Cautionary Tales: Orgalmix and Glittersniffer

EDIT March 9, 2011: added a list of indie cosmetics companies I have purchased from repeatedly and wholeheartedly endorse; and added the link to "How to keep someone with you forever" / how to create a sick system

So. Much strife came to a head in MMU-land this past week. My rants at consumers and vendors were nonspecific as to companies, even industry, because I thought a lot of the information could apply to any company and any consumer. But really...it was spurred by the rather violent and near-simultaneous consumer backlashes surrounding two totally separate indie makeup vendors. Based on my reading the various screencapped responses from the company owners, I is my opinion that both of these companies essentially set up "sick" systems - systems that inspired utter and blind devotion, and polarized people from intelligent reasoning consumers to near-religious fanatics with a strong "us versus them" mentality. I do not know if they set up these sick systems consciously, or unconsciously (most people do so unconsciously.) This sick-system dynamic is present in families, in companies, in social groups of all types...and the mechanics of creating a healthy thriving social community and creating a sick system share quite a few similarities. It is the great attraction, and danger, of social networking and especially social marketing. Everyone should try as much as possible to be aware of what they do, and why - to avoid falling into, staying stuck in, creating, or helping to perpetuate, a sick system.

A Long Tale of Orglamix Organic Ending With Unexpected Big Bang

• followups and additional discussion at Phyrra and Legothique, with a summary-excerpt and highlights of the most contentious points below.

Glittersniffer

• the company used soap dyes in some of their products - many of which are are approved for use as soap dyes but not for cosmetics and especially not around the eye area. Some customers had violent reactions to GS products. Photos have been posted.
• claimed that they were vegan when, in fact, many of their ingredients were not vegan.
• have a product recall and refunds allegedly currently underway, but some folks are reporting having difficulty getting their refunds.

More information, screenshots, and lots of links at Lipsticks and Lightsabers; and a calmer point-by-point analysis and regular updates at the Glittersniffer Complaints Blog.

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Let’s Talk: a rant aimed at vendors

EDIT March 9, 2011: corrected the price difference at which Aromaleigh sold the Lady Burd indelible gel liners, and added the link to "How to keep someone with you forever" - which should be required reading for all people who become fans of any company, band, entity, or person.

Yesterday I ranted at consumers: for being imprecise with terminology, for being judgmental but not in all the right ways, for elitist blanket attitudes that can discourage new buyers from trying non-drugstore / non-department-counter makeup. But honestly? It isn't just consumers who are causing the problem. It's never one side that causes the whole problem. And a whole lot of this advice is going to boil down to: be both responsible and responsive.

When you decide to go into business, and sell either a service or a product (or both), you get the whole host of issues to think over: do I start off with a merchant account, or is Paypal good enough? Do I sell items I buy from somewhere else, items that I make myself, or a mixture? Do I want to have branded packaging and personalized notes for every order, or is plain white tissue, bubble wrap, and a sturdy box going to be sufficient? Who will take over the company, fill the outstanding orders, pay the outstanding bills if I'm incapacitated? And then there's how to conduct yourself when there are problems, how to sell the things you choose to sell, and how to act like a responsible adult...which should be common sense.

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Let’s Talk: a rant aimed at consumers

There are lots of indie cosmetics companies, some well known, some not so well known. It seems that in the past two years there's been lots of very visible upheaval surrounding indie cosmetics: for repackaging, specious claims, and egregious markups; or unannounced / unmarked ingredients changes and extremely poor customer service; for using ingredients unsuitable for use in eyeshadow - in eyeshadow; for misrepresenting charitable "donations" and even inventing whole charities; and the list goes on. Lots of folks are becoming extremely wary of trying or even continuing to use any indie makeup, because they're feeling that indie makeup is full of dishonest sellers and how can one tell the liars from the people telling the truth?

Oh, my, but do I have a lot to say on this. (Check back tomorrow for my rant aimed at sellers.)

