Social Media: something to think about

Social media has become a huge part of daily life, with some even forming careers from it. Advertisers target those with a large social media following, and there is even a luxury hotel in Sweden that offers free accommodation to those who have followers in their thousands – so long as they post updates of their stay onto their account(s).

Image source: Women Outside The Box

It is no wonder that something so huge and influential is the cause of so much controversy. Internet bullying has been fueled single-handedly by social media and internet chat-rooms, and the term ‘trolling’ didn't even exist until recently. It seems that being able to hide behind a protective profile that can quite easily mask who you are and where you’re posting from can encourage people to speak out in a way they wouldn't dream of if they were in a face-to-face situation. You don’t necessarily have to deal with the consequences of your actions online as you would out in the real world.

It can be very easy sometimes to surround yourself with negative opinions of social media. To simultaneously scroll through your Facebook newsfeed whilst claiming that you ‘hate Facebook’ or that your newsfeed is ‘full of rubbish’ is the norm nowadays. Social medic has found itself labelled with a very bad reputation.

That being said, social media was made to allow us – as individuals, brands, musicians, bloggers or whoever we are choosing to be (social media gives us that choice if we want it)  - to have a page/profile/account that is completely our own. A place to market ourselves and our brands in any way we see fit, without any external interference. It is entitlement to freedom of speech at its very best.

How often is it today that we are able to produce something solely based on our own desires? Without the way that somebody else wants it to be, time, money or one hundred other obstacles standing in our way. On our social media sites, we have complete control to shape it and come across however we want too. There is always the danger of being misunderstood or of causing offense with your views and opinions, and of course there are rules and regulations that control the nature of the content we are posting, but in terms of our own choices, there is nobody stopping us from posting whatever it is we want to post.

That control, that freedom, at this time, is something that is massively under-rated and unappreciated.

It seems a huge shame that due to some peoples misuse if what should be an incredible tool social media faces daily ridicule and scrutiny. However every now and again when you feel so exhausted with social media you find yourself hovering over the ‘delete account’ button, it is never a bad idea to take some time to remember what an amazing and important platform social media is, and how much more positively we would feel about it if we only treated it with a little more of the respect that it deserves.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments!

Until next time, 

The Vivien Kondor Team

Vivien Kondor wants you!

Truth be told it can often be difficult for a brand to read their customers and know how they are feeling. Orders may be coming in, social media content may be being shared and liked, which is great; but it doesn't really tell us how you feel about us as a brand and how we’re doing.

This has led us to something a little different this evening on the Vivien Kondor blog, we would like some feedback from you, our lovely customers, followers and readers.

We are rapidly approaching the launch of some pretty new and exciting things here at Vivien Kondor London, and there is some really cool stuff going on behind the scenes that we can’t wait to share with you. But before we do, we’d love to know from you (the people who matter most) how we’re already doing, or have done in the past, so we know how to change and grow, for the better, in the rapidly approaching future.

Think back through your experience with us as a brand, perhaps you’ve brought products or received products from us for review on your blog. Perhaps you only know us through our social media sites or have recently stumbled across this blog and are enjoying what we post. Whatever your input into what we do, no matter how small or insignificant you feel that input may be, we want to hear from you!

Do you love our products? Or think we could improve them in some way? Love the content we post or feel we could be a little more engaging? And what about this blog? This here blog that we are still trying to make sense of, do you like what we post here? If there are certain subjects or articles that you have enjoyed more than others, we urge you to let us know. Blogging and reaching out to people on social media is extremely difficult, as you never know how your content will be taken on the other end, whether people are going to find it interesting, intriguing, comedic or go in the opposite direction and find it pointless or even offensive.

We are still very much a new brand, and even though we are constantly growing and learning and have come on in leaps and bounds since our launch, we are still trying to make sense of this new world we have found ourselves, in, and let’s face it, without you guys we wouldn’t even be here.

So please feel free to comment on this post with your thoughts of the brand and our products, due to previous experience with us or simply seeing what we’re doing online. You can also reach out to us on our social media sites (links on the buttons to the left of this post - check out our new Pinterest page!) and give us a follow or like if you like what we’re posting – that always counts as positive feedback to us!

Don’t forget to hashtag #vivienkondor.

Until next time,

The Vivien Kondor Team

Vivien Kondor and Miss Universe GB

A few weeks ago we announced our partnership with Miss Universe GB for the 2015 competition here. We will be the platinum sponsor - the headline sponsor for the main event and during the build-up.

