Monday, June 25, 2012

Lynnderella Scandal - Opinion of the Marketer


Hi Ladies,



Initially I wasn’t going to write a blog post about the entire Lynderella scandal. But I stumbled upon her eBay store over the weekend and saw that she sells her polishes as an auction. Moreover, people are bidding and willing to pay more than $50 for the bottle. I wasn’t surprised….I was shocked!!!

I’m not going to go into the details of Lynnderella’s “gift” policy to her brother or other people. It’s not my right to judge and I don’t know her brother’s situation.


My post is more about her being a brand, an artist and a designer.
Most of my career I’ve been studying and working in marketing. And for me things she could have done to ruin her brand she did. Usually, people pay extra money or buy products for several reasons:
1. Exclusivity
2. Quality
3. Customer relations
4. Creativity


Lynnderella polishes were exclusive from the start. Limited labor gives limited supply and creates an opportunity to raise the price. And let’s all agree…we would pay anything to get any of her polishes. But what we see now is not a right way to reach prosperity. It’s called supply deficit or, simply saying, manipulation of the number of produced polishes to sell it for the higher price. Let’s all wake up…people are thinking whether to buy Unicorn Pee for $50, but are blindly bidding and paying much more to get Lynnderella’s polishes. Ask yourself…Are these polishes so unique? Ask yourself…. Is her new collection one of a kind? Haven’t you seen this from other indie brands that released almost similar polishes before she did? Nobody told her that she is copying them.


Quality is another issue. If you read my blog you know that I’m an indie junkie. I’ve tried a lot of Etsy and Facebook brands. Their quality surpasses the quality of the Lynnderella polishes. Why? They care what they put into their polish. I’m not even talking about the “Bleeding Glitter”. I’m talking about overall proportions of the glitter to the base. Lynnderella polishes are chunky and hard to settle. They have always been like that. For the person that states: “it took decades of self-work, research, training, study and paying attention to processing visual information to be able to create Lynnderella's lacquers", it is a sloppy work. She thinks that she is still the Queen of the indie nail polish market, but there are much more humble and talented people that started their brands.


The thing that was a turning point for me is more about the attitude. Although everybody understands that small indie brands sell nail polishes for profit, we still get the feeling of the community while purchasing from them. We know that if we ask, they will answer. If they have a problem with supplies, they will tell us. It’s a two-sided communication that makes brand more personal. Lynnderella’s attitude towards her customer…hmmm….what can I say, we all feel the ignorance I guess.


It is sad to see that a great brand has fallen. She started the new era of the nail polish, almost disrupted the entire industry….almost. I don’t think most of the people who are disappointed in her behavior will buy again. Lynnderella should really think about putting her Shiny Golden Crown in the closet and appreciating her customer. Without doing so, her so-wanted prosperity will be very short-term.


P.S. I don’t feel I will ever want to wear my Lynnderella polishes again. I’m not planning to sell them either. I’m thinking of giving them away, for people who do not have such strong feeling about the entire story. I’ll keep you updated.

22 comments:

  1. Wonderful post - as someone who also has worked/works in the marketing industry, it was interesting to read from your viewpoint. I agree with your points!

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    1. Polish Pixelle,
      Thank you. I just couldn't be silent about it anymore I guess. Her arrogance and the whole thing with throwing Leah Ann from Llarowe under the bus is just ridiculous.

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  2. Hallelujah, preach, church and tabernacle. Amen.

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  3. Love your post, I agree with you 100% and I too don't even want to wear my lynnderella polishes anymore but am not going to sell them. I'm just keeping them in quarantine away from my other polishes.

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    1. Frosso,

      I'm not a seller:) It's much easier for me to give polishes away than to sell them. Plus, maybe someone might get a lemming they wanted for a long time. I will probably leave Nosegay and Connect the Dots, but that's it.

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  4. I woke up this morning thinking about this very same issue. However, I did think it was a rather clever marketing strategy to create a demand that a supply cannot fulfill. To have THAT many bloggers review her polishes and to post pretty pictures of something that not everyone could attain. Look where it got her to, she now sells polishes on eBay for bidding!

    I don't own any Lynns simply because they're just pretty damn hard to get and I honestly do want some. Perhaps it's precisely because I don't own any that I don't have such strong feelings towards this entire issue.

    My sole issue lies with her PR skills (sorry, mass communications major here) because what she's doing is simply adding oil to to flames. If she knew what she's good for her brand, she really ought to well, work on customer service on on managing her brand's image too. But hey, apparently that all doesn't matter because there's still a clamour for her polishes now anyway, even at exorbitant prices. Guess some people don't mind being treated like crap.

