Allison Rose Spiekermann On Nail Pattern Boldness!
Allison Rose Spiekermann is the founder of Nail Pattern Boldness nail polishes and author of Homemade Nail Polish: Create Unique Colors and Designs for Stunning Nails!
We recently spoke with Spiekermann all about her love for nail art and crafting unique polishes!
Allison Rose Spiekermann had always been a fan of painting her nails, but a bad habit got her back into the nail game.
"About 10 years ago I had developed a terrible habit of biting my nails and I really wanted to stop," she explained. "I decided to try keeping them painted to see if it would help and it worked!"
Her nail polish collection grew and grew. Ehen she discovered stamping plates, she discovered her passion for nail art.
"I love the creative outlet that doing my nails provides because it doesn't require a lot of space or a lot of time – two things I always seem to be a bit short on!" she said.
In 2011, Spiekermann started to experiment with mixing her own nail polishes.
"I couldn't find everything I wanted to wear available for sale," she said. "I had this image in my mind of my dream polish – a rainbow glitter mix. I started researching and experimenting, one thing led to another and then I had my dream polish….but I also had enough to make 50 more!"
Spiekermann used her materials to mix more polishes and decided she could sell them online.
"Lots of other people were also interested in it!" she said.
Eventually, this resulted in the formation of her online nail shop, Nail Pattern Boldness.
When it came to creating her own nail polishes, Spiekermann utilized some of the skills she acquired professionally.
"My work as an IT architect is essentially taking complicated or time-consuming things and making them easier using technology," Spiekermann said. "I take that same approach with my nails – I am always looking for ways to make painting my nails easier and faster!"
This method resulted in Spiekermann's best selling products: Glitter Good smoothing topcoat for glitters, and a peel-off base coat walled Glitter A-Peel.
Spiekermann also has a strong background in math.
"I have definitely used that when developing recipes for new polishes," she said. "I will get an idea for something and then make a chart of all of the different combinations and try them all before settling on the final recipe."
These Nail Pattern Boldness glitter polishes generated a lot of buzz, and eventually Ulysses Press approached Spiekermann and asked if she would be interested in writing a book of tutorials for making nail polish.
"I loved the idea because I have been into crafty things all my life and have always valued the information a good book can provide to get you started on something new," she said. "I knew I could provide all of the information I had learned through trial and error to people that were interested in making polish for themselves, but didn't necessarily want to start a business from it."
The book includes tons of technical terms and their uses, from butyl acetate, isopropyl alcohol and toluene as solvents to stearalkonium bentonite and silica as suspension agents.
Spiekermann learned it all through extensive research.
"First I started reading about the different ingredients and their properties," she explained. "From there I started learning about cosmetic chemistry and industrial mixing techniques by working with chemists and engineers both online and over the phone. I was really pleased to find so many people that were so willing to share their knowledge and information with me."
She developed all of her own formulas through a system of trial and error.
"For every successful formulation I can say I've had at least 20 failures," she said.
And while Spiekermann didn't start experiment with raw nail polish ingredients until 2011, she had been mixing her own polish from existing polishes, or "franking," for years. Some of the techniques in her book reach back nearly a decade.
"Glitter harvesting is still one of my favorite things to do even though finding the right ingredients to make polish today is a lot easier now that we have access to glitters and special effects pigments online," Spiekermann said.
Another of her favorite techniques involves using translucent glaze polishes called jellies.
"For nail art, nothing beats a good jelly sandwich!" she said. "Jellies are probably one of my favorite polish finishes, so mixing jellies is another technique I enjoy."
Asked if she plans to write more nail art books in the future, Spiekermann said she was already working on ideas for another set of recipes!
To keep up with all of the latest from Allison Rose Spiekermann and Nail Pattern Boldness, be sure to check out her website and social pages below! You can also join us at SweetyHigh.com to share your own nail art with us!