This means that we will be lucky enough to support the girls on every step of their journey towards the Miss Universe final. We will, of course, be on hand to provide them with any cosmetic products they may require and will make sure there is never a naked nail in sight. We have already gifted each girl with one of our gorgeous gift sets of six polishes, to introduce ourselves and allow them to get to grips with our products - and have had wonderful responses from them all.

Some of the MUGB girls after receiving their welcome gift from us. Taken from our Instagram page.

As much as the Miss Universe pageants are about celebrating beauty, they run so much deeper than that. Did you read this post about self acceptance, and how incredibly important it is to be happy in your own skin? This is what the Miss Universe pageant is all about, self acceptance, confidence, ambition and the act of using these qualities to help others.

Miss Universe GB run a campaign entitled 'Not in Vain', which has become a huge part of the competition. The campaign has been developed with the goal aims of empowering women and making a difference. The website (which you can find here) states the following about the Not in Vain campaign:

"Empowering women: As an organisation run by women, for women, we are keen to encourage young women to grow in confidence, build their self-esteem and reach for their goals. By being involved in the Miss Universe Great Britain process, our contestants will meet other like-minded women who are intent on growing as individuals. The Miss Universe Great Britain event brings us together and provides us a great platform to celebrate womankind.

Making a difference: The Miss Universe GB brand provides a unique experience for young women from all walks of life to come together to fund-raise as a unified group for good causes. The platform, coupled with the vision, enthusiasm and determination of our contestants provides an incredible opportunity for individuals to raise money in a way, which may nor always be possible independently. Since being involved with the Miss Universe organisation, the Miss Universe GB competition has raised thousands of pounds for charity."

The adopted charity is Strongbones Children's Charitable Trust, an incredible charity who support the families of children suffering from conditions of the bone including brittle bone disease, bone cancer and arthritis. To check out their amazing work or find out ways to help yourself, visit the website here.

Every year at the Miss Universe Great Britain final, the finalist who is believed to have promoted and embraced the Not in Vain campaign most successfully is presented with an award.

Strongbones and Miss Universe GB handing over £6,000 to children's services at Queen's Hospital thanks to the contestant's fundraising. Source: Strongbones.

In a time where the confidence of young women and the ability to embrace self-acceptance is more challenging than ever, it is competitions like this that not only help to remind us of the amazing things that can happen when you accept yourself for who you are, but of the things we take for granted along that self acceptance journey, and the ways in which we can help others, no matter how big or small.

To find out more about Strongbones, Miss Universe Great Britain or the Not in Vain compaign, visit the websites linked below:

Strongbones | Miss Universe GB | Not in Vain

To get involved in the conversation, tell us about your experiences or cheer on the girls, visit our Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages and use the hashtag #nailedit. We would absolutely love to hear your stores of how you have #nailedit for charity.

Until next time,

The Vivien Kondor London Team.

Cosmoprof 2015 in Bologna, Italy

A couple of weeks ago we were lucky enough to attend Cosmoprof in Bologna, Italy as exhibitors in the British Pavilion.

As a brand, we try to attend as many exhibitions as possible in order to spread the word about our products and get our name heard. Attempting to reach out to just the nail polish consumers in the UK is difficult enough, but when you have to begin to think about larger companies from both here and abroad stocking your products and shipping them to stores around the globe, the task becomes considerably more daunting.

Thankfully, exhibitions like Cosmoprof are there to give you a helping hand. Instead of having to go out and visit companies that you could potentially work with one by one, exhibitions such as this put everybody in one place. It's a very exciting thing to be a part of, and each day brings something new and different to the table.



We have been to a fair few exhibitions in the UK, as both visitors and exhibitors, and we have a pretty clear understanding of what they involve. There is no UK exhibition however, that could possibly have prepared us for the size of Cosmoprof... it is huge, and we mean HUGE.

Have you been to the NEC in Birmingham? If so, imagine that, twice. It really is that big. There were beauty exhibitors from all over the world showing off a huge array of products, from spray tans to waxing and eye brow tinting to perfume, anything you can think of to do with beauty, chances are you can find it at Cosmoprof.

Cosmoprof is not exclusive to Italy, and exhibitions of the same name are held in Las Vegas and Hong Kong yearly. It really is a world-wide event and in a much bigger and more exciting league to any exhibition the brand has been able to experience before.

