While most college students spend their time studying for exams and working part-time jobs, Tyondra Slydell has already started a business. At the age of 21, Slydell is one of the founders of IV Kulture, a vegan nail polish brand. “My three older sisters and I are animal lovers and it was important to us that our polishes were not tested on them.” The nail polish brand was also founded by Tianna Williams, Taja Slydell, and Toiriah Slydell. IV Kulture is five-free which means that it doesn’t contain formaldehyde, dibutyl phthalate, toluene, formaldehyde resin or camphor which are toxins that are harmful to the body. “Many of the big nail polish brands out there carry these toxins and these toxins have been known to cause cancer and tumors.”
IV Kulture released its collection in the spring of 2015 after a year full of planning and researching. “We had to find manufacturers, create a logo that wasn’t already copyrighted, find a bottle that we each like, and look at different nail polish colors.” The collection consists of 14 different nail polish colors, “We wanted our collection to focus more on pinks and reds because those are the go-to colors for many women. Nail polish companies often times start out with the main colors and we wanted a variety of pinks and reds.”
When it came to naming the polishes, Slydell and her sisters created names that focused on different aspects of their lives. They wanted to make sure that the names were original and not cliché like many of the nail polishes that are currently out on the market. “We have names like Social Butterfly which is a really pretty neon pink, Blue Valentine, then we have Mint To Be, Pretty Penny which we named after our aunt, Miami Vice, and many more.”
While there are many things to love about owning a business, Slydell says that her favorite part would have to be attending the expos and reaching out to other people. “I love the expos and seminars because they focus on young entrepreneurs and help them expand their brand. Just being able to talk to people about the brand is my favorite part.” As with anything, there is usually a least favorite part and for Slydell, that would have to be the beginning stages. “Although I wasn’t fully involved in the planning stages like one of my older sisters was, I could tell that the workload was pretty heavy. We had to plan, find manufacturers and distributors, we had to make sure we weren’t using a logo that already existed and we had to get trademarked. That was hard and I’m glad that part is over.”
For anyone who is on the search for a good nail polish brand, IV Kulture is your best bet. It’s both five-free and vegan. You can order from their website at www.ivkulture.com/. Don’t forget to follow them on Facebook at IV Kulture and on both Instagram and Twitter @ivkulture.