Photo courtesy of Michelle Mismas
We love fashion and beauty writers of all kinds, but Michelle Mismas, of All Lacquered Up, is our first blogger focused on the specific – and insanely popular – niche of nail polish! Here she fills us in on her passion for all things nails – including the development of her own signature color and the challenges of being an independent beauty blogger.
Q: Since you launched the blog in 2007, you’ve reached over 3.5 million readers. Where did you get the inspiration to start the blog, and why do you think it’s been so successful?
A: Before I started All Lacquered Up, I was an avid beauty blog reader and participant in a few online beauty forums. At the time, beauty blogging was still relatively new and there wasn’t anyone specifically focusing on nails. As a nail polish collector, I had already amassed over 400 bottles so I figured I had more than enough material to launch a blog of my own. I was very fortunate early on to receive attention from Glamour’s Girls in the Beauty Department blog along with one of the godmothers of beauty blogging, Annie from Blogdorf Goodman. That helped get me on the radar. From there, it was about providing new and interesting content. Nails were just starting to gain traction so as more and more people sought out information about the newest colors and trends, they found me.
Q: Where did your passion for nail polish come from?
A: I was a habitual nail biter. It was a disgusting habit I just couldn’t break. In college, my sorority sisters practically forced me to get acrylics to hide my ragged nubs. After removing the enhancements, my nails were trash so I used nail polish to try and camouflage the damage. Wearing nail polish broke my habit and I became enchanted with all the fun names and unique colors. It sparked my obsession.
Q: Tell us about creating your own signature nail color and collection?
A: Through a chance meeting I became friends with celebrity manicurist, Elle, who at the time was the creative director for Barielle. She approached me about collaborating on a seasonal, twelve-color nail collection for Fall/Winter 2010, dubbed The All Lacquered Up Collection. A lot of the color ideas came from fabrics and makeup looks I saw backstage during fashion week. I would send Elle my concepts with inspiration images and she would mix up prototypes for the lab to replicate. A red lip became a shade named Pin Up. A slate blue dress, Slate of Affairs. But Elle is the genius behind Falling Star. I knew I wanted a cobalt or sapphire shade but when she brought copper flakes to the party, one of Barielle’s best selling shades was born. Coming in September 2013 my third brand collaboration will launch at Sally Beauty stores nationwide. I created a six-color collection for the FingerPaints brand named A Pair Affair by All Lacquered Up.
Q: What are some of the best parts of your career?
A: It’s a thrill being able to spend my days doing what I love. I know many people don’t get to say that so I don’t take how fortunate I am lightly. Anything that has come to me outside of the day-to-day business of blogging is the cherry on top. Being able to give my mother a bottle of nail polish with our family name on it was definitely a highlight. Plus, I love interacting with my readers. They teach me as much as I hope I teach them. I’ve made wonderful friends in a job that can be pretty isolating outside of the virtual world. And I’ve been lucky enough to cover nails from backstage at NYFW New York Fashion Week and even work as a nail tech with the team from CND.
Q: What about the most challenging?
A: As I mentioned, blogging can be an isolating job. Working from home can make you stir crazy and starved for human interaction. It’s also a challenge to be your own boss. It’s easy to get distracted by something new and shiny that shows up on your doorstep, so focus is a constant battle. But I think the biggest challenge is being based outside of NYC or LA. I miss out on a lot of brand interaction and press events living in Cleveland.
Q: Where do you get ideas for your posts?
A: I think of my blog as a conversation. I look at my readers as friends. My first question is always, “Is this something I can’t wait to tell my friend about?” A lot of what I write is product reviews so I’m constantly testing new colors and writing about the ones I just have to share. But I also listen to my readers. I poll them to find out what they want to see and incorporate that. I’m also a pop culture junkie so movies and television shows inspire me. If I see a fabulous nail look on screen, I’ll either hunt down the makeup artist to find out the actual color or offer my suggestions to get the look.
Q: What are your PR pet peeves, or what is the strangest pitch you’ve received?
A: When I get an email raving about how much they love my blog – some even refer to a recent post – yet the product is so completely unrelated, I can’t help but roll my eyes. Or when brands try to pitch me via Twitter or Facebook. If you can’t take the time to visit my blog and locate my extremely obvious contact information, you must not be that interested in working with me. Also, please don’t ask me to “do you a favor” by posting something if we have never interacted and I have never featured your product. Because my blog is so specialized I get a lot of pitches that have nothing to do with my content – but ones for vagazzling and bedazzled bra straps made me laugh.
Q: Any tips for PR professionals who want to get in contact with you?
A: Email is my ideal method of contact and while I don’t expect every PR person to read my blog in its entirety, showing me you are somewhat familiar is ideal. And I’m open to products outside of my focus, but if you can give me an angle in which it relates to my reader, all the better.
Find Michelle on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and on her blog, www.alllacqueredup.com.
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