We were so honoured to have been able to exhibit at such an event, and more exhibitions and events like this are just around the corner as the brand continues to grow; Las Vegas and Hong Kong watch out for Vivien Kondor!

P.s. We also managed to do a little bit of sightseeing while we were in Italy, and it didn't disappoint!

Until next time,

The Vivien Kondor London Team.

Delving deeper into the cosmetics industry: why make-up means so much more than what is on the surface

According to CTPA (the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association), in 2013 the EU cosmetics market was worth EUR (€) 72 billion.

Also according to CTPA: “cosmetic products are enjoyed by millions of people all over the world contributing to healthy lifestyles, well-being and confidence in appearance – feeling confident about one’s appearance rates as the most important factor for building self-esteem. This is a consistent finding from several years of research, conducted by CTPA since 2004, and comes above having a large group of friends, being financially successful and even having a supportive family.”

Research such as the above proves the importance of cosmetics in 21^st century life, and it is very interesting to read exactly how much of an impact our personal appearance has on our self-esteem. Cosmetics have become a huge part of everyday life and people who were once labelling it and unnecessary and shrugging off the idea of it generating huge profits and jobs for the country, are now beginning to sit up and take notice. It has escalated to mean considerably more than the simple act of enhancing or changing your external appearance. Cosmetics runs much deeper than what is on the surface.

Self-confidence is a huge issue in today’s culture. Despite stereotypes, it is not limited to women and it is certainly not limited to the young. Magazines, music videos, TV shows, movies and all forms of media are constantly bombarding us with images that represent generic beauty, beauty that fits whatever the most current trend is at that time. It seems that it is becoming increasingly more difficult to go anywhere without being faced with the media's idea and portrayal of beauty. It has been said a million times before, and there are thousands of articles and blog posts floating around the internet about this issue, but it will not be enough until people begin to realise and understand that they are free to be whoever they want to be, whether or not that version of themselves matches up to the media’s definition of beauty, is irrelevant.

This issue, no matter how it is interpreted by each individual, has helped to catapult the cosmetics industry into the billion-pound industry it is today. The media’s interpretation of beauty and their way of forcing that interpretation on us, has caused us as a nation to be more self-conscious than ever before, more aware of our appearance than ever before and more likely to flock to Boots on a Saturday afternoon to pick up the latest cosmetic collections than ever before.

Building up your individual style is one of the most effective ways to express yourself. Experimenting with your appearance in whichever way, particularly at a younger age (come on guys, we all did it!) helps to shape us into the person we are becoming. Experimentation and expression are key factors when developing your own self-identity.

To feel confident in your appearance is a huge step towards all-round self-confidence, and without meaning to sound horribly cheesy, if we are confident with ourselves there is very little we cannot achieve (we know, we know, super cringe – but hear us out!) Being self-confident eliminates our thoughts and cares (to a certain extent) of what other people think of us. If you are happy with yourself and those closest to you love and accept you for who you are, then what does it matter what anybody else thinks? What a wonderful way to think, ey? Self-confidence is the first major step towards self-acceptance, and self-acceptance makes for a considerably easier life.

All that from just applying a bit of lipstick in the morning to brighten up our face… who’d have thought it!?

What are your thoughts on self confidence? Do you find it extremely difficult, or have you found peace with yourself?

We'd love to know what you think.

Until next time,

The Vivien Kondor London Team.

Buying social media followers

It’s officially the weekend! Hopefully you've had a great week.

This week at VKHQ, we have been thinking a lot about a subject that has recently been drawn to our attention; the act of buying social media followers. Fake accounts that have been created for the purpose of following accounts that have brought them. 

Baring in mind, a lot of social media sites have now become wise to this, and perform regular clear-outs of fake, inactive or spam accounts.

Image Source: Mike McCready

There has been a fair amount of attention recently drawn to the act of companies/brands, bloggers and average Joe’s dreaming of being ‘internet famous’ buying themselves social media followers. It is an issue that has been gradually growing in popularity recently and more and more people are becoming aware of this option.

A few weeks ago, we posted this post discussing whether or not the saying ‘good things come to those who wait’ is a good motto to live by, or whether we should go out and make things happen for ourselves.

In a time where dreams and ambitions are easier to chase and more achievable than ever, it appears that shortcuts such as this have begun to pop up, but just as we discussed the idea that it is more realistic to make something happen for yourself, does it not then go hand in hand with the idea that it is much more fulfilling to earn something through genuine hard work, rather than buy your way in using alternative and less-then-genuine methods?

