Polish stock for new starter...

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Shazzar

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Hi everyone

I'm just wondering how you all approached buying polish to use in your business. How may did you buy in the beginning? Did you use the polish from the people you trained with or do you use something else?

I want to buy enough to give people a decent choice, but neither do I want shades that may never be used. How did you all work out what and how much to get?

Ta xx
 
Suppose a big factor in this is are you going mobile or salon/home based ......... being mobile I had to consider that I had to carry all the polishes as well as the rest of my kit, I finished up picking a range of about 15 colours, french white & pink, and base & top coats which fitted in the top level of my case nicely. Also I bought 2 of each so I had a spare/retail one. For picking colours I tried to span the colour range & based my choices on what colours suited me & what suited my mum as we have opposite skin tones and what appeals to me in my late 30's (ok VERY late 30's & not for much longer :lol: ) doesn't ususally appeal to her at 74 :lol:. I even took my partner with me & held polish bottles up for his judgment on how appealing it was :lol:. I do however carry the colour chart of the full Orly range with me just in case I come across a client who would prefer something I'm not yet carrying so I can get it for the next appointment.

In my training (college based) we used Orly but also had access to Jessica, I also tried Attitude & OPI as these were available in my local retailer (easier to get more as you need rather than having to meet minimum orders or pay postage on small orders if your cosen range you have to buy mail order). I finally chose to go with the Orly as it the one I liked the most & found best to work with. Think the only way to pick a brand is to try them & see which feels good to you & works best for you.
 
I looked on ebay to be honest. On there i managed to get a bulk buy of polishes which worked out really cheap. I bought 56 nail polishes, most were new and they are all good colours, and i paid about £36 including postage. Not all were new but all are useable and good makes like Avon, Orly, Max Factor, Attitude, Boots etc so i managed to get a good deal. Someone is always having a clearout so its definately worth trying.

To be honest the fact they aren't all new looks like i've been doing it for ages, so it sort of looks good to your clients.
 
Hiya,

I agree it does depend on if you are going to be mobile or home based and how much you want to carry about with you. I made a fatal mistake of when I started being mobile of trying to take everything and the kitchen sink and ended up with shoulder problems and seeking help to rectify the problem.

I would start with about 15-20 colours in your range if you are going mobile. I now rent in a hairsalon and started with about 20 colours and everytime I went to the wholesalers I purchased a new polish for the collection. This way I wasnt spending
too much in one go on the Polishes. I now have about 60 colours and whilst my clients do have difficulty in deciding which colour to choose as they love so many of them they generally try all of them but over a period of time and love the fact that they do have a choice. Ive been lucky in that all of my polishes have been used at some point and as long as you buy a good quality polish they should remain at their best even if not used for a while.

I remember a post recently and im sure somebody said they had just thrown out a polish because it was 5 years old and had only a little left!!

Good luck - like everything its a case of trying a few and see which one you prefer.

Sharon
 
i bought myself the creative nail design silver plastic case and each week or month depending how flushed i was i would buy creative nail polish my case is now full and overflowing, and it looks so nice and professional and it is not heavy at all.(if your mobile).
if you do a search people have actually put down top selling polishes so it will give you an idea of what colours get used.
jo
 
I am also new to the industry. I am going to use Haken(www.Hakenusa.com). You can buy 50 polishes for $50. Good luck.
 
Thanks everyone for your replies. Some good advice there. I have been on e-bay and purchased 6 so far, there's no stopping me now!!!


Thanks again.
 
Shazzar said:
Hi everyone

I want to buy enough to give people a decent choice, but neither do I want shades that may never be used. How did you all work out what and how much to get?

Ta xx

Well obviously being mobile or whether you are in a salon is important but I would recommend Creative either way. They have a carrier case that holds loads of enamels and salons holder that can hold from 30 something to 100+ I have both the carrier case for when I am mobile and am getting the salon sand that hold 55.

As for colours i would buy stright out 20 colours to include pinks, reds, and puples a manicure colours liek negelige and cream puff and then build them up for there, I present but one colour a fourthnight/month so that means I can offer alot of different colours and buying them recently would guarantee the "in colours" at that time. Plus when you are only buying one/two a month that is hardly breaking the bank
 
One pointer, if you’re looking for polishes to retail (or any products for that matter) stay clear of high–street names.

There isn’t much of a profit in them, as your client will often know the RRP. If you purchase professional items you can mark them up to whatever price you deem profitable.

Not only that but it looks so much better – you wouldn’t go to have your hair done and see your hairdresser using Boots shampoos & styling products.

Profit & image aside, I've found the professional products to be far superior. :D
 
Also, forgot to say, I don’t carry all my colours around with me (I’m mobile), I paint a colour wheel for clients to order from. They can hold the plastic over their own nail to judge the colour rather than look at it through the bottle.
 
Just to add my bit Beauty Express do a polish starter kit of 24 colours for 20.00 squid, hths x
 
Just to put my two penny's worth: i didnt know what to buy either so chose a decent make that i'd heard of (ie. Creative, Opi or Star Nails Attitude) and picked a general range to try to suit all age clientele. For example a set of french manicure colours with a soft white and a hard white and in the colour range a few pinks, purples, reds (all of differing depth of colour), a peach, brown and a few funky colours etc. etc. Basically trying to cater for all tastes. You can then build up from there.

Hope this helps.
 
It's difficult at the beginning. With all the other costs, you want to ensure you buy a good selection. I achieved this by purchasing a couple of Creative collections.

I bought the Creative Summer and Winter collections as this gave me a good range of colours plus 2 bottles of each colour (one for retail).

I also bought a few individual creative polishes for french manicures - cream puff, negligee, moonlight & roses to name a few! (although Creative now have a collection of french polishes you an buy).

I keep up to date polish charts for both Creative and Attitude to show clients the full range of colours available.

Cheers
Madeline
 
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