With A Little Help From My Friends: TINA!

So, Tina is another lady that I met while doing YouTube videos! Not only does she still do YouTube videos, she also runs a blog called The Digital Rebel. Tina is so cool! I never get to speak to her enough on twitter because, obviously, our time zones don't coincide. She's gorgeous, isn't she? I love this photo of her. Her blog/YT focuses on makeup as well as nail polish.

1. How long have you been blogging?
I have been beauty blogging since February 2009 (but I started out making webpages and blogs in 1997)

2. What inspired you to start blogging? How did you come up with the name of your blog?
The inspiration to my beauty blog came from the YouTube beauty community mostly. Many of the people I was watching had beauty blogs and since I already had a domain name and no current active blog I simply decided to start one!

3. What is your favorite color? Is it your favorite polish color, as well?
My favorite color is not purple as you might expect, it is actually a dark, dusky, greyish blue with a teal hint. My favorite nail polish color on the other hand, is purple. ;)

4. Is there a polish (or makeup) color you won't wear?
I won't wear white or black nail polish on their own. I won't wear yellow eyeshadow. ;)

5. Do a lot of people offline notice your polish/makeup? What kinds of comments do you get?
Yes it happens and it's always nice when it does! I often get asked what eyeshadows I'm wearing and of course what nail polish! ;)

6. What are some of your favorite blogs? (Doesn't necessarily have to be polish or makeup related!)
I read a lot of blogs. A lot. And not only makeup or nail polish related. Tech blogs, linux blogs, cat blogs, everyday life blogs and so on! It is very hard to pick favorites! But there are a few that I read more often than others of course. A few random favorites are:
http://www.scrangie.com/
http://the-swatchaholic.com/
http://www.nightlynails.com/ (no, I'm not sucking up lol)
http://www.lockergnome.com/
http://laperm.wordpress.com/

7. What other hobbies and interests do you have outside of polish and blogging?
Computers, Science, Science Fiction, Photography, web design, web graphics, cats, interior design. I also used to create levels for Quake 3 Arena. So, I'm adding game design to the interests as well. :)

8. Tell us a bit more about yourself. Any tidbits you'd like to share!
It's so difficult to talk about one self I think! I don't know where to begin lol! But my full name is Christina (I call myself Tina) and I belong in the obscure "30 plus" age range.. ;) I am a bit of a loner when it comes to physical company, but I LOVE interacting with others online! I am very interested in people and I always try to figure out and understand what's "behind" the mask so to speak. I try to live by a very simple motto (that I obviously did not invent myself): Treat others like you wish to be treated yourself! 

9. What is the one beauty item you cannot live without - you won't go out of the house without using or wearing it?
Mascara. I have blonde lashes so it's a must for me! I look like a corpse without it! I have read that it's unsafe to dye the lashes or I would have done it!

10. What is the craziest/most interesting thing you've ever done?
The craziest thing I've done was when I moved to London in the mid 90s to work. I left everything in Sweden, threw away all things I had (sold what I could) and just.. moved. I had 2000 SEK (today that is about $300) in the purse and no contacts in England or any idea where to go and what to do.
The second craziest thing was when I after 1,5 years over there decided to move back to Sweden. I hitchhiked home. Without a penny in my pockets. 

Her favorite manicure photo, BB Couture Dragon's Breath. Isn't that a great photo of it?
Haha, Tina, we are obscure 30+ year olds together, sister! It's funny when you "meet" someone on line half a world away, yet you have many things in common. I think some of it has to do with us being close in age. I hope you guys enjoyed getting to know Tina a little bit. Do check out her blog and her YouTube channel!

With A Little Help From My Friends: ERIKA!

Erika runs Ice Queen's Nail Parlour. Let me just tell you, I love it when people let their personality shine through in their nail blogs - and Erika is so much fun to read! I tell you, she keeps me in stitches. If you've never come across her blog, you're in for a treat.
I absolutely LOVE this photo of her. I want her hair and her eyebrows! As if her pretty nails weren't enough.