Everything seems to be more accessible these days. Advice on launching new brands and businesses is on hand at the end of a simple Google search, hundreds of new blogs are being set up daily and more people are flocking to university than ever before every September in order to set up their dream careers in their early twenties. Sometimes it can seem as though every young person has their own blog, YouTube channel and a 2:1 from a half decent university. It is getting harder and harder for us all to avoid that dreaded question: how do we stand out from the crowd?

A quick scroll through Facebook/Twitter can give us a pretty good insight into the new blogger, new brand or new product we've stumbled across while online or overheard our friends talking about, and you can usually guess the size and success of a blogger or business by the amount of social media followers they have, right? More followers = more people interested in that account, their products, blog etc. At least that’s how it used to be.

More so now than ever before, it is incredibly easy to click that ‘buy now’ button and bag ourselves thousands of new followers quicker than it takes us to make a microwave meal. So how do you really know whether the social media account you’re scrolling through has a truly impressive amount of followers, followers they have worked hard to gain, or if they have simply caved in under modern day pressure and brought themselves a social media quick-fix?

Image Source: The Huffington Post

Within the ‘good things come to those who wait’ post, we discussed our views here at VKHQ that it is about quality, rather than quantity when it comes to engaging with people. What is the point of having 10,000 followers if only 1,000 of them are bothered about what you’re posting? What’s the point of looking like you have thousands of followers at first glance when, after searching through your page, it’s clear to see that only a handful of followers are actually engaging with your content?

 At the end of the day, a follower count is only ever going to be a number at the top of a screen, it seems to us that it is much more about posting relevant and engaging content. And anyway, if you are posting content that people enjoy reading and are interested in, they will, one-by-one, press that follow button in order to read more.

The option is there, and with the internet becoming more and more crowded with people trying to make their voices heard, it is inevitable that some will cave under the pressure and take this option. 

The big questions is, is it worth it? Not only are social media sites regularly decluttered of these accounts, but the followers that you have purchased won’t do anything. They won’t share your posts or draw attention to your account, they will inevitably just sit, inactive, in your followers list.

What do you think about the act of ‘buying’ followers? Do you think the positives outweigh the negatives? We’d love to hear your opinion.

As always, get in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and let us know your thoughts, and don't forget to hashtag #vivienkondor.

Have a great weekend.

The Vivien Kondor London Team

Do good things really come to those who wait? Lauching a new brand into the cosmetics industry

Hello!

Another week is drawing to an end - has anybody else noticed the days gradually getting longer? It's making us really excited for Spring.

As another year begins to get comfortable, it's gotten us thinking about how far Vivien Kondor London has come, about where we want to be and how realistic and achievable our goals as a brand are.

Spring is the best time of the year for a fresh take on things, and a great time to think about where it is you are going. The madness of Christmas and New Year are over, and you are beginning to settle back into a routine and accept the arrival of a new year. What better time to reflect and set yourself new goals then the arrival of springtime?

We all know that nothing really worth achieving comes easy. It is a lesson that parents, siblings, grandparents and teachers alike have drilled into us our whole lives. Fitness goals, academic goals, working towards a promotion at work, working on building friendships and relationships... the list goes on. These are all perfectly reasonable and manageable goals, but they all require a significant amount of work. It is unreasonable to sit back and expect things to happen around you as you wait patiently. We've all heard the saying 'good things come to those who wait', but when we're chasing dreams, does that really cut it?

The cosmetics industry is competitive and over-crowded, with new brands emerging regularly and trying to fight their way through the competition and up to the top level with the established brands.

The 'big names' dominate, and hog the attention of customers, leaving very little opportunity for new brands to be heard. Nobody wants to waste money on products that will not last or they will not enjoy, therefore people find comfort in the familiar, remaining with brands and products that they are either already using or are already aware of (be it from advertising or a recommendation they have seen online or heard from a friend). 

It is absolutely crucial here, to bear in mind that the dominating brands are those that have earned their right to be where they are. All cosmetics brands started in the same place, and we have all had to gradually climb up the ladder, gaining and losing customers on a regular basis and learning from mistakes made at the beginning.

