Holiday!!

Wow- it's been a long time since I've blogged.  There's so much different, and new on the SN site!
We've added the Holiday collection to the site, and it's a big one.  The biggest addition is the clone set of the Urban Decay Naked Palette.

One of my biggest Christmas memories as a kid was when the Cabbage Patch Kids were all the rage.  I remember waiting in line for the local department store to open to see if we could get our hands on the doll.  It was a mess- and one woman even bit another one just to get the doll.

We couldn't get the original ones that year- there just weren't any to be had, and this was well before eBay, so my Mother stayed up late for many weeks and made us the dolls, by hand.  She made birth certificates and everything.  I still have Petunia Rose.

So, in that tradition I cloned the Naked Palette.  It's 12 stunning browns, and when I say stunning I really mean it.  When I first saw it online it failed to wow me, but in real life the colors, and the intricacies of the colors, the variety, it's gorgeous.  The clones are spot-on...it took me days to get them dialed-in just right.

We've also released a Cleansing Conditioner that's getting some great reviews.  It leaves your hair clean, without damaging it or drying it out.  I just added 8-ounce squeeze bottles to the site.  Oh, and all new, and super yummy lip balms!

In other fairly major news we've won some awards- they're our first.  Karley from the Chic and Green Daily Blog chose us as winners in 4 categories.  The one that I'm most proud of Best Lip Color.  She rated our lippies as the best she's ever used, hands-down.  Thank you Karley for the award- it really does mean a lot.

To celebrate I made an extra special gift with purchase this week- it's a liquid wand gloss called Icing.  You get a 3.5 ml tube of it with any purchase over $15.  AND for each $40 you spend you get the free lip gloss of your choice- any of the $4.50 products, so the Kisser Slickers, the Vegan Kisser Slickers, Butter Creams, and Liquid Wands!

At this time of year I reflect and count my blessings.  I consider each and every one of you to be a big blessing in my life.  It's a pleasure to know you, and we really are grateful for all of your kind words and support.  You really make our days brighter!  THANK YOU!!!!!!

Have a safe, and happy holiday season!

p.s.  There's a new gumball on the site...it's called Stick 'Em, and it's sort of a cross between an eye shadow primer, and a foiling medium.  Enjoy!

Fall !!!!!

Fall has a way of sneaking up on me...mainly because I live in denial that Summer will end, and once again I'll have to bundle up and brace myself against the weather.

This year Fall has me in a sentimental mood.  There are some old favorites in this collection (yes, the pie chart worked Sam), and a whole lot of IOU's. 

My main inspiration for the eye shadows was tweed.  Fall here is lovely.  It's my favorite season- hay rides, and pumpkins- the way the farmers bustle away in their fields bringing in the harvest, the brilliant colors of the leaves, being sustained by a nice cup of tea and a warm blanket.   We're really blessed to live in this part of the world during the Fall. 

But in other places it's just dark, damp, and chilly.  The Finnish word for October literally translates to "mud month"- it's not a great time to visit Finland. Summer is one big party, and they're good with snow- they ski, and skate, and generally find ways to have fun, but apparently October is a wash. 

Aaah, but the UK and Ireland- they've developed coping mechanisms for dealing with rain (although they don't really love it any more than anyone else). They wear nice woolen clothes to keep warm when it's wet, and that's where the inspiration came for this collection. 

Tweed fabrics are incredibly interesting to me.  It's a light colored thread, and a deeper colored thread woven together into signature patterns.  Yarn makers create special tweed yarn blends full of interesting little nubbly bits that make it a joy to knit with.

I'm calling the finish of these shadows Suede- for each of the colors I started with shimmery pigments, but they're blended together with a mattifying base, and then some interesting color effects added in.  They're all loosely based around the color Earth which is a crowd favorite.

If you've received the 2 latest GWP's- Brightside and Mwahahaha they're both made in a similar theme.

I hope that you enjoy them, and thank you all so much for your kind support.

Oh Baby & Revved Up!

Things are cooking along at the old SN factory!  We're busy planning Fall, and of course the Holiday Collection.  I don't have much to report because we're kind of in the early stages of everything, but our creative juices are really flowing.

