Hi everyone. This might be a bit long for some of you but I want to be completely honest and transparent so you all know what's going on.
First off I want to apologize. I'm so sorry that many of the orders for the Holo-maniacs group custom have not shipped yet. I really thought I would have had all the orders shipped by now--or at least the ones made before the extension of the buy period. Below is a full account of why.
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
The Creme-nally Dynamic Collection - But Does It Stamp? Does It Water Marble?
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| Swatched by Kimireeree |
I decided to try them out!
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Happy New Year from Lemming Lacquer
Hi everyone.
I wanted to post an update. All orders have gone out. If you haven't received a tracking number please email me at lemminglacquer @ gmail.com and I will be happy to provide it to you. My fingers are crossed that maybe now USPS won't be filled to the brim with packages that the mail will run more smoothly and your orders will get to you quickly.
First, I wanted to express how truly sorry I am that not everyone received their orders in time for the holiday. I know you ordered presents for your loved ones and for yourselves, quite possibly for the first time in a very long time you decided to treat yourself and now you're soured on the very polishes you were so looking forward to receiving. I get it because I've gone through the exact same thing. I have polishes in my stash that I don't wear because I have negative feelings toward them after being turned off by the brand. I understand and I feel awful that the polishes you spent your hard earned money for might sit in your collection unloved and unwanted because of these negative feelings attached to them. Unfortunately there's nothing I can do about the lost time except apologize, though I know it's not enough and it doesn't make things right with you. I know that I've lost your confidence and I've certainly lost customers due to the problems with this past sale and I honestly don't blame any of you. I accept full responsibility for these problems and even if I never regain your business please know that I did try my very best to push through these orders as fast as possible and I am so sorry I wasn't able to get them out quickly enough.
The shop will remain closed while I do some rearranging on my side of things. You weren't satisfied with how long it took to ship the Black Friday orders and neither was I. Even working 18+ hour days (no joke) and not seeing my family or my friends since Thanksgiving I couldn't get the orders out fast enough. This is not how I envisioned I would run my business. I am not meeting my own standards and I'm certainly not meeting yours. At the end of my very long days I would wait for my chaotic mind to join my tired body and I thought about ways I could make my pouring and shipping process more efficient, how to improve my work space, how to continue to make my products accessible but put them in your hands faster. My list is long and that's what I'm going to do while Lemming Lacquer is on break. I have this bad habit of overestimating what I'm able to do in the time I'm given so I won't give an exact return date. My hope is to be back before the end of January. I would like to think a bulk of this work can be done over a matter of a few days but unfortunately the reality doesn't like to cooperate with what my mind imagines.
Here are two changes I think will help:
- Smaller (but hopefully more frequent) restocks. Instead of the open stock system that I've had since I launched I'm going to list what I have already made and once that is sold out it will be sold out until the next restock. I will also choose one or two collections for each restock rather than offering ALL collections at once.
I've bought indie polish since it was still in its infancy so I've experienced the frenzied restock madness, cart jacking, and restocks that sell out within 2 minutes. Sometimes customers were refunded and their orders cancelled because there were so many orders placed. It's frustrating, can even turn me off from buying a brand and I didn't want that to ever happen with mine. I would premix a batch but kept stock open so customers could purchase what they wanted and be guaranteed to get it. It also helped me because it's so hard to know which polish or what collection will be popular and being a newer brand, I don't always know how many bottles to make. The open stock may have been okay before but it's not anymore now that Lemming Lacquer is growing.
By limiting quantities to only what I have ready to ship it's my hope I will have a faster turnaround time and I'll be free to have more frequent restocks to satisfy demand. Please don't interpret this as me limiting stock to drive up demand. That's a pet peeve of mine as an indie lover and customer and I would never do that to my customers. I simply have to be realistic and admit to myself that it's not a question of determination in how quickly I'll process orders but rather the limitations of what I'm able to accomplish within a day. This plan may need to be tweaked as we go but I’m willing to try whatever method seems promising to make my business run efficiently.