1. How long have you been blogging?

I have been blogging at Ice Queen's Nail Parlour for a year and three months. I can't believe I have had that blog going this long. Time flies when you are having fun. :D 

2. What inspired you to start blogging? How did you come up with the name of your blog?

I was reading and following a bunch of nail blogs from my other blog and posting my manicure photographs there. But things were getting to be too much for that blog. It was getting cluttered and chaotic and I don't like cluttered and chaotic so I decided to start a nail/polish/sometimes beauty blog. My blog name just came to me. I needed something that incorporated nails and my screen name. And Ice Queen's Nail Parlour was born. :D 

3. What is your favorite color? Is it your favorite polish color, as well?

Blue. I love other colours... Red. Pink. Purple... I am even beginning to appreciate green. But yeah... Blue has been my colour since I was a kid. Blue is also my favourite polish colour. I own more blue polishes than any single other colour. And. I. Keep. Buying. More! It's a sickness, I tell you. The manicure picture I chose to include is of Zoya Crystal. One of the single most beautiful polishes I own. And the only one that made me scream a little when I saw it in all of it's glory on my nails. :D

4. Is there a polish color you won't wear?

Brown. Or tan or cafe au lait. I don't care for brown polish, for the most part, tho I like the lighter tannish, milky coffee shades, (go figure... :P) but they give me lobster claws. Not flattering to me, at all, so I avoid them.

5. Do a lot of people offline notice your polish/nail art? What kinds of comments do you get?

Some do. Not a lot. But I do receive comments and compliments. I am always so surprised and delighted when someone comments or compliments me on my polish/nail art. I get the usual, "That is such a pretty colour! What colour is that?" kind of thing. If I am rocking nail art, my hand gets grabbed and I get questions about my nail art. I don't mind showing my nail art to someone who asks to see it, but don't grab me. Seriously, invading my personal space bubble could get you hurt. lol

6. What are some of your favorite blogs? (Doesn't necessarily have to be polish related!)

Nope. Not going to do that. Let's just say that all of the blogs on my blogroll are blogs that interest me. ;) And I am always on the hunt for new ones to further amuse and delight me. 

7. What other hobbies and interests do you have outside of polish and blogging?

What else is there? Hee. Hee. But really... I love to read, listen to music, watch movies. I am a huge TV junkie. We won't discuss my affinity for (obsession with?) reality TV. I like to knit, sometimes. I enjoy hiking out at the lake. I love to shop. Take tons of pictures with my old, busted down carthorse of a digital camera. I think I have my uncle's photographer gene... Just not the equipment or expertise. But it doesn't stop me from pointing and shooting all over the place! lol I am interested in interior design. I went to school, have a diploma and everything, but I have never done anything with my education. 


8. Tell us a bit more about yourself. Any tidbits you'd like to share!

Let's see.. I am a housewife. I have been married to my husband for almost twenty-four years. We have a grown son. (Yes, I am sorry to break it to you all. I am an old bat. 46. lol) I was born and raised in California. I live in Arizona, but I hate it here. Seriously. Hate. It. Here. But my husband has a steady job here. Nothing fabulous, but nothing to sneeze at or walk away from, in this economy. Also, my husband's elderly parents are here and they need him so leaving isn't an option, right now. I dream of the Pacific Northwest. All of that rain! I love storms, the more thunder, lightening, wind, rain... The better. But I hate snow. I think that I am the single most boring person in the world and I am always stunned beyond belief when I see a new follower on my blog or see my blog on someone else's blogroll. 

9. What is the one beauty item you cannot live without - you won't go out of the house without using or wearing it?

Carmex! My poor lips will dry up, chap, die and fall off without it. Seriously. Unless I am going out to exercise, I don't leave my house without makeup and doing my hair. Yes, I am one of those women. Even when I go out to exercise, my outfit has to be colour coordinated and my hair neatly brushed, braided or tied back in a perfect ponytail. And my headband and hair ties much coordinate with my outfit, as well. I don't leave my nails unpolished, ever. They are so delicate that if I let them go bare, they are destroyed in no time. Within hours. 

10. What is the craziest/most interesting thing you've ever done?

 I don't know if it was crazy or even all that interesting, but I once held someone at gunpoint. I was seventeen and we were living in a travel trailer and camper out on the Feather River. It wasn't exactly the safest of living situations... Some rough and ready types liked to inhabit those shores, looking for gold and looking for trouble. My parents were away for the day and I was in charge of all of my siblings. A responsibility I took very seriously. Growing up, we were all taught how to handle firearms and how to shoot. When we were taught to shoot, we were also taught that you never draw a weapon on someone unless you are prepared to fire it and take that person's life. That using a gun is a heavy responsibility and must never be taken lightly. We always had guns in the house and some of them were kept loaded at all times. When we were out at the river, a loaded 30.06 lived over the front door, in case of an emergency. 