Those that seem to receive the most attention from the public, do so because people know who they are as a brand; they are recognisable. Whether the brand has done this due to many years gaining a reputation, or one genius marketing campaign that launched them into the mainstream, is irrelevant. Once a customer recognises a brand or product, there is no way they are going to be the only one out of their friendship group who hasn't tried it.

It is crucial when launching into the cosmetics market to be prepared to face criticism. This is true of almost any situation that involves trying something new. 

With billions of people on the planet, you've got absolutely no chance of pleasing every single one of them. Don't focus on that. Take criticism well and learn from it, but take it as a good sign when you find somebody who likes your products. It only takes one good review for other people to gain interest.

Lack-of-interest and a slow start is almost inevitable. If you're expecting to launch a brand and be the top seller on Amazon in a fortnight, you're going to be disappointed.

In terms of blogging, social media outreach and general word-of-month, it is most definitely about quality, rather than quantity. The volume of people you reach out to is not so important. It goes without saying to reach out and speak to as many people as possible, there is absolutely nothing bad about getting your name around, however it is much better to reach 10 people who are actually interested in your brand, your products and what you have to say, rather than 100 who really aren't interested or even listening to you.

Although it is important to recognise that the quantity of people you are reaching out too means nothing if they are not the people you need to be targeting, the way you are searching for and approaching possible interest is something to think about.

Explore every avenue available to you; social media, blogs, exhibitions, seminars. Go to as many meetings as you can cram into your day and meet as many people as possible.

It is extremely important to not just talk to people. Particularly talking at people. Don't constantly attempt to force your products, your ideas or your views onto them. Say what you have to say, but don't overdo it.

Remember to listen. Really listen to what another person has to say. Paying attention will go a really long way, you never know how useful it will be one day that you paid attention to what breed their family dog is. It is always a positive you will notice in somebody else, that they paid attention to you, so why not do it yourself?

Possibly the most important and easiest thing to do when launching a new brand or starting a new business; always reply. Emails, texts, missed calls with or without voice mail messages - reply to them all. Always get back to the people who have tried to get hold of you - not only is it common courtesy (and you wouldn't want your parents to know you were being impolite would you?), you never know what opportunity could arise from taking five minutes between meetings to to return somebody's call.

When you really begin to think about it, there are a million situations where you could quite easily take a step back and hope things will happen if you think about them for long enough, but is that really what you want? Do you want to leave it to fate or do you want to be able to say that you really worked hard in order to achieve something? 

There are probably some times where it is best to not make a move and to stay where you are. And surely the saying 'good things come to those who wait' didn't spring from thin air, there will be a reason behind it.

That being said, we don't really like waiting around at Vivien Kondor London, we dream huge dreams and we run after them as fast as we can, good things have come to us and we certainly didn't wait around for them.

Photo credit: La Chic Boutique

We're very interested in this topic here at VKHQ, and we have been discussing our views all week. 

What do you think, do good things come to those who wait or do you have to go out and chase them? What experiences have you been through and how have they helped to shape your opinion of this?

We'd love to know what you think, don't forget you can reach us by heading to our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages. And in the meantime, have a great weekend!

Love,

The Vivien Kondor London Team

Spring Fair International 2015

Another Friday has come around - the first in February; so don't worry, the first miserable four(ish) weeks of the year are over and done with, and Spring is well and truly on the horizon!

To welcome in Spring, and a new year of buying, product launches and openings of new retail outlets, the i2i Events Group present Spring Fair International - an exhibition aimed at anybody who wants to see what the retail and distribution sectors have to offer - at the beginning of each year, and this year was no different.

This was Elegance by London's (owners of Vivien Kondor London) first time at Spring Fair International, so with great excitement and enthusiasm, we loaded up the car (and a van... we had a lot of stuff) and headed up to Birmingham to set up camp at the NEC for the next six days.

This was a fantastic opportunity for us to show off our brand-spanking-new products.

We took with us all 42 nail polishes from our current collection, our nail polish remover in all four colours, and all 8 of our gift set collections.

(All of which are available on Amazon - check it out here.)

We have had some wonderful feedback from the general public, be it bloggers, social media followers or family and friends, but we were very intrigued to see how Vivien Kondor London would be received by retailers and wholesalers alike.

If these people liked our products (which of course we were hoping they did) that would be the first step towards being stocked in physical stores and allowing us to reach out to more people and broaden our market and horizons.

Thankfully for us, the products were received very well. 

People loved the packaging; and the logo and gift sets were also a huge hit.

Phew - what a relief!

