster, and I absolutely LOVE them.
5. What are your go-to products for nail/cuticle care?
I cannot stand filing my nails. I think it could be used as a form of torture. I use clippers to trim and shape my nails whenever possible. I try to avoid filing at all costs. I’m not loyal to any particular brand, but I do try to apply cuticle oil every day. I use NailMates to help soak off my weekly gel polish manicures.
6. What are your favorite colors? In general? For summer? For fall?
I teach middle school science, so I can get away with wearing bright and glittery polishes at work, all year round. I love anything with holographic glitter. I tend to gravitate towards blues, teals and purples. Although, sometimes I’ll wear pink or green to switch things up. In the winter, I like to wear more dark purple and black base colors with a lot of glitter thrown in.
7. This may be hard--but which are your 3 favorite creations so far?
Currently, my favorites are: Blue, Purple and Teal Glitter in a Blackened Base; Blue Jelly with Black Holographic Glitter; and the Neon Lights topper.
I know that I need to work on naming my creations. Since I usually only make one or two of each polish I make, that means I’ll need to come up with a bunch of names.
8. Do you have any other hobbies? Are you involved with any other clubs, associations, or recreational activities?
Polish making is still my hobby. My job is teaching 8th grade science. This year, some of my students asked if we could make polish for a science lab. I suggested we start a club instead. We now have 28 girls in our club, which I think is the only school-based nail polish making club in the world (I did some internet searches, and I couldn’t find any other clubs). We are calling our group Shimmer ‘n Shine. We are just starting out, but our initial plan is to make 300 bottles of polish. Half we’ll keep, and half we’ll sell to people at school.
9. What is your most favorite thing about being a new 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?
I love being able to share my creations with others. It is neat seeing other people wearing the polish that I have made. I also really like to be able to create custom polish for people. There is something really neat about wearing something that absolutely no one else has.
For me, the biggest challenge is finding time to actually be creative and come up with new mixes. Teaching responsibilities keep me pretty busy during the school year, so I am most productive during the summer.
I love selling polish on Etsy, but I also sometimes get tired of making the “same” mixes over and over. I would much rather make custom polishes, but I understand that it can be hard for a buyer to place an order for polish if they don’t have an idea of what the final product looks like. I wish it was easier (and cost effective) to list more one of a kind bottles on Etsy, but right now, it isn’t feasible for me. I make each bottle individually as they are ordered, so there is some slight variation from bottle to bottle, yet I try to replicate the polish as posted as closely as I can.
I think it is neat that my hobby can (somewhat) financially support itself. I tend to put money I make from selling polish back into buying new supplies, glitters, and pigments. I really enjoy making polish, and I look forward to growing my brand.
10. Fun facts :
Astrological sign : Virgo (but I don’t believe in astrology)
Favorite comfort food : Pizza. I make pizza dough from scratch almost every week. I even worked at Papa John’s when I was younger. When I worked there, I ate pizza every day.
Favorite beauty item besides polish : I don’t wear a ton of makeup, but I do wear Physicians Formula Happy Booster Illuminating Bronzing Veil almost every day. It is the perfect shade for me.
Favorite fragrance : right now it is Oahu Coconut Sunset from BBW, I also like Forever Red and White Citrus.
Favorite vacation destination : My favorite vacation I ever went on was to Thailand. I’d love to travel back there, but it takes so long to travel there, so I don’t know when I’ll be able to make it back. The past three years, my husband and I have taken a trip to different small towns in Mexico. I hope to travel to Mexico again this year.
Favorite candy : Junior Mints or Mint M&Ms
Favorite celebrity : I don’t really follow much celebrity new/gossip. As nerdy as it is, I am a fan of Bill Nye and Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Favorite family member or friend (you can pick one of each) : This is a hard question to answer, but I’ll choose my answers based on who has been most supportive of my polish making. My sister has been instrumental in me sharing my polish with the world. She has helped me create mixes and has supported my business by wearing (and sharing) my polish. My husband, Tony, has been my most supportive “friend” when it comes to my polish making. He has let me take over a spare bedroom with all of my polish making supplies and doesn’t mind when I spend hours in the room working.
Most recent read : I am in a book club, and the book we read last month was “The Storied Life of AJ Fikry” by Gabrielle Zevin. I loved it!
Most recent movie you loved : I can watch the new Star Trek movies over and over. I also enjoy Office Space and The Fugitive.
Favorite TV show and character : I have seen pretty much every episode of all Law and Order series ever made. I can tell within 30 seconds of the episode whether I have seen it before or not. I really like to binge watch shows on Netflix and Hulu. I’m currently working my way through Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and House of Cards.
If you won a million dollars, first thing you would buy is : I would love to take a large group of family and friends on a vacation.
So there you have it, my darlings! A little glimpse into the world of Rachel of Limitless Lacquer!
Stay tuned for my review of several polishes from her! In the meantime, you can check out her shop 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
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