Down the Indie Rabbit Hole

[meaganola]

Another music-based collection someone needs to let me curate in addition to the grunge one:  glam rock.  ALL of the glitter.  It could called the Stardust on Mars collection.  (Yes, it *is* nearing the time I go on my annual T.Rex/Suzi Quatro/Sweet/New York Dolls kick!  Why do you ask?)  (Also, if Jeffrey and Tim are out, this means I can crank "20th Century Boy," right?  The crunch of that first guitar chord gets me *every single time*.  I should make it a message tone for my phone.)

 

[kawaiimeows]

Another music-based collection someone needs to let me curate in addition to the grunge one:  glam rock.  ALL of the glitter.  It could called the Stardust on Mars collection.  (Yes, it *is* nearing the time I go on my annual T.Rex/Suzi Quatro/Sweet/New York Dolls kick!  Why do you ask?)  (Also, if Jeffrey and Tim are out, this means I can crank "20th Century Boy," right?  The crunch of that first guitar chord gets me *every single time*.  I should make it a message tone for my phone.)

This sounds great, you should just start making makeup, or become someone's artistic director basically.

 

[yousoldtheworld]

I want all of the music collections (I really want a pure punk collection. Ramones, Dead Kennedies, Sex Pistols, Misfits, ALL OF IT). And also all of the literature collections.

I would love a series of collections, each based on a literature genre/movement/period.

 

[meaganola]

This sounds great, you should just start making makeup, or become someone's artistic director basically.

I've actually wanted to do that since high school (back then, I thought the best I could hope for would be a job naming colors.  Back then, there wasn't any such thing as indies!).  I just have NO CLUE where to start.

 

[kawaiimeows]

I've actually wanted to do that since high school (back then, I thought the best I could hope for would be a job naming colors.  Back then, there wasn't any such thing as indies!).  I just have NO CLUE where to start.

Right??? I honestly think my life dream would be to make things, anything, I just find it relaxing. I'm too anxious to ever try something "risky" like going out in the wild world of etsy where I'm open to the public, and freak out when I think about how I would even start.

 

[meaganola]

Right??? I honestly think my life dream would be to make things, anything, I just find it relaxing. I'm too anxious to ever try something "risky" like going out in the wild world of etsy where I'm open to the public, and freak out when I think about how I would even start.

My big stumbling block is figuring out what the rules and mechanics of things are:  What sort of facility do I need to package the shadows in jars (because I'm sure that my spare room is not an option)?  Once they're packaged in jars, could I just have them in my spare room for easy order fulfillment?  Where do I order stuff from?  *What* do I order?  How do I figure out what to mix together to make just the right color?  I've been doing eBay and BPAL decant circles for years, so etsy doesn't scare me as far as being open to the public go, and neither does shipping stuff out, but I have no clue how to formulate stuff, what the sanitation rules are, *anything* about color theory, etc.  I get kind of panicky (and sometimes forgetful, depending on how panicky I get) about pending things, so another thing would be that I would want everything all packaged and ready to just be stuck in an envelope and labeled so orders can go out immediately.  None of this weeks-long TAT.  I can't deal with that. 

(In my dream world, I could put fifty sets of something up on a Wednesday/Thursday, have them all sell by Friday night, and then I would spend Saturday and Sunday processing the shipping labels.  They would be sold only in sets, and the sets would be all packed up down to being *in the shipping envelopes* before they go up for sale so literally all I would have to do is generate a shipping label, slap it on, and drop it in the mail.  I could easily find myself getting into a sub, too.  I just don't have a clue where to start with *any* of this.)

 

[kawaiimeows]

I always thought an interesting shop concept would be to make limited batches of something, say "okay i'm going to make 100 lipsticks" and then sell them, then close shop and ship everything out, make something again, sell it again. So things wouldn't be made to order, but vice versa. I don't mind TATs as a buyer, but I could never deal with that as a creator, I get too anxious easily. But I totally agree, making makeup is kind of like chemistry! And I never did well in chemistry. Plus I've been reading that some states (like Florida) have very tedious and expensive licensing involved for selling cosmetics.

I've thought about these kinds of things for wedding items. I found it SO easy to make things that are going for high dollar on etsy (probably DIYed the majority of my wedding) and I'm sitting here like "why don't I try selling this stuff." I'll probably just forever wonder.

 

[meaganola]

I always thought an interesting shop concept would be to make limited batches of something, say "okay i'm going to make 100 lipsticks" and then sell them, then close shop and ship everything out, make something again, sell it again. So things wouldn't be made to order, but vice versa.

Yes!  This is exactly what I meant but probably failed at saying!  I just have no idea how to put things into motion.  (I actually kind of get the impression that this make-a-batch-then-sell-out-then-close-shop-while-making-the-next-batch model is how Haunt does things.)

ETA:  (And, yeah, making makeup is kind of like chemistry, but cooking is a form of chemistry, and I'm a decent cook, so I figure makeup chemistry should be something I can handle!)

 

[kawaiimeows]

Yes!  This is exactly what I meant but probably failed at saying!  I just have no idea how to put things into motion.  (I actually kind of get the impression that this make-a-batch-then-sell-out-then-close-shop-while-making-the-next-batch model is how Haunt does things.)   ETA:  (And, yeah, making makeup is kind of like chemistry, but cooking is a form of chemistry, and I'm a decent cook, so I figure makeup chemistry should be something I can handle!)

I think its has the potential to be a good shop concept. Might not be as much money made *up front* but people might pester less about order statuses and TATs and might lead to less frustration in the long run (though I do think *most* people who order form indie sellers expect a wait).

Also that's a really good point! I absolutely love cooking and just combining a bunch of random things and seeing how it turns out. Baking, not so much, because you have to be so precise.