The next step for us is to keep in contact with the people that we met at Spring Fair International, build professional relationships and send our products out to see how well they sell!

This is such an exciting time for Vivien Kondor London, and we are so honoured to have been received so well after only launching our first collection in November - go us!

We are so happy that we decided to participate in Spring Fair International this year. It is a fantastic place to meet people, show off your products and find out first hand how the retail market is shaping up for the next year.

There are demonstrations, free samples, business-building tips and seminars and hall after hall of companies and brands exhibiting their products proudly - it really does make for an eye-opening day even if you're only going for a bit of a wander round!

We are sure to be back at Spring Fair International next year, but for now we only have a small amount of time to prepare for our next exhibition - Cosmoprof in Bologna, Italy!

We are hugely excited to be taking Vivien Kondor London oversees for one of the biggest cosmetics exhibitions around, and Spring Fair International was the best place for us to test the water in preparation for jetting off in March.

2015 is shaping up to be an amazing year for Vivien Kondor London.

We can't wait to see where we'll go and how we'll be received.

Keep an eye out for new product releases and exhibition news on our social media sites below, we want you to be there at every stage with us - without you we wouldn't be able to do what we're doing.

Twitter - Facebook - Instagram

A HUGE thank-you to each and everyone of you.

Have a great weekend!

Love, 

The Vivien Kondor London Team

Blog reviews

Hello from VKHQ!

We have been reviewed by a fair amount of bloggers in the last two months or so, and there are always new reviews published on blogs – so always keep an eye out!

Today, we thought we would say a huge thank-you to all the bloggers that agreed to receive our products, but in particular the following four. For a new brand trying to break into a very competitive market, reading reviews like this makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

If you are confused as to why these posts are referring to a ‘133 – Neon Gold’, take a look at this post from December to clear things up.

1

Nail Lacquer UK

Nail Lacquer UK was the very first blog to review our products. 

She received 5 polishes from us; 107 - Lime Green, 110 – Red Black, 117 – Shiny Baby Pink, 133 – Neon Gold (renamed Butterscotch) and 138 – Gold Glitter.

Our absolute favourite part of the review is the pictures produced, if you follow our social media sites you will most likely have seen us re-use these pictures – just look at them! They look so incredible and professional! We are definitely going to be using these pictures for many months to come.

The overall opinion from Nail Lacquer UK was that the polishes had a good formula and application. Her personal favourites were Red Black and Lime Green (pictured at the top).

2

Elanor’s Nails

Elanor’s Nails' review was posted only a day after Nail Lacquer UK – it was very exciting to see our polishes on not one but two blogs within the space of two days!

Elanor’s Nails received 106 – Cobalt Blue, 117 – Shiny Baby Pink, 121 – Lilac (renamed Lilac Frost), 133 – Neon Gold (renamed Butterscotch) and 138 – Gold Glitter.

The general feedback from Elanor’s Nails is that the polishes had a great formula and required no clean-up. She also noted that she liked the brush as it was “not too stiff, not too floppy, not too wide” and also the lids were good and allowed for easy hold.

3
The Naily Mail

The Naily Mail’s review came a week after the first two. 

The Naily Mail received 112 – Beechwood Red (proving so far to be our most popular shade), 133 – Neon Gold (renamed Butterscotch) and 138 – Gold glitter.

In her review, she stated that the polishes had good formulas and smooth application. She also liked the finishes. Again, the lid and brush were complimented: “the brush is narrow which allows for a precise application, and with the brush handle

being square it is really nice to hold and you have a lot of control when applying the polish.”

4
Fashion Glammy

If you follow Vivien Kondor on Instagram you are sure to be familiar with Fashion Glammy. We sent her 103 – Nude, 104 – Black and 110 – Red Black back in November. Since then, she regularly takes to Instagram to keep her followers updated on her outfit and accessory choices; most of which include freshly-painted Vivien Kondor nails – we are honoured!

Fashion Glammy was more specific with her feedback to each individual polish. For 104 – Black, she noted that the colour was strong and pigmented, and it gave a nice result. For 103 – Nude, she wrote of a “lovely result” and speedy dry. For 110 – she loved the colour and claimed that the application was even. She also said that she had painted her toenails with Red Black over two weeks before writing the review – and the polish was still “flawless”!