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Fyrinnae: Round II

About a year ago I placed my first order with Fyrinnae. Despite seeing lots of enthusiasm from people whose opinions I trusted, I had hesitated to buy from their web site for various reasons: it was frequently closed, I had problems getting an order to place, and then the kicker: it was black. I have a less easy time judging colors when they’re either on or surrounded by a dark background. If the page is edged in a dark color? Not a problem. Darker header and footer? Not a problem. Pale center color but not white (like palest blue, palest grey, palest pink, palest brown)? Not so much of a problem if it’s truly near-white. But I just don’t feel like I can really see and accurately judge colors when they’re against a black background. So despite the raves, I didn’t order from them. And then, after a hellish time trying to place an order, I finally got about 15 samples of various colors. The quality was good, turnaround time was a teeny bit long (three weeks) but it clearly stated that on the site…but they colors weren’t a whole lot different than colors I’d gotten from other companies. They weren’t dupes, I just wasn’t seeing anything amazingly special or different in any of these colors. They behaved a bit like my Aromaleigh colors: similar pigmentation levels, similar adhesion, similar behavior when I applied them wet. All of these are good points, the product quality is definitely strong and it’s excellent value for the money…but since I was half-expecting something dramatically different from Fyrinnae because of others’ enthusiasm for the products, not seeing that “something different” was kind of like being a kid at Christmas. There was all that build-up for The Amazing New Toy, which - when opened and assembled with all the blinkenlightzen and everything - was pretty much like your old toys. I wasn’t even seeing a great amount of colorshift in the Arcane Magic samples I’d ordered, and I’d really been looking forward to that. (I really dislike any colors that will only show their full effects if you use a certain product to apply them. That just pisses me off. It feels gimmicky. Plus, the two times I tried Pixie Epoxy I strongly disliked the way the product felt on my lids.) Then, about a week ago, I decided to give them another try.

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5 Things: Friday, February 18 2011

...or as I also call it, the Beauty Blog Friday Five. Long ago, back in 2003-ish, I regularly participated in the Friday Five blog meme (before it imploded, then morphed, then imploded again, then morphed again...and is now apparently active in another iteration.) I don't know whether this is going to be a regular feature or not, but it's kind of a cool way to get quick inspiration at week's-end. Go check it out. You can answer the questions on Phyrra's blog or your own blog - just be sure and link back, if you answer it on your site.

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Happy Sunday the 13th!!

Very nearly to the midpoint of the month - already!! I managed to swatch a dozen eyeshadows and half a dozen lipsticks today, after a week of not really swatching anything.

I have managed to get settled with the new posting schedule, though I now just need to get back into posting looks. (I just started using the Clarisonic, and my skin’s going through the “purge” phase - so combine that with winter-skin dryness, and…ugh.) I’ve got a whole boatload of nail polishes that I’ve purchased and have worn, but haven’t reviewed or posted mani pictures…so there’s that segment of my posting schedule, taken care of for the next…oh, the next year, roughly.

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My Favorite Things giveaway winner!

It's midnight on the 31st of January (okay, it's 11 pm where I am), so it's time to draw the winner of My Favorite Things giveaway. And the winner is...

Sirvinya

Congratulations!!

Weekend Roundup: January happenings

My birthday was this past Monday, and I celebrated in usual low-key style: painted my nails, did the quarterly metrics for work, picked up my mail, ordered pizza, and rewatched the final five episodes of Caprica on DVD…and one broadcast episode of House.

I know. I lead such a wild life. Well, it’s not glam, but it works for me.

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Beauty Blogger Challenge: week four

Shatteredshards kicked off 2011 with a weekly beauty bloggers’ writing prompt/challenge…now in its fourth week. It’s a bit like Beauty Blogs’ Backstage, in that it gets us to share a bit about ourselves and our blog…but all the questions come from one source, they’re available in advance (if you’re the preplanning type), and there’s no requirement about how long you’ve been blogging, or how frequently. Want to find out more? Check it out!

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I’ve only got a few things…the Zoya polishes

I’ve been wanting to find a better storage solution for my nail polishes. I keep them in the refrigerator, in the manufacturers’ boxes that they came in, grouped by collection and marked on the outside of the box (so that I have a vague idea *which* China Glaze box to grab if I want to use a Tis The Season color, for example.) I wanted a plastic box, with a locking lid and a flat bottom, that would be tall enough to hold my polish bottles, but not much taller. If I could find something that included dividers (for the rows) that would be ideal, just to further prevent breakage; but I knew that eventually those cardboard boxes would break down. They just aren’t meant for long-term storage, especially not if they repeatedly go back and forth from cold environment to my countertop. I’d seen other boxes, but nothing that was really good. The dividers were too widely spaced, or the box was too tall, or the bottom had a lip and so the bottles would slide “outward”.

Today, I found The Storage Box.

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