One perfect Summer day, a strange man came up towards the Airstream in which we lived. I didn't know him. I stood in the doorway and told him to come no closer. He didn't listen to me. He kept coming. I reached up, grabbed the .06, quickly checked to be sure a round was chambered, slipped the safety off and leveled it at the approaching man, centering the cross hairs of the scope on his chest. I again told him to stop. To come no closer. He must have come to the right understanding that I was dead serious, because I wasn't shaking. My voice was hard and cold. The rifle was absolutely steady and trained squarely on his chest. My finger was hovering over the trigger and I was prepared to pull it if he came even one step closer. There was no way anyone was going to come up to our living quarters and harm my siblings or myself. The man raised his arms, said "Okay, I am leaving, now" and backed away for a few steps, then turned and trotted off. 

Zoya Crystal on her pretty nails. I hope you enjoyed reading Erika's answers, I sure loved them! I was fascinated by that last answer particularly - that guy should have just stopped right where he was, right? O_o I sure would have.

With A Little Help From My Friends: GINA!

Gina runs Prim And Polished and I actually met her when we were both on YouTube! There aren't many folks that I still know from those days, but Gina always left me the nicest comments. I found out at that time that we both share a love for scents! I remember her emailing me about that. She's a total sweetheart.
She absolutely loves all things Disney, and even got married in Disney World - how cool is that? I love her wedding photos. She sent me a couple to show you guys. How beautiful are these, I tell you!

1. How long have you been blogging?

I've been blogging for almost three years now! Wow! Time flies.

2. What inspired you to start blogging? How did you come up with the name of your blog?

There are so many amazing blogs that I love to follow and one day I just thought "Hey! I can do that!" so I did. I wanted to blog about something I love and stick to it. I knew I was obsessed with polish so I figured it was my best bet.  The name of the blog just sort of came to me. I wanted something easy to remember and sort of cute.

3. What is your favorite color? Is it your favorite polish color, as well?

I love green! I love to wear green polish but my favorite polish has always been a nice mid toned purple creme.

4. Is there a polish color you won't wear?

Not really, I am down for anything. I do not really like Yellow polish but I can't say I haven't worn it. I'll try anything once, or twice!

5. Do a lot of people offline notice your polish/nail art? What kinds of comments do you get?

You know it's funny, they do. I love getting compliments on my nails because I do spend a lot of time on them and some random stranger wouldn't know that. People often point out my polish colors when they are particularly unique. I've had a lot of people compliment the shape of my nails and say they cannot believe I do them myself. People who see me a lot always comment on the fact that I have a new color on so often LOL. It makes me feel good about spending the time to do my nails. 

6. What are some of your favorite blogs? (Doesn't necessarily have to be polish related!)

 I love Temptalia.com of course, it's my go to for makeup.  I have always loved VampyVarnish.com! Musingsofamuse.com is great too! I could go on and on with beauty and polish blogs.  I am also obsessed with the disneyfoodblog.com there are some yummy reviews on there!

7. What other hobbies and interests do you have outside of polish and blogging?

I am obsessed with Disney so all things Disney related keep me busy. I spend a lot of my free time reading, there's nothing better than a great book. My husband and I love being outdoors so we enjoy hiking during the good weather. 

8. Tell us a bit more about yourself. Any tidbits you'd like to share!

Let's see... I am 28 years old, I am an attorney. I love Disney World so much I was married there.  I have two cats, Shooter (12 years old) and Deuce (2 years old).  I love to read. I love to go hiking with my husband. I adore movie theaters but never really watch movies at home.  I am a huge Britney Spears fan. I have one nephew who is the cutest kid on the planet.  I collect rubber duckies and hippos. I love chai tea lattes. I hate to cook but love watching the food network, Chopped is my favorite show. 

9. What is the one beauty item you cannot live without - you won't go out of the house without using or wearing it?

I never leave the house with naked nails but IDK if that counts. If not I am going to go with a good ol' moisturizer. I never skip that in the morning.

