If Pinterest is correct, then I think this is how you're supposed to photograph your nails for polish-related posts, right?
Hi friends! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. As you might know, I was away at Alt Summit this past week, and just returned home last night after an extremely long day of travel. So first let me start this post by admitting that I am only somewhat conscious as I type this. Now that that's out of the way...
I have to now confess that I don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to fingernails. I do not consider myself to be a nail art pro by any stretch of the imagination. I've had a professional manicure fewer times than I have fingers on my right hand (or left hand for that matter), and I'm still not really sure what cuticles are...even though I get the sense that they are bad and I'm not supposed to have them. An actual nickname of mine is "man-hands." In any case, I do like to throw on a coat of polish every once just to surprise people...and myself, and tried on a couple new ones before my trip to Alt. I was surprisingly happy with how they turned out, and ended up getting so many compliments and questions about my nails during my trip (so flattering) that I figured the topic would make a good post for my first day back (am I right, or did you leave already? Hopefully you're still here).
So, anyhow...this isn't really a how-to for painting your nails with detailed kitten faces or anything of that sort, but rather a recommendation for a few great polishes that I love. Again...I'm not a pro. For my sparkly nails here, I first applied a coat of silver "Trixie" by Zoya, let it dry completely and then applied a coat of "Set in Stones" by Essie. I finished the whole thing off with "Double Duty Base & Top Coat" by Sally Hansen. Possibly the best thing about this combination is how chip-friendly it is. Even when little flakes eventually come off, you can't really tell because it all just blends in with the super glitteryness of it all. Case in point: these photos were taken this morning...five days after painting them (with the wear and tear of travel and a conference to boot)!
My daughter has also used the "Set in Stones" by Essie on top of black and colorful polishes and the effect is gorgeous. The one caveat that I would actually feel bad about not mentioning, is that it is the pits to take off (I don't put things in bold all that often, but this warrants it). For some reason those tiny specks of glitter hang on for dear life, and you just might need a chisel to release their hold. Obviously that hasn't kept me from using it...in fact it will probably remain a favorite of mine for months to come, but at least I've done my part to keep you fully informed. Do you have a favorite polish that you can't get enough of? I'd love to tuck it away in my to-try file for the next time ol' man-hands needs to dress up. xox Ez
P.S. The other colors shown on the paper above are: Licorice by Essie, Gargantuan Green Grape by OPI, and Sunrise Skies by Piggy Polish (purchased at Ulta).
Tuesday, April 2, 2013 
