Tony and Tina came to Indianapolis, Indiana and made a guest appearance at Nordstrom’s in Circle Center Mall.  I figured it would be busy downtown as it was also the weekend of the Indianapolis 500 Race.  I was fortunate enough to get there while the parade was taking place, so there weren’t many people in the mall.  This gave me a chance to talk with both Tony and Tina at some length.

I had talked with Tina several times prior to meeting her and had seen hers and Tony’s pictures in their brochures.  However, I was still shocked at how tiny she is in stature.  Tony, on the other hand, is extremely tall and towered over everyone there.  Not to mention he has that cool British accent! 

Tina’s full name is Cristina Bornstein and she was born and raised in New York City.  Tony’s full name is Anthony Gill and he was born and raised in London, England and now lives with Tina in New York City.  Both Tony and Tina are artists and that is actually how their company started. They had an art exhibition at the Gershwin Gallery in New York and as one of the pieces, Tina wanted to create a line of nail polish with colors that stimulate the chakras.  She said she picked nail polish because the colors are so accessible right there at your finger tips!  They had shown their piece to a few people and were approached by investors to launch their nail paint as a real line in stores.  Their friend Andrew heads up their operations and that is how Tony & Tina Cosmetics started!

Tina explained the theory behind their company and the vibrational remedy concept.  They believe that everyone’s chakra or energy field has it’s own frequency.  Denser, slower frequencies go to make matter, solid objects; while lighter frequencies form, among other things, sound, thought, light and color.  Each color frequency affects different energies of the body, mind and spirit. Correct attention to color will stabilize the physical, emotional and spiritual conditions of the human energy system.  So the colors that Tony and Tina use were created not only for their aesthetic beauty, but also for their therapeutic value.

In order to explain this better, Tina did a color reading for my chakra.  In order to define your chakra first you need to make sure have plenty of room and vigorously rub your hands together until they get warm.  Then spread your arms out in front of you and slowly bring them together. When you feel a sensation like you’re pushing on a pillow, that is your chakras bumping into each other.  My hands got about twelve inches apart when I felt a strange sensation similar to what I described as a pillow.  Tina told me I had a very healthy chakra.  You may have to do this several times in order to get the sensation I am talking about.  Next, Tina placed six colored cards in front of me on a table.  She then explained that a person chooses a certain color depending on what chakra needs healing.  This is done subconsiously and you are probably not even aware of choosing a certain color.  She then had me close my eyes and she mixed the cards up and had me place my hand over them.  She had me slowly move my hand back and forth over the cards until I felt an attraction to one place over any others.  When I opened my eyes, I had chosen the color yellow.  Tina explained to me that this color had to deal with stress, among many other things. She asked if I had anything stressful happen to me and I told her that yes I had.  On my way to Nordstrom’s I was witness to an awful car accident involving a van and an ambulance on it’s way to the scene of an accident.  So, needless to say, waiting for the other ambulances to arrive and trying to as helpful as possible was pretty stressful!  According to Tina, my chakra chose the color yellow to help calm and soothe me after this event.  Following are the colors that Tony and Tina use in their products, their names, and what chakra they affect:

Dull Nail Paints

Silver - Amplify - Activates innate intuition
Red - Ambition - Strengthens the physical energy and the will of the individual
Purple - Humility - Stimulates dream activity
Orange - Wisdom - Stimulates sociability
Brown - Discerning - Effective for mental and emotional conditions
Navy - Detox - Dynamic healing color on both physical and spiritual levels
Off White - Awakening - Stabilizes and cleanses our energy system
Nude - Discrete - Encourages inner knowledge
Green - Balance - Can increase our sensitivity and compassion
Pink - Solace - Attract unconditional love Transparent Nail Paints

Blackberry - Sexology - Activites sexual energy and development
Minty Opal - Ease - Effective for skin conditions
Gold Opal - Manifestation - Awakens our own healing energy
Electric Olive - Consciousness - Calming mentally and physically
Violet - Celestial - Increases psychic ability
Lemon Opal - Clarification - Visualizing and stimulating to the brain
Blueberry - Meditation - Awakens artistic expression
Cherry - Cure - Strengthens our physical life force
Brown - Brainology - Promotes common sense
Yellow - Intellect - Promotes confidence

Sparkle Nail Paints

Purple/Brown - Past Lives - Cleopatra?
Orange - Transcendantal - The latest in home entertainment
White - Lucid Dream - Am I dreaming?  Or am I not?
Aqua/Black - The Gift - One million mini-compact discs

At the moment there are 24 nail enamels and they sell for $10.00 each. They also have two top coats, one in a matte finish and another in a glossy finish.  You can use the matte top coat on any glossy nail enamel to give it a matte finish or use the glossy top coat on one of their matte polishes.  Tony and Tina both recommend wearing more than one color at a time.  Don’t go the old traditional route with their nail enamel.  If you feel like wearing more than one color or layering colors, it must be because your chakras need this benefit. Tina told me that while there are 24 nail enamels at the moment, that they will always have odd numbers of their products. This is because Tina has spoken to several psychics who told her that odd numbers are her lucky numbers so they will always put their products out in odd numbers. 