 

[ohsailor]

Yes! Bonfire Pumpkins and Cinderella's Carriage are my absolute favorites of ANY scent. Any of the ones they have with Marshmallow in the name are great too. Black Cat in a Pumpkin Patch, Black Kittens, and

Thank you both so much! There's a reason I consider you my Indie Queens /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

I don't know why I got cut off here, but I was going to say "and there's one called Cozy-something, I think Cozy Blanket" Come-hither is also one of my favorites. And I totally forgot to mention Marshmallow Fireside, too, as one of my top favorites. Also, ask for their version of "Saint." it's delicious.

In my opinion you can't go wrong with any of these- the cat ones are the only ones that I think will vary on who likes it, but like you said, we share similar tastes /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[kaitlin1209]

Some sales I got emails or notifications about this week:

Eccentric Cosmetics: BOXINGDAYSALE for 35% off an order of $10 or more through Tues Dec. 30th. Which is sometime during the 29th EST due to the time difference in Oz.

Kiss My Sass: IMONLY27 for 27% off an order of $32 or more through Dec 29th. (27% off $32 is about $8.64).

Polish TBH is having a 45% off sale to clear inventory prior to her family conducting a cross country move.

Rainbow Honey: LOVE-RH-20 to get 20% off thru Sunday 12/28 at midnight. 

 

[greendaisy]

Got my Brazen Cosmetics order today. The mattes I tried are chalky feeling and don't blend very well, but they have great pigmentation and staying power without a primer. 

Her metallic glittery liquid lipsticks are fantastic, but I was disappointed by the lack of opacity on the non-shimmery red one. They take a while to do so, but they dry down enough that my lipstick even survived eating with only some noticeable inner lip wear (and when I eat just about every lipstick ever fades away and dies). 

 

[kawaiimeows]

I had an idea I wanted to run by y'all since it would primarily help this part of the forum - in my community manager training I learned there's a whole section for creating acronyms, basically so far they've been utilized for  WnW, MUFE, BB, and UD if I remember correctly - basically these words show up as underlined and when you move your cursor over it, it shows you what the acronym stands for.

I was thinking that since this subforum is acronym heavy it might be helpful for newbies, but I wasn't sure if this was something y'all would find annoying. Would love thoughts!

 

[Bflopolska]

So...what exactly is the shelf life of a sealed container of mineral makeup? Apparently during the late Autumn of 2012 I put several eyeshadows and a blush from In Your Face, a 3-in-1 face color and lip tint from Mum Mum's Crafts, and a couple of shadows and a lip tint from Simplicity Cosmetics into an empty Sample Society box so I could remember what I did with them. I found them yesterday clearing a bunch of junk out of the kitchen. Only the Simplicity lip tint was opened but it doesn't have a nasty aroma or taste and went on evenly just now.

 

[yousoldtheworld]

I had an idea I wanted to run by y'all since it would primarily help this part of the forum - in my community manager training I learned there's a whole section for creating acronyms, basically so far they've been utilized for  WnW, MUFE, BB, and UD if I remember correctly - basically these words show up as underlined and when you move your cursor over it, it shows you what the acronym stands for.

I was thinking that since this subforum is acronym heavy it might be helpful for newbies, but I wasn't sure if this was something y'all would find annoying. Would love thoughts!

I think that'd be good, and would probably cut down on the confusion and repeated questions.

 

[kawaiimeows]

I think that'd be good, and would probably cut down on the confusion and repeated questions.

Good! I'm personally of the opinion that they are helpful and "out of the way" so to speak - but I didn't want to put them in and shock everyone, I imagine it would be quite a noticeable change since there are A LOT of acronyms used around here ahahah.

 

[yousoldtheworld]

So...what exactly is the shelf life of a sealed container of mineral makeup? Apparently during the late Autumn of 2012 I put several eyeshadows and a blush from In Your Face, a 3-in-1 face color and lip tint from Mum Mum's Crafts, and a couple of shadows and a lip tint from Simplicity Cosmetics into an empty Sample Society box so I could remember what I did with them. I found them yesterday clearing a bunch of junk out of the kitchen. Only the Simplicity lip tint was opened but it doesn't have a nasty aroma or taste and went on evenly just now.

I have products that are open that I've had for probably 5 years, honestly, and they're fine. I wouldn't worry about sealed ones at all...dry products can last indefinitely. I will use anything that doesn't look, smell, or taste different.

 

[greendaisy]

So...what exactly is the shelf life of a sealed container of mineral makeup? Apparently during the late Autumn of 2012 I put several eyeshadows and a blush from In Your Face, a 3-in-1 face color and lip tint from Mum Mum's Crafts, and a couple of shadows and a lip tint from Simplicity Cosmetics into an empty Sample Society box so I could remember what I did with them. I found them yesterday clearing a bunch of junk out of the kitchen. Only the Simplicity lip tint was opened but it doesn't have a nasty aroma or taste and went on evenly just now.

Theoretically minerals and pigments don't go bad. It's usually oils, fats, and other additives that go bad. Even then, things have a much longer shelf life when they aren't getting added bacteria from the people that use them. As long as they don't smell bad/look or taste off you're probably a-okay

 

[kawaiimeows]

Okay, acronyms have been updated. Still taking feedback if it ends up being a mess, if I screwed something up, if I need to add something etc.

 

[meaganola]

Okay, acronyms have been updated. Still taking feedback if it ends up being a mess, if I screwed something up, if I need to add something etc.

Ooh, nifty!  I'm guessing you're talking about the acronyms like in the glossary here:

https://www.makeuptalk.com/f/topic/135163-indie-glossary/

Are those the ones that were updated?  Because I'm not seeing them show up with hover-over stuff in that first post (where I tried to corral all of them in one place), but I don't know whether this would be retroactive.