- The new shipping confirmation email now only provides your tracking number but not your mailing date. I know that may seem counterproductive but I don't want to give you false expectations. I don't want the shipping confirmation to make you think your order is going out on the 1st but it doesn't until the 5th or make you wonder why your mailing date isn't until two weeks from now because I've future dated the postage to appease overly strict USPS clerks. This caused a lot of confusion during the Black Friday sale so I'm hoping this change will prevent that going forward.
As upset and disappointed in myself as I am about how the Black Friday orders went, I am hopeful and excited about the upcoming year. I've been working on new products that I still plan on introducing to the shop that I hope you'll all enjoy as well as some really fun collections in the works. I want to step out of my comfort zone in terms of finish and style of my polishes. I've got ideas, guys, and I'm so excited at the prospect of seeing them come to life!
I want to thank everyone for their patience, understanding and for the kind words of encouragement. Your loyalty means the world to me. I'm completely open to hearing your thoughts and feedback on these changes or your suggestions. It can be about what you would like to see this year for products or polishes, how you think I can improve, whatever. You can comment here or email me through lemminglacquer @ gmail.com so we can discuss them.
Love,
Cassie
I wanted to post an update. All orders have gone out. If you haven't received a tracking number please email me at lemminglacquer @ gmail.com and I will be happy to provide it to you. My fingers are crossed that maybe now USPS won't be filled to the brim with packages that the mail will run more smoothly and your orders will get to you quickly.
First, I wanted to express how truly sorry I am that not everyone received their orders in time for the holiday. I know you ordered presents for your loved ones and for yourselves, quite possibly for the first time in a very long time you decided to treat yourself and now you're soured on the very polishes you were so looking forward to receiving. I get it because I've gone through the exact same thing. I have polishes in my stash that I don't wear because I have negative feelings toward them after being turned off by the brand. I understand and I feel awful that the polishes you spent your hard earned money for might sit in your collection unloved and unwanted because of these negative feelings attached to them. Unfortunately there's nothing I can do about the lost time except apologize, though I know it's not enough and it doesn't make things right with you. I know that I've lost your confidence and I've certainly lost customers due to the problems with this past sale and I honestly don't blame any of you. I accept full responsibility for these problems and even if I never regain your business please know that I did try my very best to push through these orders as fast as possible and I am so sorry I wasn't able to get them out quickly enough.
The shop will remain closed while I do some rearranging on my side of things. You weren't satisfied with how long it took to ship the Black Friday orders and neither was I. Even working 18+ hour days (no joke) and not seeing my family or my friends since Thanksgiving I couldn't get the orders out fast enough. This is not how I envisioned I would run my business. I am not meeting my own standards and I'm certainly not meeting yours. At the end of my very long days I would wait for my chaotic mind to join my tired body and I thought about ways I could make my pouring and shipping process more efficient, how to improve my work space, how to continue to make my products accessible but put them in your hands faster. My list is long and that's what I'm going to do while Lemming Lacquer is on break. I have this bad habit of overestimating what I'm able to do in the time I'm given so I won't give an exact return date. My hope is to be back before the end of January. I would like to think a bulk of this work can be done over a matter of a few days but unfortunately the reality doesn't like to cooperate with what my mind imagines.
Here are two changes I think will help:
- Smaller (but hopefully more frequent) restocks. Instead of the open stock system that I've had since I launched I'm going to list what I have already made and once that is sold out it will be sold out until the next restock. I will also choose one or two collections for each restock rather than offering ALL collections at once.
I've bought indie polish since it was still in its infancy so I've experienced the frenzied restock madness, cart jacking, and restocks that sell out within 2 minutes. Sometimes customers were refunded and their orders cancelled because there were so many orders placed. It's frustrating, can even turn me off from buying a brand and I didn't want that to ever happen with mine. I would premix a batch but kept stock open so customers could purchase what they wanted and be guaranteed to get it. It also helped me because it's so hard to know which polish or what collection will be popular and being a newer brand, I don't always know how many bottles to make. The open stock may have been okay before but it's not anymore now that Lemming Lacquer is growing.