10. What is the craziest/most interesting thing you've ever done?

I guess I am not too crazy now that I think about it. I did go zip lining last summer and I loved it. I was so scared at first but it was one of the most fun things I have ever done in my entire life.

This was Gina's Super Bowl Manicure. She told me she's particularly proud of this because she freehanded it - I think it looks great!
I loved reading Gina's answers! I definitely learned a few more things about her here.

With A Little Help From My Friends: SUZANNE!

Suzanne is such a sweetie! She runs a Dutch beauty blog called Delta  Cephei, which she designed entirely by herself - I'm always in awe of her graphics and design skills, because her blog is stunning. I wish I had that kind of talent! I'm also completely addicted to her Tumblr.
Suzanne's favorite manicure show below is Chanel Miami Peach. What a stunning shade! *drool*

1. How long have you been blogging?
I started blogging in 2008 - July to be exact! I started on a free website but after a few months I bought my own domain. It went live on Januari 9, 2009.

2. What inspired you to start blogging? How did you come up with the name of your blog?
At the time, there weren't so many blogs around over here and I wanted a little 'place' of my own where I could share my opinions and such.

3. What is your favorite color? Is it your favorite polish color, as well?
Oh dear, that's a hard question. I'd say my favorite color is coral - but more orange coral. And yes - it's one of my favorites when it comes to polish too!

4. Is there a polish color you won't wear?
I don't like sheer, french manicure type of polishes. You know, the sheer pink and pearl colors. Meh, boring!

5. Do a lot of people offline notice your polish/nail art? What kinds of comments do you get? Whenever I wear nail-art, I do get comments. Mostly they ask me if I did it myself or where did I get that done.

6. What are some of your favorite blogs? (Doesn't necessarily have to be polish related!)
My favorite blogs include joliette.be, misslipgloss.nl and polish-wise it's lacquerized.com. Not only do they have great pictures and articles but the persons behind the blogs are pretty awesomesauce too.

7. What other hobbies and interests do you have outside of polish and blogging?
I absolutely love movies, especially horror movies. I'm a pet-fanatic, I love animals. I like cooking too!

8. Tell us a bit more about yourself. Any tidbits you'd like to share!
Oh dear, I suck at this kind of questions. Okay - I love to cook and try new things! Unfortunatly i'm a pretty picky eater so I don't always like things. My dad is my guinea pig - he has to taste everything I cook. Speaking of guinea pigs - I have 3 and I treat them like my babies. 

9. What is the one beauty item you cannot live without - you won't go out of the house without using or wearing it?
Actually I can live without make-up, I'm barefaced like 3 days in the week. I do always have lipbalm around - one of my favorites is Carmex!

10. What's the craziest/most interesting thing you've ever done?
I have to say piercings. When I was 16 and finding myself I wanted to get pierced. I got way too much piercings in a short amount of time and my body didn't agree - especially my lippiercings where a pain in the ass. In the end I removed all my piercings. 


This was an interesting read for me! I see we have several things in common, from lip balms to loving cooking. I would LOVE to see photos of her guinea pigs, so cute!

With A Little Help From My Friends: GINGER!

Oh, Ginger is my nail polish twinner. We love the same polishes - all the time! Maybe with the exception of yellow, because I adore it and she does not, and gold, which she loves and I cannot stand on me. Other than that, time and time again, we've found our tastes to be ridiculously similar. She's fascinated by Russia, and so am I. She reads voraciously. *swoon* And she's got the best sense of humor, ever! If you've never read her blog, Pinkginger's A Thing Of Beauty, you're not only missing out on her stunning nails, but her fantastic writing style.
Did I mention she's adorable? Look at this picture of her as a child:

So freaking cute. Check it out - the mirror is PINK. And she's camping, and peeping at herself to make sure she's still adorable. (At least, that's my theory, because she is!) Anyway. Enough swooning, time to read a little bit about my sister from another mister.


1. How long have you been blogging?

 I have been blogging for 2 years as of July 15th.

2. What inspired you to start blogging? How did you come up with the name of your blog?

I originally started blogging to practice my writing. My very first posts were mostly text and I didn't start adding (awful) photos of my nails until later on. I had no idea about nail blogs until I happened upon Polish Addict's website. I've been hooked ever since.  I originally wanted to entitle my blog 'A Thing Of Beauty' but both the blog title and the domain name were already taken. I randomly chose Pinkginger's A Thing of Beauty because my favourite colour is pink and my nickname is Ginger. Simple but it works :)

3. What is your favorite color? Is it your favorite polish color, as well?

My favourite colour ever is pink. I have a lot of favourite nail polish colours, but the ones I gravitate towards the most are red,purple and blue.