Two weeks ago the GWP color was Oh Baby- in honor of my new niece.  She was born at home, safe and sound- and it was all very old-fashioned.  We didn't know if she was having a girl or a boy- and we were thrilled when little Addy came into the world.  Oh Baby is a mixture of pigments- I made it right as my SIL was in labor- so it's based on a sort of a fleshy pink mica with blue highlights.  I added some stormy grey pigment to tone it back a bit, and to show that even though there are storms and tribulations in life there's usually some joy that comes shining through.

Last weeks' GWP was Revved Up.  I'm originally from Watkins Glen, NY and just love the roar of a V8.  The entire tiny town is built around auto racing it was a big part of my life growing up.  Every year at the Trumansburg Fair there's a demolition derby.  It's pretty much my favorite night of the year...the noise, the dust, the smoke, the sparks and flames that come out of the old beaters.  Revved Up is all of the colors of a demolition derby put into a blender. 

I hope you enjoy them!  This week's color is Brightside- a little experimental color that I like so much that I'm going out to dinner so I can show it off! 

Congratulations to the Winners!!!

Thank you all so much for the kind words and well wishes.  It is truly a blessing to have a little niece, and we're all smitten.

Little Adilade Louise is...6 pounds 12 ounces- she's tiny and perfect.  I'll confess that I'm a bit afraid to hold her because she's just so little.  She fits in my brother's hand just about perfectly.  We added an 8-ounce margin of error.

Congratulations to:
Rose- PA
Madeline O Singapore
Toby- Canada
Tracey K- SC
Selki- TX
Mona- Norway
Christine- NJ
Angela D- Australia
Susan W- TX
Yogingineer- Canada
Irina G- Russia

I just sent the coupon codes to you via email!  Have fun ;)

It's a Girl!!!!!

Last night my sister-in-law gave birth to a perfect little girl.  I've yet to meet her, and she doesn't have a name yet- but I'm already feeling love.

I think it's time for a good old-fashioned guess the weight contest!

Guess her weight to the nearest ounce, and you'll win a $5 SN gift certificate.  She is a full-term baby- but no other hints! 

Send your responses along with your name (and how you'd like us to list you as a winner), and state or country to sncontests@gmail.com

All entries must be received by 12:01 am eastern standard time Wednesday September 8th 2010- ie very late Tuesday night.  We'll announce the winners shortly after the contest is over.

Good luck and have fun!

Lots of News!!!

Wow where to begin?  It's been an eventful couple of weeks since the new collection launched.  The response has been great, and I really appreciate your support.  I'm a bit distracted today because my sister-in-law is in labor with her first baby!  So, please excuse me if this post is a bit choppy- I'm sitting on pins and needles waiting for news. 

I'd like to share a little bit about the women who designed the collections because they're both incredibly interesting folks who really pulled out all of the stops in terms of creativity.

Kookeith designed the Harry Potter collection.  She's from Singapore, and a very avid Harry Potter fan.  She's read all of the books multiple times, and her favorite is The Goblet of Fire.  "The books strike a chord in me, and have taken JKR's work and applied it to my real life. Love, loyalty, friendship, justice, faith, and death. How we face these things reflect the person that we are."

Kookith is an absolute sweetheart.  She's a marketing executive by day, and a hardcore gamer in her off time- especially World of Warcraft.  Oh, and like a lot of our customers she's a passionate environmentalist- anything to reduce her ecological footprint.   Washable cleaning cloths, no chemicals, baking soda and vinegar for cleaning.

Meheen designed the Hawaii collection.  She's an 18-year-old art student from California.  I love it when she posts pictures of her paintings on our forum- it's always great to see creative women strut their stuff.
Her blog is:
http://meheeeen.blogspot.com

Growing up, Meheen spent Summers with her grandparents in Hawaii, and the collection she devised was inspired by her travels.  I think Guava blush is my new HG color, and I've seen quite a few FOTD's of women wearing Mango and looking absolutely incredible.  I went full on orange- no backing off, no trying to create a 'wearable' color- and somehow it works beautifully.

