About this project
$144,345
1,508
Want to know EXACTLY what you're getting? Check out this handy dandy graphic!
TROPHY LIST OF ACHIEVEMENTS ALREADY UNLOCKED:
BACKER-EXCLUSIVE GLITTER VARIANTS and FREEBIES!!!
- Baker Street and Lunar Phase GLITTER variants will only be available to Nailed It! But Wait... There's MOAR backers. Forever. This is your one and only chance.
- All backers at the GAMORA ($50) level or higher will receive ONE FREE SET of each exclusive design!
- Because we made our first stretch goal so quickly, all backers at the GAMORA ($50) level or higher will also receive ONE FREE RANDOM SET from the new collection.
- At 88k: SEVEN NEW DESIGNS AND VARIANTS! And because we made it before midnight PST on September 23rd, we unlocked BOTH glitter and matte Unicorn Blood designs! HUZZAH!
- Every 5k from 88-120k we unlocked ANOTHER new design: Dice, Light Cycle, Mermaid Variant, Girl Genius, Patchwork, and Fibonacci!
- At 120k, we unlocked the Nerd Manicure of the Month Subscription Box AND smaller nail wrap sizes for future designs (~Fall 2015)!!
Nerd Manicure of the Month Subscription Box
- 2 mystery designs from our current offerings (Including the licensed content that we have yet to show you!)
- 2 BRAND NEW DESIGNS from the treasure trove we have been designing! These will be EXCLUSIVE to subscribers for 60 days from the boxes shipping. They will not be for sale to ‘regular’ customers until after those 60 days!
- Additional MYSTERY swag we can’t tell you about (because we are still negotiating the awesome, but trust us…)
- SILVER TICKET SURPRISE: For every 100 subscribers 1 box will be released into the wild containing DOUBLE the glory!
- These will be available in the US and Canada Only… FOR NOW! (We are working on it! PROMISE!)
- Any backer at a $150 level (Kerrigan & Zoe) or higher AUTOMATICALLY gets a FREE month! (That means you will get an additional 4 wraps FOR FREE!)
- Any backer at $300 + (Sylvanas and higher) will get THREE months FREE! (That means you will get an additional 12 wraps FOR FREE!)
- ALL backers over $10 will have the option unlocked of adding the subscription to their add-ons for a “We <3 our Backers” price if you so choose. Boxes will ship April 2015! And fear not! Your backer rewards go out BEFORE these boxes are even packaged! Money used for Add-ons (excluding shipping and the subscription service itself) will be counted towards earning free months!
ADD-ONS:
Question: Can I add additional funds to my pledge to use for Add-on purchases at the end of the campaign?
Answer: Absolutely, yes! Not only will your add-ons then count towards that challenged time/goal for our all unlocks but it will also be SOOOOPER simple for you to use through backer kit as credit when you do your survey and decide to add a t-shirt, MOAR nail wraps, or additional #NerdMakeup swag!
Are you TIRED of boring, unemblazoned nails that show NO ALLEGIANCE to your style or fandom of choice? Pricey salon manicures got you down? Who has TIME to watch the paint dry? And who will feed your INSATIABLE HUNGER for glitter and googles and glimmering talons in shades of mermaids and galactic curiosities and hero/ines for the ages? Who, you cry to the darkness, WHOOOOO?????
We hear you, friends, and we have answered. Again.
WOW! We have tricked-out favorites AND all-new nail wrap designs featuring comics Little Vampires, authors Clive Barker and Seanan McGuire, special guest designer Bobak Ferdowsi of NASA, and we even brought in a molecular biologist to help us create MOAR nails FOR SCIENCE!
Last year, we brought you “NAILED IT!” the world’s first nail art designed just for nerds, and you blew us away with your response. We knew traditional make-up companies and geek-culture driven companies were underserving (or flat out ignoring) the Geek Girl customer… but Holy Crom. We tripled our Kickstarter goals, we rolled out an amazing array of nail art all across the country and overseas, and we did a little dance of joy each time we saw you flaunt your #NailsForNerds on the Internetz. And we’ve been very busy since then.
Nailed it! But wait… there’s MOAR!
MOAR High-quality Nail Wraps. We tested and trust them. You (and some fairly major make-up mavens) have worn them and sworn by them. Here’s why.
- Self-adhesive wraps take less than 10 minutes to apply.
- No heat guns or special equipment needed, just your wraps and a nail file.
- 14 wraps per package means extras for your toes, accent nails, or replacements.
- Versatile designs and easy to trim to sizes make them boy & kid friendly.
- Nails last for 2 weeks with a topcoat.