4. Is there a polish color you won't wear?

I have an irrational hatred of the colour yellow. I don't wear sheers if I can help it, and white nail polish is too garish for my skintone.

5. Do a lot of people offline notice your polish/nail art? What kinds of comments do you get?

People always notice my nails! I usually get the standard, "I like your nail polish" from women, but I work mostly with men, and they always notice and make comments about the colour. One even went so far as to say, "I don't like the boring shades on you. Bright looks much better." It's sweet.

6. What are some of your favorite blogs? (Doesn't necessarily have to be polish related!)

I love too many polish-related blogs to name them all. My favourite non-polish blogs are Passive Aggressive Notes, The Daily Beast, The Sassy Curmudgeon, Jennsylvania (and everything else Jen Lancaster writes), and Feministing.

7. What other hobbies and interests do you have outside of polish and blogging?

I love to read, I'm a little obsessed with writing, and I love to exercise (jogging with my MP3 player is my primary activity) and I paint when I'm in the mood.

8. Tell us a bit more about yourself. Any tidbits you'd like to share!

I'm an introvert so I'm horrible at making small talk. I've been accused of being acerbically witty (emphasis on acerbic), I always refer to fellow bloggers as friends (especially the ones I talk to often), and I am a huge hockey fan. I've been anxiously awaiting the start of the hockey season since it ended in June.

9. What is the one beauty item you cannot live without - you won't go out of the house without using or wearing it?

I love nail polish dearly, but I cannot leave the house without lipstick/balm/gloss. It is always in my purse,in my desk at work, on my nightstand, in my bathroom---all over the place.

10. What is the craziest/most interesting thing you've ever done?

Well, my life is pretty boring, but the craziest thing I've done to date is tell off a customer. I was a relief cashier at the time, and one entitled jerk of a man was complaining about how poor the customer service was during the lunch hour. He told me that he was a valuable customer and if we didn't "get our act together" he'd take his business elsewhere. I responded by telling him that we live in a democratic society so he was free to do whatever he desired--within reasonAlso there were more pressing issues for us to consider rather than focusing on the opinions of one pretentious, spoiled, blowhard. I received a verbal reprimand for that, but it was worth it :)

Okay, that's a stunner right there. This is SpaRitual Imaginarium. That's my kind of pink, bright searing color! 
Ginger's one of the most interesting women I know. I hope you guys enjoyed getting to know a little more about her!

With A Little Help From My Friends: JESSIKA!

You know when you meet one of those people that have a heart a mile wide? That's Jessika of Polish Insomniac.   In case you don't already know it, she also collects Colorama nail polishes! She's probably got the most extensive set of them I've ever seen. That's pretty neat - Colorama were awesome little bottles of polish, and ahead of their time, I think. I absolutely love her enthusiasm and her sweet, sweet personality.

1. How long have you been blogging?

I have been blogging since May of 2010.

2. What inspired you to start blogging? How did you come up with the name of your blog?

I have always been an insomniac.  It's how I ended up with so many European friends, I was on the MUA NB at 5 AM when it was Noon where they were!

3. What is your favorite color? Is it your favorite polish color, as well?

My favorite color is blue, but my favorite polish color is green.  Blue just doesn't look as good on me!

4. Is there a polish color you won't wear?

Orangey-bronzes

5. Do a lot of people offline notice your polish/nail art? What kinds of comments do you get?

No!  not very many people notice

6. What are some of your favorite blogs? (Doesn't necessarily have to be polish related!)

I love reading The Beauty Look Book, but only for window shopping!  I would say two of my all-time favorites would be KarlaSugar and NouveauCheap.

7. What other hobbies and interests do you have outside of polish and blogging?

I used to be a big skier.  Now that I have moved back to Iowa, we will have to see!  I want to get back into being physically fit - - thats kind of a hobby, right?  I used to love to read, and recently I have been reading books on my Droid X2's Kindle application.

8. Tell us a bit more about yourself. Any tidbits you'd like to share!

When I got married I was 23 and my husband was 39.  He is my soulmate!

