I was going to save this for tomorrow, but you know how excited I get. I just got finished doing a telephone interview with Noubar Abrahamian, the Vice President of Operations at Nubar. He's the one who makes Nubar's colors. As regulars know, over the course of the past year, I've become a huge fan of Nubar for both quality and color, so I was really excited about this opportunity. I also got some pictures of Mr. Abrahamian from his assistant. Honestly, until seeing pictures, I'd always assumed he was about 60, but I was wrong - he's young and hot. And single, I found out!
Here he is, and the main part of our call follows. I recorded it, but am leaving out the intros, goodbyes, and some stupid questions.
Siobhan: Mr. Abrahamian, you personally create Nubar’s colors, correct?
Mr. Abrahamian: Yes, I do.
Siobhan: Where do you get your inspiration? Nubar’s collections seem to always have some colors with an unusual twist, and I first became familiar with Nubar for your duochromes. How do your really over the top shades come about?
Mr. Abrahamian: I’m always inspired by nature and influenced by coming trends, but one thing that sets Nubar apart is that my experience with color started in another field. Years ago, I learned about color making paint for cars, and I think that shows in many of my creations. My duochromes, strong glitters, and riskier colors Nubar is known for producing reflect that early experience.
Siobhan: That makes sense! I can see it when you point that out. I know another challenge you deal with is your Big 3 Free formula – I’ve often said when reviewing your collections and when reviewing some of your larger competitors’ collections that Nubar could give lessons in the 3-Free formula. Do you have any thoughts you’d like to share on Big 3 Free, and can you explain why there are so many “issues” with the 3 Free formulas in the industry overall?
Mr. Abrahamian: The 3 Free formula costs roughly five times more to produce than the old, standard formula, so many of the larger companies chose to produce that standard formula, risking their customers’ health for greater profits, until about five years ago when DBP, toluene, and formaldehyde were completely banned in Europe. With the industry wide change being recent, many of the larger companies are still working on perfecting their 3 Free formulas, so consistency is not there yet. Since Nubar has been producing the same, refines and perfected 3 Free formula since 2000, our products are consistent. Nubar has always been committed to our customers’ health and safety over profit margin, so we were able to settle on a great formula and stay with it.
Siobhan: Thanks, that clears up quite a bit. I had a question along the lines of consistency of your formula for you. In recent months, I received notification of your affiliation with PETA, and have noticed their logo on your newer releases. Did your products change at all for that?
Mr. Abrahamian: No, not at all. All of our products have always been vegan and cruelty free, but it was only recently that we received the PETA certification for that.
Siobhan: I see. Mr. Abrahamian, I’ll go back to the colors, if you don’t mind. Your Going Green Collection has received a great deal of notoriety, I’ve seen less press about your Modern Matte Collection, and now you have the Royal Gems coming out. Did the Modern Matte Collection get lost in a shuffle of mattes coming out? What do you think?
Mr. Abrahamian: No, not at all. In fact, The Modern Matte Collection is as big as Going Green abroad, and will be featured in the Style section of The London Times this weekend.
Siobhan: Impressive! I guess I was way off on that one, I apologize. I know your time is short, so I’ll just ask you one last question I get a lot: what about Nubar in brick and mortar stores (real, physical stores)? I’ve never seen your line at a shop in person, do you sell them anywhere that my readers and I can go take a look?
Mr. Abrahamian: We are in several exclusive salons, such as Sherman Oaks’ The Painted Nail and Las Vegas’s Bellaggio, as well as many other salons. If you can’t find Nubar at your local salon or beauty supply, ask them for Nubar, and in the meantime you can find us at our online store.
Siobhan: Will do, Mr. Abrahamian. Thanks so much for sharing your time with me and my readers, and take care.
That was my surprise for you, my first interview with a nail polish company executive. It's the only interview I've ever done (probably painfully obviously!) other than employment interviews to hire IT guys, and that's totally different (I wasn't trying to scare Mr. Abrahamian!). In retrospect, there are some employment questions I should have used ("Where do you see yourself in five years?"), but overall, I don't think I did too bad for my first time at it. I'll know better for next time...
So that's the update for today, Dear Reader. Until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you! 
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