Now, to go along with their nail enamels, they came out with three nail enamel removers called Vanish.  They are as follows:
Purple/Red - Polarity - Purple is a celestial color and red a physical grounding color.  Attention to combination brings us closer to unity with our non-physical counter part.
Yellow/Teal - Optimist - Yellow effects mentality and the more ethereal team make a great focus for creative visualization.  It installs a strong sense of mind power.
Yellow/Orange - Attune - Combines the mental yellow with the emotional orange to encourage trust in our inner guidance system.

Besides the cool concept of a two-toned remover, theirs also leaves a faint scent behind after it dries.  This goes hand in hand with their aromatherapy concept.  The purple/red smells like black cherry, the yellow/teal smells like melon, and the yellow/orange smells like orange.  This is a nice change from the usual chemical smell you get from most other removers.

Even though Tony & Tina have branched out into hair mascara and lipstick, they want to point out their company is not a traditional cosmetic company.  They want to stress the vibrational remedy affects of their products.  So don’t look for them to come out with a complete line of skin care and cosmetics.  Tina said they very much like the cosmetic company Philosophy and their beliefs.  Tony & Tina share similar beliefs, only more in depth.

The hair mascara is supposed to affect your outer most chakra.  They come in nine colors ranging from the more traditional hair colors to a few more on the wild side. And at $15.00 each, it’s something fun to add to your cosmetic wardrobe.  My favorite is the white sparkle hair mascara. Maybe it’s because of how it is supposed to affect the chakra.  Here is a list of the hair mascara colors, names and the chakra they affect:

Black - Universal Mind - Promotes change
White Sparkle - The Source - Protects against negative energy
Violet - Inner Guidance - Aids in visualization
Copper - Higher Self - Awakens enthusiasm
Brown - Cosmic Intelligence - Emotionally grounding
Green - The I Am - Promotes unconditional love
Blonde - The Light - Awakens creativity
Blue - The Force - Relaxing physically and mentally
Red - Spirit - Strengthens our life force

And finally we discussed their new lipsticks.  Tina said they wanted to have a lipstick that was more than a color you put on your lips.  So they decided to add some aromatherapy benefits to their lipsticks.  They worked on several different formulas before deciding on the one they are currently using.  The lipsticks are in a very sleek, new age, polished silver lipstick case.  This goes along with the other packaging of their products, which is all very sleek and polished.  Tina said they mainly wanted the lipstick to be pleasing to the sense of smell. So when you open their lipstick, the first thing you notice is the scent.  It is not a strong or unpleasant smell, but rather a combination of floral and herbal scents.  To begin with, they started out with two lipstick formulas, gloss and semi-matte.  They have five gloss shades and four semi-matte shades.  They are as follows:

Gloss Lipstick
Pink - Loved
Steel - Connected
Cherry - Vital
Brown - Intelligent
Blueberry - Reflective

Semi-Matte Lipstick
Eggplant - Consumed
Nude - Self-Assured
Brown - Courageous
Blackberry - Sultry

Tina said they wanted to pick colors that were wearable but colors that also affect your chakra. But the main benefit of the lipsticks are the wonderfully natural ingredients.  They combine St. John’s Wort, Bergamot, Lavender, Rosemary, Rosewater, Aloe and Vitamin E.

Each one of these ingredients has a positive affect on an individuals mood.
- St. Johns Wort is widely used as an antidepressant and for overall health.  It is also great for anti-aging skin care and for sensitive skin.
- Bergamot is widely used for it’s antidepressant effects.  It also alleviates anxiety and is generally uplifting.
- Lavender promotes an overall sense of well being.  It is balancing to our entire energy system (body, mind, and spirit).  It calms and soothes the nerves, as well as boosting confidence.
- Rosemary is stimulating to the nervous system.  It is an excellent brain stimulant and increases memory and helps mental clarity.
- Rosewater is soothing to the system.  It is cooling and anti-inflammatory.
- Aloe and Vitamin E helps to moisturize and protect the lips.

Tina said the lipsticks were very well received by the general public. In fact, many stores have sold out of the lipsticks.  Tony and Tina were very excited over the acceptance of their whole concept.  And not just “New Age” followers, but by the general population.  She feels that many people are ready to embrace the concept of physical energies and alternative methods of healing. Many individuals are trying such alternative methods as acupuncture, therapeutic massage and crystals which are all supposed to help align one’s physical energy. These methods have been around for many centuries and practiced by physicians as well as specialists.  So, whether you believe in Tony & Tina’s concept of healing through color, there is something to be said for this type of thought.  Even if you’re still a skeptic, they do make a quality product and that alone is enough to give them a try.