Check out our social media sites for updates on the latest blog posts!
Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
A huge shout out to all the bloggers who have gotten in touch and written such lovely words about our products.
Any bloggers reading who would be interested in receiving Vivien Kondor polishes for review should contact us using the information on the contact page, comment below or get in touch via one of our social media pages.
Did you read any of these reviews yourself? If so we'd love to know what you thought.

Love,

The Vivien Kondor London Team

2014 in pictures

Hi there - happy Friday!

Below are some of our favourite moments from 2014.

We are so glad we got to document these and are even more glad that we got to share them with you!

• Exhibiting Vivien Kondor in Birmingham prior to the launch • Vivien Kondor polishes begin to arrive at the office • Colour charts and colour palettes are finalized • Planning for www.vivienkondor.com begins • First ever online review from Nail Lacquer UK • Second review from Elanor's Nails • Third review from The Naily Mail • Vivien Kondor launches on Amazon • Gift set samples arrive at the office • Vivien Kondor launches an Instagram account • Fashion Glammy posts a review • Instagram nail account _miriilein posts Viein Kondor polishes for the first time • Nail polish remover is launched • The Vivien Kondor blog is launched • Vivien Kondor launches in Romania with our first range sold and displayed in the Vivien Kondor Salon, Bucharest • Vivien Kondor gift sets are launched on Amazon • Christmas with Vivien Kondor •

Love,

The Vivien Kondor London Team

New year reflection and advice on starting something from scratch

Happy new year to you all! Welcome to the first post of 2015!

It seemed a little odd to us for a brand to do one of those ‘looking back on the year’ posts, however we know we have come a long way this year and wanted to dedicate a post to the end of 2014.

In terms of growth and development, Vivien Kondor have reached new highs this year – we finally launched our 42 nail polish collection and our gift sets. Two new social media sites were launched, as well as this here blog. We were blogged about, tweeted about, we went to exhibitions… we could go on and on.

So how do we feel about being a new brand in the cosmetics industry? What have we learned from our experiences this year?

Photographs featured above from: Elanor's Nails, The Naily Mail, Fashion Glammy (pictures used from Instagram), _miriilein, Nail Lacquer UK

The cosmetics industry is a huge and incredibly competitive one. It seems that people tend to find brands that they like, brands that they trust, and stick with them. Understandably too, cosmetics is in no way just about ‘looking pretty’. Cosmetics is about self-confidence. It can even become a way to represent your personality and your taste. It’s natural to think that when we find a brand we like and are comfortable with, we should stick with it.

 This makes breaking through extremely difficult for a new brand. Sometimes it can feel a little bit like a game of ‘who can shout the loudest’, with so many different brands fighting to be heard. We feel, here at Vivien Kondor, that there are three crucial steps to establishing and developing a new brand:

Step One – produce a product that excites you. If you don’t believe in your product, how do you expect anybody else too? Try and try again – it probably won’t work out the first time, or the second time or maybe not even the third – don’t stop until you know you've got it right, your enthusiasm and dedication will come across later in the development process – and will only ever work in your favour.

Step Two – spread the word. Get people talking, get people interested. Send out samples and allow people to use your products and decide for themselves. Don’t tell people directly how to feel about your brand, allow them to come to a conclusion themselves.

Step Three – grow as a brand. Hopefully, if you have performed the first two steps successfully, this should come quite easily. People will see a confident brand that believes in their products and are clear about what they stand for, and they will see others talking about you, using your products and posting on social media – they will be intrigued, they’ll want to see what all the fuss is about for themselves.

This is in no way restricted to the development of a brand, if there is anything you are trying to succeed in you can take these steps into account. Vivien Kondor have been approached by a huge number of bloggers who are just starting out – we are sure you could apply these steps in a certain way to the development of a blog.

Apologies if you came to the blog to read about our products or find some nailspiration – any other day you’d have come to the right place! However, people have shown us a huge amount of kindness in the last few months as we launch our brand, particularly bloggers (who, by the way, inspired us to begin this blog).

It is the beginning of a new year, and although 2014 was a great one for Vivien Kondor, we are leaving it behind and moving forward as a brand – but we couldn’t leave without saying thank-you.

Anybody attempting to build something from scratch, stick it out and remember Rome wasn't built in a day – good things take time. Anybody who helped us out in 2014, blogged about us, retweeted us, posted about our products, or of course brought some of our collection – we cannot thank-you enough.

Here’s to 2015! Let’s hope it’s a good year for all of us.

Love,

The Vivien Kondor London Team