By limiting quantities to only what I have ready to ship it's my hope I will have a faster turnaround time and I'll be free to have more frequent restocks to satisfy demand. Please don't interpret this as me limiting stock to drive up demand. That's a pet peeve of mine as an indie lover and customer and I would never do that to my customers. I simply have to be realistic and admit to myself that it's not a question of determination in how quickly I'll process orders but rather the limitations of what I'm able to accomplish within a day. This plan may need to be tweaked as we go but I’m willing to try whatever method seems promising to make my business run efficiently.
- The new shipping confirmation email now only provides your tracking number but not your mailing date. I know that may seem counterproductive but I don't want to give you false expectations. I don't want the shipping confirmation to make you think your order is going out on the 1st but it doesn't until the 5th or make you wonder why your mailing date isn't until two weeks from now because I've future dated the postage to appease overly strict USPS clerks. This caused a lot of confusion during the Black Friday sale so I'm hoping this change will prevent that going forward.
As upset and disappointed in myself as I am about how the Black Friday orders went, I am hopeful and excited about the upcoming year. I've been working on new products that I still plan on introducing to the shop that I hope you'll all enjoy as well as some really fun collections in the works. I want to step out of my comfort zone in terms of finish and style of my polishes. I've got ideas, guys, and I'm so excited at the prospect of seeing them come to life!
I want to thank everyone for their patience, understanding and for the kind words of encouragement. Your loyalty means the world to me. I'm completely open to hearing your thoughts and feedback on these changes or your suggestions. It can be about what you would like to see this year for products or polishes, how you think I can improve, whatever. You can comment here or email me through lemminglacquer @ gmail.com so we can discuss them.
Love,
Cassie
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Black Friday Orders Shipping Update
This is long but please read it because I'm going to address several points of confusion. I want to explain about what's going on behind the scenes and I want to be upfront, honest and transparent about what's happening.
In order to speed up the shipping process I have printed postage prior to mailing. The postage is future dated so the mailing date in your shipping notification may not be the exact day of shipping. This change and switching to an assembly line type system has actually helped a LOT. It may not seem like it as a customer but this method has REALLY helped and if I were trying to process this amount of orders a month ago it would take a lot longer.
If your tracking hasn't updated it may be because the package hasn't gone out yet. I'm happy to let you know whether your order has been sent out but please email me. The majority of the time I don't get notifications about your comments on Instagram or the Facebook page or get notifications about messages sent to the Facebook page. I really don't want your questions falling through the cracks in cyberspace so please, please email me. My email notifications are infinitely better and I can keep track of our conversation so much better.
Further on the subject of your tracking number, your tracking number may not update for several days after your package is sent out. This isn't with every package but I want to prepare you because it is happening. USPS is spotty at the best of times but it's even worse this time of year. I have supplies coming from the east coast being stuck in Kansas City, KS for several days while I'm on the Iowa side of Illinois (as in no where near Kansas City, KS). I have personally watched a USPS clerk scan a package I've dropped off and the tracking hasn't updated until it was out for delivery to the customer several days later. Every single order I send out is added to the shipping app on my phone. I check it multiple times throughout each day so if, for example, I see a package that has been sitting in the same sorting facility for three days I call USPS. To be honest, the response from my local office's supervisor is pretty poor--I've given my name and number to the same woman multiple times and each time I'm promised a call back that of course never comes--but I still make the call because I truly care about you getting your package as soon as possible. Believe me: I want you to get your order, I want to make opening the package a happy experience because this is nail polish--it's supposed to be an enjoyable hobby!