Meheen is of Pakistani heritage, and this cause is very close to home for her.   When I emailed her and asked if it was ok to do this as a fundraiser she responded with this:
"For the charity, I am of Pakistani heritage and I feel very deeply for the plight of the beautiful people there and in Afghanistan.  I've met and had tea with Massouda Jalal, and have seen the large slums outside of Karachi that make up the biggest community of Afghani refugees, so this sits very deeply and close to home for me."

She went on to mention the need for help in Pakistan.  They are receiving large numbers of refugees, and the flooding during this monsoon season has been quite bad.  The entire SwatValley is nearly inaccessable, and the government isn't providing much support.  Groups like the Taliban step in with aid, and this is how the problem starts...

So if you're interested in donating to help Pakistan there are several organizations who are helping in that part of the world.  Help Pakistan's Flood Victims

Creativity always gives me hope- that things can change, that things can get better, and that wonderful things can be just around the corner.  It's an immense privilege to work with these women and be inspired by their ideas.  I think the colors we produced are some of the best colors we've ever produced. 

Last week's Gift with Purchase color was Cleo.   Cleo is a purplish golden color.  Sometimes I approach GWP's with a clear ideas- other times I'm winging it- treating it as an experiment, and hoping to learn something.  I started with a bit of purple, and then added  a pinch of this, a dab of that, and then unified the whole creation with golden glimmer.

I'm hoping you liked Cleo!  This week's color is Alakazam- and it's been popular.  Stay tuned...

New Colors...great cause

Over the Summer we had a contest on our forum- dream up your ideal collection.  It started just for fun, but it was so much fun that I knew we had to make the colors.  There were 23 collections in all- really cool, interesting, well thought out colors.  You voted for your favorites, and I've made them!

There were actually 2 collections:
A Hawaii inspired collection with tropical lippies, nude blushes, and stunning eye shadows. 
A magical, mystical Harry Potter inspired collection.

The colors are gorgeous- IMHO, some of the best colors to make it to the site.  Each and every color was stolen off the shelves by the SN staff.  When the SN staff steals a color, and says it's their new favorite- you know it's good.

I'm not sure if you saw the August 9 cover of Time Magazine- but the photo broke my heart.  It's an image of  a young woman, Bibi.  She's 18 years old, and she had no nose, or ears.  She got married when she was 12 years old- her husband was abusive.  Bibi ran away, only to be caught.  Her brother-in-law held her down while her husband cut off her nose and ears.  More about Bibi can be found on ABC News. 

90% of all Afghan women have suffered some sort of human rights violation.  86% are illiterate.  Very few have access to clean water, education, or even medical care.

Bibi is safe now- she got medical care at a US Army base, and will fly to the US for reconstructive surgery.  She's currently being cared for by Women for Afghan Women.  They have shelters setup all around Afghanistan so that women like Bibi have a safe place to go. They need money, and that's where you and I come in.

From now until September 10th  we'll donate $1 of the purchase price of all of the new shadows and lippies to Women for Afghan Women.  The money will go to help women like Bibi be safe, get an education, or access to clean drinking water- the stuff that most of us take for granted.

They're not limited edition colors- once you see them, you'll never let me discontinue them, but if you were thinking of splurging a bit this is a good time to do it.


Please tell your friends!
Thank you again for all of your kind support!

Big Guns....

Each time we do the Mystery Adventure club I write a letter telling them what was on my mind when I made the GWP color that week.  I make them every Friday afternoon, and they're usually a snapshot of what I'm thinking at that moment. 

With the MAC done for this round, I've decided to start blogging about the colors.  You may or may not find it interesting, but I got a lot of good feedback from the letters, so I'm going to continue them here.

For those of you who are new to SN- GWP colors are almost always limited edition.  They're available for one-week only, and then they disappear.  They're always a secret (not a closely guarded one though) because gifts should be a surprise!  It's also our way of experimenting with color- for me, and for you.

Last weeks' GWP was Big Guns.  My friend Preston FINALLY got married.  We grew up together, and pretty much his whole family were police officers- as was my Father.  In honor of his big day I mixed up the colors of our childhood- namely police uniforms.  My Dad always looked great in his, and that's the way I remember my father- a tall, strong, strapping police officer.  This is our salute to those who have served.

