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Student creates nail polish line with help of Spartan Innovations

February 25, 2014

When Simone Page went to Walmart last summer on the hunt for a new bottle of nail polish, she was appalled by the cost.

The OPI nail polish shade that she was interested in cost $8 per bottle. Page, a communication senior, started to think about how much she pays annually for nail polish and was disgusted.

Her disappointment fueled innovation when she came up with the concept of creating her own nail polish.

Page, along with her friend, Bria Watkins, a Lansing Community College student, began brainstorming ways to create their own nail polish line so they didn't have to turn to more expensive brands.

The partners contacted Spartan Innovations, a company devoted to launching businesses.

Spartan Innovations provides the educational and financial support to innovators to help turn ideas into successful Michigan businesses.

Page and Watkins created a business plan and a bulletin board filled with various newspaper and magazine clippings and presented it to the board.

Spartan Innovations gave them $2,700 to start a nail polish line. In June 2013, their business took off.

The next step was to find a private label specialist, Watkins said.

The two had to research where they could get nail polish wholesale while still having the option to choose the polish bottles, ingredient labels and logos.

After extensive research, they found Diamond Cosmetics, a manufacturer and distributor in Florida.

"We told them the brand and what we wanted, and they took care of the artsy side of it," Watkins said.

Watkins and Page agreed on the name Yours Truly, a popular way of signing off, because they wanted their nail polish to serve as a signature.

Yours Truly consists of three signature lines to appeal to different personalities - Free Spirit, The Girl Next Door and Pin-Up Girl. Within each line, Page and Watkins came up with various colors to fit under each category.

"We thought about a variety of colors to appeal to different personalities," Watkins said. "If you (are) a free spirit, we try to find colors to match it."

Free Spirit offers earth tone shades, The Girl Next Door features softer and pastel colors and Pin-Up Girl has bold and sexy hues.

"Think about what the girl next door would wear,"ù Page said. "One of the colors (in that line) is called Best Advice and it's (a softer) purple."

Since beginning, the two have created 14 different shades. These include a mix of fall and winter colors, Page said.

The partners will soon start work on spring and summer colors to add to the signature lines.

The two have sold more than 300 nail lacquers so far.

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"We just have a really nice passion for it," Watkins said. "We like the feedback we get from others, and it makes (us) want to continue (to create) more colors."

The nail lacquers are $5 and can be purchased by email at yourstrulynails@gmail.com.

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