WHAT on Earth has happened to VC??

Hi everyone,

A lot has happened in the last year that I would like to share with you.


The beginning of the decline of Venomous Cosmetics
My once beloved business has suffered greatly in the last year, and I am not one to make excuses for the sake of doing so.  As hard as I tried to keep VC going and keep up with orders, it became impossible due to my personal life basically falling apart.  I was staying up nights to get orders done and trying to work during the day to keep the household going.. and at some point everything became too much.  I apologize for every time your orders were late (sometimes ridiculously late), every time you didn't receive a timely response to an email or inquiry or anytime discounts were not applied promptly.  And then, the nail in the coffin:


Eczema
Such a small word to cause such enormous problems.  I am sure many of you remember all the nail posts I did on this blog.. 

This is a before picture:

 

This is what eczema did to my hands:

 

Not only does it look horrible, it is excruciating.  I had trouble accomplishing daily responsibilities like changing diapers, taking showers, washing dishes.  It was impossible to press shadows or make lip poison even with two pairs of gloves.   I eventually lost all my nails as well.

I found a new treatment and slowly I am recovering, but it has been a long road.

 

 

Weight gain/loss  and  Depression

Back at the end of 2012, I posted about a personal tragedy which I never disclosed the nature of at that time, except to a few people I considered close to me.  At the time, I had no idea how much the incident(s) could change me.  My then boyfriend (now husband) was unfaithful and I internalized it, feeling that it was my fault.  I begin to gain weight as I turned to food for comfort.  I hit an all time low when I realized I had gained so much by early fall 2013.  The depression fed the need to eat for comfort.  So this was me just 5 months ago at Christmas: 

I saw this pic and cried.. but decided to do something about it.  Here is my personal album of pics along the way, if you are interested in seeing my weight loss journey, which is right now 94 pounds lost since my start date Jan. 21st, 2014. 

See Weight loss Album here.

 

Here are a few pictures of me currently, without makeup, because I believe makeup is an awesome thing to make us feel prettier, but we are all beautiful in our own way without it.

 

 

Thank you all for your support of VC over the years, and when I re-open VC will be better than ever! 

 

Much Love,

T

 

 

St. Patrick's Day Sale on VC!!

Good evening lovely people!  I wanted to let you all know that there is a 15% off sale happening until tomorrow night at midnight on http://www.venomouscosmetics.com/.  The 15% will be refunded back to you within 24 hours of purchase.  Hope you have a Happy St. Patty's Day!

Much Love,
Tracy

Shadow Sale and Palette Offer on VC!

Hi lovely readers! 
I am running a sale at www.venomouscosmetics.com on all shadows from now until Saturday 3/10 at 9pm EST!

When you buy any two full size shadows you get one free.  Pressed and loose shadows may be mixed and matched.  Offer applies only to regularly priced shadows ($6.50).  Please include which free shade(s) you would like me to toss into your order in "notes to seller" upon checkout or in an e-mail to tracy@venomouscosmetics.com.

Additionally...a free palette offer!

If you purchase five full size pressed shades, I will throw in a free palette!  (Offer applies to a purchase of five shadows not including free shadows during the sale.)

Lastly, I will offering an limited edition Lip Poison (which will be officially for sale on 3/23) for sale during this sale on the main page.  "Panem" is the last edition to the Hunger Games collection.  It is a sheer mauvey neutral with red flash.

Hope you are all having a wonderful Thrusday!

Love, T

Tropical Look

I know I usually don't do LOTD posts, but I quite liked this one.  (Taken with my IPad in photo booth for the kaleidoscope effect.)

Colors used:

(All Venomous Cosmetics)

(Inner Corner outward on lid:) "The Last Unicorn"-pressed, "Feelin' Lucky"-pressed, "Finest Archer"-pressed, "Centipede"-pressed, "Chupacabra"-pressed and "The Hob"-loose. (Crease outward:) "Feelin' Lucky"-pressed, "Banshee"-pressed, "Ogopogo"-pressed, "Unbrokenhearted"-pressed and "Phoenix" pressed.  Applied over UDPP!

Hope you are all having a spledid Sunday!  Love, T

Nail Trend Giveaway Winner!

Sorry I didn't get to post this last night.  I have been getting what I hope are Braxton Hicks contractions and I have been super uncomfi for a bit now.

Down to business:

And the Nail Trend Giveaway 1 winner is....

Please contact me at tracy@venomouscosmetics.com within 48 hours and let me know where to send your items!

Hope you are all having a lovely Wednesday!

Love, T

Sally Hansen Salon Effects in "Brattlesnake"

I have one last post for you tonight.  I have been hearing a LOT about Sally Hansen's Salon Effects real nail polish strips, so I HAD to try them.
When I went in to Ulta the other day to get another NYX Jumbo Pencil, I also left with two boxes of Salon Effects.  Tonight, I have for you "Brattlesnake".

Each box contains a file, a cuticle stick, instructions and 16 polish strips divided into two packets.

If you have short nails like I do, you can actually get two uses out of one box by cutting the strips in half.  I would like to mention that if you plan to do this, do NOT open the second packet, as the strips dry out once opened.

The application was incredibly easy and they went on flawlessly.  The instructions are easy to follow and are pretty much mistake proof.

Above swatch is with flash, bottom is without.  I sealed these with China Glaze's Fast Forward Top Coat.

I have to say I absolutely LOVE these.  I can't comment yet on wear, since I have only put them on this evening, but it claims to last up to 10 days.

These were $9.99 at Ulta but I am sure you can find coupons for them or possibly somewhere that sells them a bit cheaper.  I will definitely be buying more of these in the future.

Have you tried Salon Effects?  What do you think of them?

The Icing Magnetix Polish Swatches and Thoughts

So, I wanted to make a second post for The Icing polishes.  I found these the other day when I was at the mall shopping for baby clothes.  They still had all the colors, but I chose the gold/green and the pink/red.  I wish now that I would've gotten the blue one as well!  Darn it!

These are supposed to have removeable magnets on the tops. 

I wanted to make a note that I did not leave the magnet on top of the gold one to show you how they are sold.  The magnet is still on the top because I can NOT get it to come off.  I have tried and tried to pull it off, but it will not come loose.  I think I just got a faulty one.

I have heard that the brushes on these are wonky (bent bristles, curved bristles, stray bristles, etc.).  My brushes were fine, however, it was like I read on The Polishaholic.  Using these brushes was like applying the polish with a mop!

The first two fingers are the pink/red and the last two are the green/gold.  Pointer and ring fingers have just one coat, while I applied two coats to the middle and pinky fingers.

Top swatch is with flash. 

These polishes were $9 at The Icing with a discount of buy one, get one half off (which The Icing always offers).  As I understand it, these are only available in store and not online with the exception of possibly ebay and the like.

Have you tried the Icing's version of the magnetic polishes?  How do you think it compares to other brands like China Glaze and Nails Inc.?