Back then the uniforms were a blueish grey, with a black tie, black shoes, the golden badge.  I added a little bit of a brown that reminds me of cola because he's a big Pepsi drinker.  Those were the colors that went into the blender, and what came out was sort of a gunmetal grey.  Susan jokingly suggested the name, and it stuck.

I hope you enjoyed Big Guns- it's a fun color- great for Friday nights. 

Next week's color is Cleo...

Winners!!!!!

There were 48 lippies in the bowl!  No one guessed it correctly, so we added a 5 lippie margin of error, and had 14 winners!

Congratulations to:
Karmen C- IA
Heather C- TX
Laura A
Tina N- CA
Cat B- CA
Jennifae
Jie Z- New Zealand
Janie M- VA
Nancy F- NJ
Snow
Tuan- Germany
Angela T- Singapore
Anna Y- Russia

We've also had 10 winners so far in the random winners contest! I'm not posting names because I really don't want to violate anyone's privacy.   There's still time left to play- we're drawing winners from the orders we process every day, and you have a 1 in 20 chance of winning!

Thank you all so much for playing- contests are a lot of fun!  If any of you have any ideas for contests feel free to post them in the comments section.

New collection...well it's coming along.   I really appreciate your patience- it's totally worth the wait.

3rd Anniversary Contests!

August marks the third anniversary of our web site!  And to celebrate we're having 2 contests.  The first one is easy- each day between now and when we release the new collection we'll choose a random winner from the orders we receive every day and they'll get a $5 SN gift certificate.  All you have to do is place an order on our site, and we'll choose a winner from that day's orders.  I'll set your odds of winning at about 1 in 20- meaning if we get 20 orders we'll choose one winner, if we get 40 orders we'll choose 2 winners etc.

The second one is an SN classic- guess how many lippies are in the bowl!

Count 'em up, and send your best guess to:  sncontests@gmail.com  The winning entries get a $5 gift certificate to Silk Naturals.  All entries must be received by 12:01 am Eastern Standard Time August 16th 2010.  Please include your full name, along with your city, and state or country so we can identify the winners.

The winners will be announced shortly after the contest ends.

Good luck!

The New Blog!!

Welcome to the new blog!  I've switched over to Blogger from Vox.  In the past I haven't done much with blogging.  It's a fun activity, but most of my life really isn't that interesting.  On a day to day basis I pretty much pound rocks, hang out with my husband, and play with my dogs.  I read a lot, and occasionally cook too.  But that's about it- until Summer comes around.

During the Summer our site slows down a bit, and we all take advantage of the great weather and the extra free-time.  DH and I took a trip to visit his family in Europe.  We spent a week in the south of France visiting his mother, and then a week in Finland visiting his brother and his family in the Helsinki area.  It was incredible.  This time was all about enjoying the moments, soaking in the atmosphere, and spending time with the side of the family that we rarely get to see.  So, I didn't take too many pictures, but I made a lot of memories that will bring a smile to my face.

The day after I got back from vacation Jamie told me that she had found a cool new job closer to her new house.  It was a very bittersweet day.  I'm happy for my friend Jamie- her new house is quite a drive from the SN office, and her new job is something that she'd always been interested in.  On the other hand, we miss her.  Jamie was the first person to come to work at SN.  She's been there through absolutely EVERYTHING- including the launch of the site, and the creation of every single color.  More importantly she's half of the team that actually packages and ships everything.  So, finding a replacement has been a bit of a process.  She left some very big shoes to fill.


After 2 weeks of sorting through resumes, and interviewing people we've finally found her replacement.  Valerie starts tomorrow!  For the moment Thea (Susan's daughter) has been pitching in with the packing and shipping so staff-wise we're really doing just fine.  We're processing and shipping orders as usual.  
Finding Jamie's replacement has been top priority, and now that we have Val, I'm back to doing the other fun parts of running SN. 

I'm sure you're all wondering when we're going to release some new items. We had the Summer Fun contest where people submitted some incredible ideas for new products- and then you voted for your favorites.  All of the entries were wonderful, and we had 2 winners!   I'm hoping to start making some of the items from the winning collections next week.  I think these are going to take me a bit longer than usual because I want to be sure that I do justice to your ideas. 

In the mean time we'll be running a contest!  Stay tuned for more details.