Maggie Rants [and Raves]

Swatch Watch

by Maggie Franklin | February 28, 2014 | Bookmark +
So today I finally pulled my checkbook out, took a deep breath, and invested in some new gel-polishes.

This “required” driving to my preferred supply house in a town some 60 miles away. Primarily because they make me feel welcome when I walk in the door instead of glaring at me when I walk in and then rolling their eyes when I just want nail stuff — like the “professional-only” distributors here in town. But that’s a different rant.

So I drive up there and go inside and everyone is happy to see me because I haven’t been up there in a hundred months (OK, like six), and I get introduced to the new kids working there and I’m feeling pretty important.

The place is boasting several new lines of gel-polish since my last visit, including signs that say, “DO NOT OPEN GEL-POLISH BOTTLES.” Which makes sense, of course, but where are the swatches?

Where are all the little tip tracks displaying the colors? Especially for the brands I’m not familiar with.

Turns out, they haven’t done any because all their suppliers have driven it into their heads that they absolutely cannot open those bottles! So they’re afraid to do up any swatches of any of the gel-polishes.

[palm to face]

I don’t know how labor-intensive it really is for manufacturers to devise some sort of system to create color palettes featuring actual swatches of the actual polishes? Some polish companies used to (and maybe still do) have hand-painted color charts you could get from them. Maybe the gel-polish companies need to make up some of these for their distributors?

Or maybe they could provide a set of miniature sample bottles for the distributors to make their own with? Or maybe they could just provide a set of instructions for their distributors on how to create a set of swatches for display without compromising the polish?

I mean, here in the salon I can open a bottle of gel-polish long enough to do an entire set of nails and still have that bottle remain viable for years of use! I don’t think opening a bottle to do one tip on a track is going to result in disaster.

It would result in far more sales if we could see the actual color, and prevent our distributors from having to make sure no one opens the bottles.

 

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