When you look at the heavily pigmented, eye popping candy shop of eye colors created by Tick:Tock Cosmetics, you’re looking at a product that’s been years in the making. Elizabeth Christjansen and Tiffany Rusin met in 2007 as fellow beauty enthusiasts working at a local Walgreens. Christjansen’s official job title was ‘senior beauty advisor’, landing her in the cosmetics aisle assisting customers with their drugstore beauty choices. Rusin worked the register, but remembers “I would sort of drift down to the cosmetics aisle....a lot.” With Christjansen being seven years the elder of the pair (Rusin was a senior in high school upon their meeting), she came to regard Rusin, with her effervescent personality and shared interest in beauty, as a sort of little sister. Their friendship grew as they began to merge Christjansen’s talent for photography with Rusin’s passion for modeling and makeup artistry, and Rusin began posing for pictures and doing the makeup on some of Christjansen’s other models.

Their friendship was palpable during our interview. A friendly though serious, businesslike attitude directed toward queries about the pair’s joint venture is interspersed with intimate girlfriendly side whispers, half smiles, and exchanges of glances where the onlooker knows that some sort of silent swap of information has occurred that no one but the members of a years long friendship are privy to.

“We always end up doing the most random things. And we like to invent words”, says Rusin of the pair’s friendship. Adds Christjansen, “We are like the same person in two different ways.” It’s worked well in their business collaboration as well. Says Rusin, “We are both extremely creative, and our styles and artistic directions flow really well together. We are never disappointed with what we are able to create. Also, it’s never one sided. We work together and bounce all ideas off of each other. No one person owns the ideas, they are collaboration at it's best.”

Last year, the pair discovered “indie makeup”, handmade cosmetics sold by small businesses. Introduced to it by their mutual friend Holly Jackson, they fell in love. “It was the bright colors and the highly pigmented shades you get from these small businesses. The fact that they are small businesses is just an added bonus because I know I am supporting those kinds of people”, says Christjansen as she explains the attraction.

As their enthusiasm for small business cosmetics grew, however, they were soon hit by disappointment when one of their former favorite businesses (Christjansen even took the business’s promotional photos) turned out to have several severe issues. With disappointment and anger evident in her voice, Christjansen spoke about discovering that a company she had loved, trusted, and done photographs for had blatantly misled and betrayed its customers. Citing issues with hygiene, orders going unshipped, emails ignored, and dangerous materials being used in the makeup, Christjansen and Rusin decided to withdraw their support of the company, and instead began making their own cosmetics for personal use. They knew what they wanted: bright colors and vibrant micas and glitters that were approved for eye cosmetics and also vegan.

Listing their personal beauty icons as Karen O.of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Rusin), and Gwen Stefani (Christjansen), they wanted the materials they required to pull off the unusual, eye-catching, creative makeup looks they preferred. They began researching what it meant for a material going into a cosmetic to be “approved for eyes”, and how to go about mixing their own pigments. They found a supplier for the materials they needed, and it was game on from that point forward. As the women began wearing the makeup when they went out, talking about their projects with their friends, and using the makeup in Christjansen’s photos, they were pleasantly surprised to discover a demand for their makeup. Soon, they decided to try going about selling their wares. Set to launch officially in July 2011, Tick:Tock Cosmetics was born.

When asked about the story behind the name, Rusin answered, “I started my own makeup artistry business in April 2010. I had a really hard time coming up for a name then too. But I was doing this thing where I asked for requests for cool makeup that I could do and then post on Facebook. One friend told me that I should do a clock theme...and once I saw how cool it looked, I decided that was what I was going to call myself. Tick:Tock Makeup Artistry. So the name carried over when I started making pigments!”

The makeup consists of pots of fine, powdery, bright and glitzy hues that provide an intense wash of color across the eyelid. Taking requests from friends as to what colors they should make, as of April of this year the brand boasted two hundred pots of eye colors that spanned from a shimmering champagne to a peacock blue to a sparkling black, and almost every shade in between. It pats on easily and stays where it is put during application, minimizing the multicolored freckles one seems to end up with more frequently than not when applying loose powdered pigment to the eyelid. Its wearability is superb and long lasting, as I found that the luxuriously deep and glimmering brown of “Grandfather Clock” steadfastly refused to stream down my face all night during a particularly hot, sweaty, and crowded night at the Verve. At the end of a night spent standing in particularly close and humid proximity to hundreds of other people, I walked to my car with my eye makeup looking freshly applied. In keeping with the brand name, every pigment’s name relates to clocks or to time, thought up while the two friends coasted around town in Christjansen’s car, in true girlfriend style, brainstorming.

Though the brand wasn’t officially set to launch until July, there was already increasing demand, resulting in a small online shop being opened in late April to start accepting pre-orders. Found at ticktockcosmetics.storenvy.com, it offers a variety of pigments available for presale.

“We are using it until our website is finished. We want to get the products out into the hands of consumers so we can start getting some feedback.” And they are getting it in droves. At the shoot for this article, the models spent a great deal of time gasping over and admiring the little pots of multicolored pixie dust, placing orders on the spot. Model Marissa Tingley said “None of the makeup felt too heavy. Not being a huge makeup wearer, I liked that it was easy to remove.” Gina Paradis added “I fell asleep and woke up 8 hours later though, and it hadn't smeared at all. I love bright colored shadows that don't smudge or fade. It’s hard to find.”

Until then, the partners continue to work mixing new pigments, building their site, and searching for stores who will sell their products. They plan to continue fielding online sales as well, and have planned a launch party with cosmetics available for sale and sampling that will be announced on the brand’s Facebook page. While the pair share the creative tasks of creating colors and names, Rusin has taken over the business aspect of the brand, which she does with gleeful aplomb. At age twenty one, she is doing what she loves, and the customers seem to love it as well. When asked who they envision the Tick:Tock Cosmetics consumer to be, they replied, “People like us, who want the bright, bold, colors. I don't think she has to be anything but willing to play with eye color like we do.”