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    1. Nicole,
      I see you point. She owns a lot to Llarowe that was selling her polishes for a long time. I understand why people want her polishes and blindly trying to get them for any price possible. The question is, for how long she will be able to sustain supply deficit, because demand for her products already have decreased. Besides, with Llarowe not selling her stuff anymore, she will amke it more accessible through eBay and then...after all the buzz, people will compare the quality and match the price level. We'll see what happens then...I'm kinda curious actually.

      PR skills...you surely know that black PR is also a PR:) I think the whole issue is her overwhelming arrogance..she really thinks she is the best. BUT...I believe she could be the leader, person people look up to...you know..other indie brand creators. I don't mean stupid copying of her works. Then and there, the great brand might have been established...she f**** it up though.

      I agree, people will buy now matter what, especially from outside US, where indie brands are much less accessible.

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  5. I'm in marketing also and agree on all points...

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  6. Amen. I have no plans on buying from her ever again, her behavior is just idiotic and absurd IMO. The recent post throwing llarowe under the bus sealed the deal for me!!

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    1. Mel,
      the whole thing with Llarowe...just disgusting, no words! Plus, the last this you want to do is f*** up the relationships with retailers. I respect Leah Ann's decision not to sell her anymore, although I'm sure it was profitable for her.

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  7. Honestly, I was never sure why people liked the polishes so much in the first place. I think the glitter is too chunky. The only one I ever kind of wanted was Connect the Dots and I would have never paid $17 for it.

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    1. Lauryn,

      Connect the Dots is definitely worth the price. I like Gotta Love Brains too. Only these 2 i'm going to keep. I don't feel like using them anymore though:(

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  8. Wow! You said it girl! I'm so disappointed with how things proceeded with her these days. Her brand was something I really enjoyed when she was selling from her own blog. It became so hard to attain yet I appreciated the wishlist system that Leah Ann of Llarowe employed as I knew eventually I'd get what I wanted. However, in these last two weeks the increased price of her polishes and her general attitude of descending from upon high that has permeated her brand has been quite unattractive. I still like her polishes, but I agree that other indies have surpassed her at this point in terms of creativity and more importantly QUALITY of product. I don't want to buy via ebay no matter what. She stated this was the strongest platform to prevent cartjacking etc, but to me it's greed. $4 for shipping and handling + $20 a pop per polish! I'm sorry I'm only willing to pay something like that for a Dior or Chanel attitude aside I don't think the quality is worth it. Then to "discontinue" her older shades and only offer them via bidding. I've lost so much respect for her. I have almost all of her old lines too save for the HTF LE's and gifts. I'll keep them because I really enjoyed those shades but I'm moving on.

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    1. Lacquer Lockdown,
      you are right, for $25 you can buy any high end brand like Chanel or Dior that you know will be in your drawer literally "forever" without settling or changing the quality.

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  9. I so agree with everything you said! For gods sake its just glitter in clear nail polish, Ill never buy a Lynnderella polish now. And as you said, many idie brands have polishes similar and better than hers.

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  10. I am not sure what her brother's situation is, but I think she could have helped him in a different way and would have built more goodwill among her customers if she just HIRED him to help her make polishes. He would have been gainfully employed, and her customers would have been happier to have more access to her polishes. This would have showed more foresight guaranteeing longevity of her brand. Because right now her brand really has a bad reputation, and I am not sure how long people will want her polishes. What happened I think was she got greedy, and she herself said in her blog, why she should not be the one to gain from the sale of her own polishes on e-bay. That's very shortsighted. When all the hype is gone about her polishes, she would have been left with nothing, and her brother would stll be unemployed, making only a few bucks in that period which would not be enough to sustain him in the long run.

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  11. I only just found out about Lynnderella tonight. I saw her polishes and was blown away and immediately wanted them. Did a quick google search, hopped over to Ebay and almost swallowed my tongue. 80$ for polish? I've never seen such a gross misuse and abuse of your fans. While I'd love to test these polishes, I refuse to fund a tinsel tyrant. I'll just have to find a suitable (and sane) alternative.

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  12. How does this differ from Nerd Lacquer, who made $25,000 in sales in one day on Etsy and then disappeared without fulfilling some orders and gift certificates? Yet people seem very reluctant to call her out about it.

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    1. I do not defend nerd lacquer and people have discussed the situation on Twitter many many times. I do not justify her actions, but she did not manipulate people on purpose for a long time. I do believe she had personal problems, but I think that she should give people money back.
      As per Lynnderella, I think you have to be too selfish and greedy to sell one nail polish for $700 on eBay. I don't understand people who are vigorously bidding on it too.

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