I was an indie nail polish lover long before I was a maker so I really do understand the frustration. I've been on the customer side of dealing with sites that crash from heavy traffic, site redesigns that promise no crashing or cart jacking, long processing times, frenzied restocks that sell out within literally 2 minutes, tracking not updating, the list goes on. I never wanted my brand to go through those issues so I've tried to run my business in a way I thought would prevent those issues. Some methods have worked better than others. I've already been working on ways to fix the parts that don't work but after these orders are completed, I'm going to take a little break to fully examine what I'm doing and how to make it more efficient.
Finally, I want to thank all of you so much for your patience and understanding. Lemming Lacquer has grown more than I could have hoped, especially in such a short time. While I am immensely grateful, it's a lot for one person to handle and I'm truly sorry things don't run as smoothly as you and I would like. I'm working extremely hard right now to get your orders out as fast as possible and I will continue to work just as hard to make the entire customer experience better in the future.
Again, if you have any other questions please email me and I'm happy to discuss them with you. Thank you and happy holidays!
In order to speed up the shipping process I have printed postage prior to mailing. The postage is future dated so the mailing date in your shipping notification may not be the exact day of shipping. This change and switching to an assembly line type system has actually helped a LOT. It may not seem like it as a customer but this method has REALLY helped and if I were trying to process this amount of orders a month ago it would take a lot longer.
If your tracking hasn't updated it may be because the package hasn't gone out yet. I'm happy to let you know whether your order has been sent out but please email me. The majority of the time I don't get notifications about your comments on Instagram or the Facebook page or get notifications about messages sent to the Facebook page. I really don't want your questions falling through the cracks in cyberspace so please, please email me. My email notifications are infinitely better and I can keep track of our conversation so much better.
Further on the subject of your tracking number, your tracking number may not update for several days after your package is sent out. This isn't with every package but I want to prepare you because it is happening. USPS is spotty at the best of times but it's even worse this time of year. I have supplies coming from the east coast being stuck in Kansas City, KS for several days while I'm on the Iowa side of Illinois (as in no where near Kansas City, KS). I have personally watched a USPS clerk scan a package I've dropped off and the tracking hasn't updated until it was out for delivery to the customer several days later. Every single order I send out is added to the shipping app on my phone. I check it multiple times throughout each day so if, for example, I see a package that has been sitting in the same sorting facility for three days I call USPS. To be honest, the response from my local office's supervisor is pretty poor--I've given my name and number to the same woman multiple times and each time I'm promised a call back that of course never comes--but I still make the call because I truly care about you getting your package as soon as possible. Believe me: I want you to get your order, I want to make opening the package a happy experience because this is nail polish--it's supposed to be an enjoyable hobby!
I was an indie nail polish lover long before I was a maker so I really do understand the frustration. I've been on the customer side of dealing with sites that crash from heavy traffic, site redesigns that promise no crashing or cart jacking, long processing times, frenzied restocks that sell out within literally 2 minutes, tracking not updating, the list goes on. I never wanted my brand to go through those issues so I've tried to run my business in a way I thought would prevent those issues. Some methods have worked better than others. I've already been working on ways to fix the parts that don't work but after these orders are completed, I'm going to take a little break to fully examine what I'm doing and how to make it more efficient.
Finally, I want to thank all of you so much for your patience and understanding. Lemming Lacquer has grown more than I could have hoped, especially in such a short time. While I am immensely grateful, it's a lot for one person to handle and I'm truly sorry things don't run as smoothly as you and I would like. I'm working extremely hard right now to get your orders out as fast as possible and I will continue to work just as hard to make the entire customer experience better in the future.
Again, if you have any other questions please email me and I'm happy to discuss them with you. Thank you and happy holidays!
Friday, September 25, 2015
Halloween 2015 Collection: The Vagantem Damnatorum Release
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages welcome to The Vagantem Damnatorum!
Inside you will be enlightened by Madame Alina the Fortune Teller, hypnotized by Magnus the Magician, terrified by Levi the Reptile Boy, enticed by Serafina the Firebreather, and delighted by Stitches the Clown. A chosen few will even meet the Ringmaster himself! Can you face the temptations and horrors within?