- To remove, just peel off like stickers. Nail wraps WON’T damage nail beds like gels or acrylics.
- Can be applied ON TOP of gels and acrylics.
MOAR Nerd-inspired designs? LEGIT. Since our debut last year, we’ve been busy dreaming up MOAR designs from MOAR nerd realms and fandoms. And because of YOU fabulous fans boosting the signals about last year’s Kickstarter, some of our favorite IPs and creators are now approaching us for licensing! Directly because of YOU, we get to create even MOAR new things in the future. As a staggeringly awesome first taste, RIGHT NOW, we have some amazing themed Fandom Booster Packs available in Backer Kit, with designs DIRECTLY FROM THE CREATORS OF YOUR FAVORITE NERD CANONS! Check out the Nail Designs & Rewards/Swag section below!
Just some of the PRESS love we've been getting in the 'verse!
- Nerd For A Living
- Set To Stunning
- Geek Chic Elite
- The Geeky Hostess
- Don't Forget A Towel
- Fashionably Geek
- Phyrra
- iO9 - Toybox
- Console to Closet
- BJ Shea's Geek Nation
- Daily Dot
- Nerdy But Flirty
- Geek Pilgrimage
- Geek Girl Project
- Go Fund Yourself
- Women Write About Comics
- I Wanna Be A Geek
- Geek Mom
Nailed it! As Seen On…
MOAR Celebrity Sightings! It’s been a MAGICAL year, guys. Because of YOUR support, Nails For Nerds became Nails ON Nerds! We’ve seen (and personally applied!) our nail wraps on some amazing nerd celebrities and supporters.
MOAR Collaborators! AND we’ve had a chance to form UNBELIEVABLE partnerships with our own HEROS OF GEEKDOM, and bring you specially licensed designs and swag!
What does your contribution cover?
Our basic goal will cover 12 different designs of nail wraps to be made, packaged, and shipped. These designs include original, nerd-inspired Espionage designs, as well as LICENSED, EXCLUSIVE DESIGNS from your favorite fandoms.
But wait… there’s MOAR! WHEN we hit our stretch goals, you get even MOAR DESIGNS to choose from, AND your choice of finishes (glitter, non-glitter, etc.), AND new rewards at designated levels for EVERYONE.
Sssssh: Secret plan for domination via bada$$ beauty accessories continues. WHEN we hit our goals, you’re also contributing to the next phase of nerd make-up domination. In 2015, this project will have funded the beginning development of HEAT-REACTIVE, HOLOGRAPHIC & MIRROR PRINT NAILS. Because each of those MUST be a thing.
LEVEL 1 NAIL WRAP DESIGNS
Baker Street Nails with glow-in-the-dark text and tapestry accent nails
Mermaid Nails with holographic, lightly glittered scales
Little Vampires Nails are glow-in-the-dark with black & white graphic novel illustrations (Easter Egg)
Mira Grant/Seanan McGuire Nails are inspired by the book cover designs with literary text, spattered glitter blood (Easter Egg)
Patriotic Hero/ine Nails with stars & stripes perfect for cosplay
Lunar Phase Nails show a new moon for each nail (Easter Egg)
Treasure Maps Nails chart the cartography for your favorite epic stories (Easter Egg)
Clive Barker Nails are gruesome and literary with excerpts from The Hellbound Heart (Easter Egg)
Emoji Nails have all the feels in assorted colors
Galaxy Wavelength Nails are inspired by last year’s favorite celestial designs, amped up and curated by someone who knows what the eff he’s talking about (AKA, NASA’s Bobak Ferdowsi)
Manga Nails are Japanse comic-inspired designs in holographic glitter
Perfect Pitch Nails are graphic black & white sheet-music prints
REWARDS/SWAG
Sticker: One of 4 original designs (random selection!) by Lorenzo Linzana of Lion Forge comics, created JUST for Espionage Backers!
Goodie Bag: Linzana sticker (see above) + button + nail wrap humidor (see below) to keep your nail wraps fresh, dry, and ready for 10-minute application anytime. (Humidors extend the life of nail wraps that have already been removed from their protective packages.)
T-Shirts (M/F sizes): ($75-100) Our "Nerd Makeup Ambassador" design. ($150 & 250) Options for more designs, including: “Nerd Makeup Ambassador,” “Glitter is the New Black,” and a new version of our “I Support Nerd Makeup.”
Fandom Booster Pack—Available at all levels above $10: Go shopping, and for $50, add a themed fandom package to your order. You’ll indicate your choice of fandom/universe/genre in the survey—see the FAQ for further details of each choice. FANDOM CHOICES INCLUDE:
- Clive Barker
- Mira Grant/Seanan McGuire
- Little Vampires
- Nerd Makeup/Espionage Cosmetics
- ...and MOAR if we unlock stretch goals!