9. What is the one beauty item you cannot live without - you won't go out of the house without using or wearing it?

My sunglasses!  Ladies if you want to prevent wrinkles and crow's feet, you HAVE to wear sunglasses so you don't squint!

10. What is the craziest/most interesting thing you've ever done?

Unfortunately all of the crazy and interesting things I have done have cause memory loss, so I wouldn't be able to tell you!

This is a picture of one of Jess' favorite manicures, BB Couture Bonnie. One of my all time favorite greens! *swoon* It's a stunner.  I could never pull off her nail shape, but I love it so much! It's perfection on her. You know, it's always neat when someone's personality comes through in their posts, and I think Jess' personality totally shines through on her blog. 

With A Little Help From My Friends: STEPHANIE!

You know, at one point Stephanie had a picture of herself for her Twitter avatar, and to me we looked so much alike, I almost always mistook which tweet was which! I love it. Steph runs a wonderful blog called Imperfectly Painted. Steph is a total sweetheart! I absolutely LOVE reading her blog. Sometimes you find yourself glossing over posts to get to pictures, especially when you follow a lot of blogs. You do, it's just a thing that happens. I never do that with Stephanie's blog, because she's always got something interesting to read! It may be that we have a lot in common, as well.  It amazes me that so many of us bonded over nail polish, and then the more we get to know each other the more we find out we share common interests. For instance, Stephanie and I both share a love of history!

1. How long have you been blogging?

I've been blogging since April 2010.

2. What inspired you to start blogging? How did you come up with the name of your blog?

 I had been reading blogs since early 2009, and always wanted to blog, but was not sure I'd be able to keep up with it. Plus, with so many blogs out there I wasn't sure anyone would read mine. I impulsively decided to start one, because I had so many polishes I wanted to share them with others. I had the name "Imperfectly Painted" in mind for a long time. There are 2 reasons I went with this name. One, I've never been a stickler for perfectly polishes nails, and I knew with that name people wouldn't expect that from me. Two, nail polish has been a getaway from reality. I can be a perfectionist in the real world, and I wanted to keep nail polish/blogging out of that equation. Imperfectly Painted is probably the first place I felt comfortable being my true self. Thankfully, the real world and my blog world are now colliding. I'm starting to embrace imperfection in reality.

3. What is your favorite color? Is it your favorite polish color, as well?

This is an impossible question. I have so many favorites colors. Plus, a lot of the time I discover new favorite colors through nail polish I buy. My favorite colors are all colors with an exception of a few!

4. Is there a polish color you won't wear?

I wouldn't say there is a color I won't wear, but there are colors I've discovered do not suit me well, and I try to steer clear. Yellow-greens or yellow-based greens are not my favorites (i.e. Zoya Tangy). I'll also say greiges (gray-brown), muddy colors are not my favorite either.

5. Do a lot of people offline notice your polish/nail art? What kinds of comments do you get?

Sometimes. I'd love for people to notice more actually. I definitely get most comments from women. I'd say the polishes I receive the most compliments on is China Glaze Ruby Pumps,Sinful Colors Cream Pink, and Milani Fresh Teal. I also get a lot of "Are these your real nails?" and "What treatments do you use?". The latter question I find awkward, since I don't use really any treatments, and my nails are real.

6. What are some of your favorite blogs? (Doesn't necessarily have to be polish related!)

I have a lot of favorite blogs. Some of my favorites are Nouveau Cheap, Vampy Varnish, Scrangie, Let Them Have Polish, The PolishAholic, Clumps of Mascara, Beauty by Kayla Shevonne, Power Femme, Varnish Vixen, Nightly Nails, and Gotham Polish. I'm sure there are more. My favorite blogs are from people I identify with. I like their creativity, writing style, personality, swatches, their ability to challenge some of my perceptions, or etc. I also find these bloggers really care about their readers. They don't have have airs or frills about them. These are just genuinely great people with neat blogs!

7. What other hobbies and interests do you have outside of polish and blogging?

Is learning considered a hobby? I can research things for hours, just for the fun. I like to watch a lot of documentaries. I'm a big nerd. I like Star Trek, Disney, singing, writing, and traveling. I also like really trashy reality TV.