Beware and take care while inside the carnival because not all is what it seems. If you find yourself wandering too long and forgetting the world you left behind, you have been chosen by the Ringmaster to become a pawn in his game. Will you face your fears and receive your prize at the end or will you succumb to wickedness and fall? Brace yourself and come inside.
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Lemming Lacquer Try Us Sale
Fall is coming and with it a lot of new products will be added to the shop including new collections launching in September. Also, we now have a Facebook group called Lemming Lacquer Legion. Be sure to join for previews of upcoming releases, group exclusives, small batch prototypes and sample sales, and be the first to receive announcements about sales and promos!
I would like to discuss something that has been on my mind lately. With so many great indie brands available, I know it can be difficult to support all the brands you would like due to budget constraints or you may only buy from one or two brands exclusively. It's with those thoughts in mind that I would like to announce Lemming Lacquer's Try Us Sale.
This is an opportunity for more people to try Lemming Lacquer nail polish and nail care products as well as experience our customer service and personalized packaging. Use code TRYUS for 30% off a purchase of $10 or more starting Friday August 21st - Wednesday August 26th.
Give us a try and see why reviewers and customers are blown away by how opaque yet squishy our jelly glitter polishes are, how quickly our nourishing cuticle oil sinks into skin and how silky your hands feel after using one of our mani bombs.
As a reminder, polishes from the My Lemming Tis of Thee 4th of July trio will be discontinued at the end of August so get yours before they're gone!
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| Swatches courtesy of Ermahgerd Perlish |
This is an opportunity for more people to try Lemming Lacquer nail polish and nail care products as well as experience our customer service and personalized packaging. Use code TRYUS for 30% off a purchase of $10 or more starting Friday August 21st - Wednesday August 26th.
Give us a try and see why reviewers and customers are blown away by how opaque yet squishy our jelly glitter polishes are, how quickly our nourishing cuticle oil sinks into skin and how silky your hands feel after using one of our mani bombs.
As a reminder, polishes from the My Lemming Tis of Thee 4th of July trio will be discontinued at the end of August so get yours before they're gone!
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Lemming Lacquer Launch!
Helloooooo and Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers in your various forms and circumstances!
I know I haven't posted in a long time but that is because I had to get everything set up for the launch of my brand, Lemming Lacquer.
Our first collection, Curiosities From Wonderland, is based on Alice in Wonderland and the various books, movies, video games, and other media inspired by Lewis Carroll's characters and fantastical world. The collection of polishes, 7 in total, includes one glitter top coat, three crelly/jelly glitters, one thermal crelly/jelly glitter and two holographic polishes. Our polishes are all 5-free and are a true 15ml/.5 oz full size.
Curiouser and Curiouser! is a delicate pale sky blue holographic with gold shimmer that captures Alice’s iconic dress, naivety, and her well known blonde locks. Modest, sincere, and girly this polish personifies the innocent female protagonist we all know and love.
Her Imperial Viciousness is a jewel-toned red with different sized copper, red, and black glitters, color shifting iridescent glitters and a generous helping of black heart glitters. It is inspired by the character Redd Heart in The Looking Glass Warsseries by Frank Beddor.
Ravens and Writing Desks has a teal-leaning green colored base with different sized holographic gold, lime green, and turquoise glitters and black hex glitters. Inspired by a combination of Hatter Madigan of The Looking Glass Wars series and the 1951 Disney Alice in Wonderland’s Mad Hatter.
Eat Me is packed with small and medium sized matte glitters in all the colors of rainbow sprinkles. “Eat Me” is written on the cakes Alice eats to grow large after tumbling down the rabbit hole to Wonderland. This polish is inspired by the colorful baked treats in Alice in Wonderland and multi-colored sprinkles.