Espionage Cosmetics: MOAR Nerds
We got make-up and SFX artists, we got cosplayers, we got kitten-snuggling, comic-hoarding, world-dominion-plotting, full-on nerds of a league of fandoms. (Not to overshadow their alter-egos, but they’re designers, executive directors, social medial gurus, accountants, kicka$$ sales reps, and other thoroughly reputable business and creative professionals). And we’re growing. Look out.
Espionage Cosmetics was founded by a professional Make-up Artist and a USMC Staff Sergeant, and is run by an all-pro, all-nerd team that is passionate about all of the geeky stuff in the ‘verse. Annnd we love pretty stuff too! We are based out of our walk-up clubhouse of fandom and glitter in Tacoma, Washington, but you can follow the trail to find our products and Nerd Makeup Ambassadors at conventions and comic book stores all along the west coast—and spreading!
Risks and challenges
We did this once already, with our last Nailed it! campaign. We were 3x as successful as we’d hoped. We learned a ton about handling the high demand, fulfilling orders, and working with shipping and international suppliers and backers. We’ve always made it our mission to not be “just another cosmetics company.” For us, that means we always want to give you, our fabulous backers, a fun, satisfying, more-than-basic retail interaction.
It’s been a huge year for us, and we are prepared and pumped to handle anything.
HIGH-QUALITY, PROVEN PRODUCT
We knew we had a great product before, and now a lot of other people know it too. Easy to use, easy to maintain, and easy to remove. (And stylish as all hell, no matter your nerd parlance.) Even better, we have now a year’s worth of our own working knowledge of the product and immeasurably valuable customer feedback. We know these nail wraps like the tips of our hands. We know why they fell off in the shower and how to repair a ding or a rip. We can tell you how to make them last longer.
STREAMLINED SURVEYS & ON-TIME DELIVERY
Yes, we love our community. But we also respect our customer experience, and we want you to get exactly what you want, when you expect to get it. We’ve streamlined our reward levels and survey process, which makes it easier for you to make selections and much easier for us to quickly, accurately fill orders. On-time delivery is always a risk for Kickstarter projects, but we have a leg-up: We already know how to plan for and handle the demand this time around. And, as before, we’ve built time into our delivery schedule for unexpected delays and we have plans to circumvent those issues before they happen.
SHIPPING NOTES
• Within the US, shipping is included in your chosen reward level.
• Shipping to Canada and Mexico will cost an estimated $10 in addition to your reward level (final total calculated upon survey completion).
• Anywhere else will cost an estimated $20 in addition to your reward level (final total calculated upon survey completion).
• Shipping for Add-ons (domestic and international) calculated separately after the end of the campaign.
• We can NOT ship to: China, Burma, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, or Syria. Not our choice. It’s a licensing thing.
• International backers are fully responsible for any additional customs fees in your own country. (We looked hard into cheaper shipping options, but unfortunately, just because the wraps are small doesn't mean the price to ship them internationally is as well.)
BACKERKIT = BETTER OPTIONS, BETTER SUPPORT, BETTER BACKER EXPERIENCE
For this campaign we’re using BackerKit, a 3rd party Kickstarter fulfillment service. This option gives us better integrated survey options and a better ability to update backer info and addresses. Which means that people who missed the Kickstarter can still have the options to pre-order. We’ll fill the backer packages first, of course, and then fill the pre-order packages before they are available in other retail locations. BackerKit also makes it easier for us to handle all our killer add-ons as they are unlocked. We also have access to good tech support before and during shipping—we can catch and fix problems before you even know there was an issue.
SUSTAINABLE, EXPANDING BUSINESS
We know, Kickstarter can be a gamble when you don’t know who’s on the other end. But put your fears to rest, friends, we ain’t going nowhere but up. In less than 2 years, product demand—especially the last NAILED IT! Kickstarter— has required Espionage to expand 3 times, from a living-room operation to 2800 sq ft office spaces.
The Last Kickstarter alone allowed us to pull 5 NEW FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES into the company. You guys! The creative team is getting paid! That’s right, we all volunteered last time, and now YOU have let us make Makeup for Nerds a real, grown-up, bill-paying J-O-B. Full-time, dedicated employees mean we can expand the product lines more quickly, without loans or credit cards.
And hey—our backers know we’re good for it. You know you’re going to get a high quality product and you know we’ll keep you apprised of the whole process. You also know we’re a soft touch for lots of freebies.
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Funding period
- (32 days)