8. Tell us a bit more about yourself. Any tidbits you'd like to share!

This is kind of an offshoot of question 7.  I'm really a thoughtful and analytical person, you don't see this part of me on my blog often. I enjoy trying to figure out what makes humans tick. I like to look back through history, and analyze the choices we've made and the consequences. I enjoy reading about religion and philosophy and how our views have changed or grown from the beginning of time. I  adore art history. We can learn so much about the human psyche through art. The same goes with literature.  I also love science. I like to think about the universe, and how we fit into it all. There are so many unknowns and so much to discover. I could go on and on! Can you tell this is my passion? I'd love to teach high school World History or humanities. I want to inspire students to have passion for learning. Kids are our future, right?

9. What is the one beauty item you cannot live without - you won't go out of the house without using or wearing it?

Well, besides for nail polish, I'd say mascara.

10. What is the craziest/most interesting thing you've ever done?

I wish I had done something crazy! I'm an overly-cautious person. I need to be more of a risk taker. One of the most interesting things I've done though was get to play at Carnegie Hall in New York. My junior year of high school, my high school band was invited to perform there. That is definitely a memory I will not forget.

Okay, so that's a picture of Steph's favorite manicure, OPI DS Ruby. *swoon* Stunning! I really enjoyed reading Stephanie's answers, she's a very thoughtful person. I hope you enjoyed learning more about her as well! 

With A Little Help From My Friends: JEN!

Ahh, Jen, who runs The PolishAholic, is a total sweetheart! Seriously, I don't think I've ever run into a more generous and giving soul. If you've been reading Nightly Nails for a while, you'll know that she found me a replacement bottle of my beloved OPI Pink Me I'm Good - what a doll she is! I think she is probably the most positive person I know. She's sure been a cheerleader for me in starting over with Nightly Nails! Truly great listeners are rare, and she is one of those.

1. How long have you been blogging?
 I started in April 2010!

2. What inspired you to start blogging? How did you come up with the name of your blog?
I was going through a tough time with my family, my Grandpa was sick and in and out of the hospital a lot. I would spend a lot of time there will my Grandma and was always showing her photos of my nails on my phone. She made a comment one day that I should find some way to show other people too and the blog was born! I always loved reading blogs but never thought of making my own! It was (and still is) a great escape from real life a lot of the time. The blog was originally named something horribly corny...like Jen's Nail Archive, I ended up changing the name before I actually blogged anything though. It morphed into The PolishAholic when someone told me I had an addiction to nail polish!

3. What is your favorite color? Is it your favorite polish color, as well?
 I really love a nice light lavender..it calms me down! In terms of polish, green is by far my favorite! I don't actually have a lot of lavender polish since it usually makes my hands look all lobster-y!

4. Is there a polish color you won't wear?
Nope, I'll wear pretty much any color of polish. I used to really dislike everything Red and Pink but blogging has opened me up to wearing them more and I kind of love those shades now!

5. Do a lot of people offline notice your polish/nail art? What kinds of comments do you get?
 Occasionally, usually only when I have some kind of nail art on or when I'm wearing like a ridiculously bright color. Usually people just stare lol. I also get a lot of people asking if my nails are real! I find that when I do some kind of stamping I get tons of people asking how I did it! I can't even count how many time I've has to describe what Konad is to people!

6. What are some of your favorite blogs? (Doesn't necessarily have to be polish related!)
 I pretty much only read nail blogs..seems like us polish folks update the most so they keep my interest! I follow a lot of blogs so it's hard to narrow down my favorites but the ones I need to have blocked from my computer for costing me tons of money are: Also Known As, Glitta Gloves, Nouveau Cheap, Let Them Have Polish, The Swatchaholic and of course you...Nightly Nails which has been costing me money since the Magic Maid days!

7. What other hobbies and interests do you have outside of polish and blogging?
 I'm pretty boring, I'm a big music fan and go to a fair amount of concerts. Other than that I'm pretty much a homebody, I like to go to the movies and go shopping...hang out with my dog aka I'm boring 99% of the time.

8. Tell us a bit more about yourself. Any tidbits you'd like to share!
 I was a chronic nail biter for pretty much my whole life. I started wearing polish to break the habit a few years ago! In addition to nail polish I also collection No Doubt stuff. They were my obsession before nail polish lol. I have a whole wall in my room decorated with framed No Doubt concert posters!