Drink Me is a lush purple jelly nail polish with small holographic hexes and medium and large holographic circle glitters. Inspired by the suspended “Drink Me” bottle and the subsequent purple bubbles Alice hiccups in shrink mode in the video game Alice: Madness Returns. Alice uses shrink vision to view hidden pathways and clues on upcoming enemies, puzzles, and invisible platforms.
I'm Not All There Myself is a velvet purple to vibrant pink color changing jelly polish with various sized round and hex fuchsia glitters and purple hex glitter. The jelly finish allows the lower layers of glitter to show through to offer a multidimensional look as complex as the mischievous feline it's named for.
Whooo R U? is a smoky, duochrome gray holographic polish with pinkish purple hazy overtones and bright blue sparks of shimmer. This polish embodies the Caterpillar’s languid smugness and captures the image of him taking long, cloudy drags off his hookah.
Check out a few reviews to see what bloggers had to say about our polish!
Cosmetic Sanctuary - Curiosities From Wonderland collection
Iced Lacquer - Ravens & Writing Desks
Ana's Manis - Drink Me and Ravens & Writing Desks
Manicured and Marvelous - Curiosities From Wonderland collection
Polished and Caffeinated - Curiosities From Wonderland collection
I know I haven't posted in a long time but that is because I had to get everything set up for the launch of my brand, Lemming Lacquer.
Our first collection, Curiosities From Wonderland, is based on Alice in Wonderland and the various books, movies, video games, and other media inspired by Lewis Carroll's characters and fantastical world. The collection of polishes, 7 in total, includes one glitter top coat, three crelly/jelly glitters, one thermal crelly/jelly glitter and two holographic polishes. Our polishes are all 5-free and are a true 15ml/.5 oz full size.
Curiouser and Curiouser! is a delicate pale sky blue holographic with gold shimmer that captures Alice’s iconic dress, naivety, and her well known blonde locks. Modest, sincere, and girly this polish personifies the innocent female protagonist we all know and love.
Her Imperial Viciousness is a jewel-toned red with different sized copper, red, and black glitters, color shifting iridescent glitters and a generous helping of black heart glitters. It is inspired by the character Redd Heart in The Looking Glass Warsseries by Frank Beddor.
Ravens and Writing Desks has a teal-leaning green colored base with different sized holographic gold, lime green, and turquoise glitters and black hex glitters. Inspired by a combination of Hatter Madigan of The Looking Glass Wars series and the 1951 Disney Alice in Wonderland’s Mad Hatter.
Eat Me is packed with small and medium sized matte glitters in all the colors of rainbow sprinkles. “Eat Me” is written on the cakes Alice eats to grow large after tumbling down the rabbit hole to Wonderland. This polish is inspired by the colorful baked treats in Alice in Wonderland and multi-colored sprinkles.
Drink Me is a lush purple jelly nail polish with small holographic hexes and medium and large holographic circle glitters. Inspired by the suspended “Drink Me” bottle and the subsequent purple bubbles Alice hiccups in shrink mode in the video game Alice: Madness Returns. Alice uses shrink vision to view hidden pathways and clues on upcoming enemies, puzzles, and invisible platforms.
I'm Not All There Myself is a velvet purple to vibrant pink color changing jelly polish with various sized round and hex fuchsia glitters and purple hex glitter. The jelly finish allows the lower layers of glitter to show through to offer a multidimensional look as complex as the mischievous feline it's named for.
Whooo R U? is a smoky, duochrome gray holographic polish with pinkish purple hazy overtones and bright blue sparks of shimmer. This polish embodies the Caterpillar’s languid smugness and captures the image of him taking long, cloudy drags off his hookah.
Check out a few reviews to see what bloggers had to say about our polish!
Cosmetic Sanctuary - Curiosities From Wonderland collection
Iced Lacquer - Ravens & Writing Desks
Ana's Manis - Drink Me and Ravens & Writing Desks
Manicured and Marvelous - Curiosities From Wonderland collection
Polished and Caffeinated - Curiosities From Wonderland collection
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