9. What is the one beauty item you cannot live without - you won't go out of the house without using or wearing it?
Lip gloss or some kind of chap stick. It's pretty rare that I wear makeup but I've always got like 5 kinds of lip stuff in my purse and on my desk at work!

10. What is the craziest/most interesting thing you've ever done?
 hmm well let's see I've sat outside in a very gross parking lot all night to get into to a concert for free. It was one of those Myspace secret shows, I think it was about 3 years ago and it was for The Offspring at my favorite tiny venue in Anaheim, CA called Chain Reaction. It was SO worth it...met awesome people in line and got to see a band I love in a very small venue they would probably never play at otherwise!

I am so glad Jen chose to showcase one of her splatter manis - this one she calls splattersaurus! Hah, awesome. She inspired me to try this method and I LOVED it. It's so much fun - and I'm a huge fail at nail art!  I'm totes jealous that she got to see The Offspring in a small venue. That must have been amazing!

With A Little Help From My Friends: KELLY!

You know, when I first started blogging about polish, I had a mind set. There weren't really a lot of folks blogging about polish at that point, although new blogs were springing up frequently. I had the polish blogs broken down by "tiers". Yep, I'm genius (/sarcasm). Anyway, I was in what I considered to be the bottom tier, just starting out - and in the middle tier were those bloggers who were pretty well established, for instance Mary of Body and Soul Beauty, Brooke of Getcha Nails Did, etcetera. The top tier was, as I'm sure you can guess, the "big" blogs. Scrangie. Steph's Closet. Vampy Varnish.
I still think of Kelly's blog, Vampy Varnish, as a top tier blog. You guys know that she actually did what a lot of us only dream about, and collaborated with BB Couture to create her very own collection? Amazing, isn't it! What's even more amazing is how down to earth and kind she is. I probably put her on more of a pedestal than she thinks of herself, she's super sweet and very interesting to talk to! Her favorite holiday is Halloween, just like me - and she and her hubby go all out. I look forward to hearing about what her costume will be! It's always something interesting. We both love to read Stephen King. And we're very close in age.
She recently changed her format to include both makeup AND nail polish. I'm glad she's done this, very often times I find we like similar products and brands in makeup and I have always liked her style of writing.
One more thing I'd like to mention - her photography is AMAZING. Not just with products, but she's taken photos on her vacations that are absolutely breathtaking.

1. How long have you been blogging?
Three years in September.

2. What inspired you to start blogging? How did you come up with the name of your blog?
I had been looking for a hobby for literally years and never found anything I stuck with. I came across Scrangie and The Polish Addict's blogs one day while looking for nail polish photos and thought now THAT looks fun! I wanted to combine my love of writing and makeup into one hobby and blogging was perfect. Along the way I also developed a serious passion for photography. I came up with my blog name because I have always been drawn to darker or "vampy" colors of nail polish and of course the "varnish" part just fit naturally and kind of rolls off your tongue.

3. What is your favorite color? Is it your favorite polish color, as well?
My favorite color is probably cornflower blue. I love it in clothes, makeup, wall color, etc. For nail polish though my favorite is hands down olive green. I am obsessed with any murky olive or army green color.

4. Is there a polish color you won't wear?
Yes. A lot of yellows look really bad with my skin because I have yellow undertones. The only ones I can wear are cool-toned lemon yellows.

5. Do a lot of people offline notice your polish/nail art? What kinds of comments do you get?
I do occasionally get comments about my nail polish color. It's always kind of awkward when the 
person asks what it is and it's some obscure brand or a color that isn't even out in stores yet!

6. What are some of your favorite blogs? (Doesn't necessarily have to be polish related!)
Honestly I do not read very many blogs anymore because I have no time! My fav beauty blog is Makeup and Beauty Blog though and I read it a few times a week if not every day. Some non-beauty related ones I love are Dooce, The Pioneer Woman and Nothing But Bonfires.

7. What other hobbies and interests do you have outside of polish and blogging?
I watch a lot of TV and movies and I read a ton. I don't really think of reading as a hobby though, it's more of a necessity! I also like baking but don't have the time to do it that often. And of course I hang out with my wonderful kittehs.

8. Tell us a bit more about yourself. Any tidbits you'd like to share!
I'm a total dork in real life. I have very few actual friends, two of whom live in other states now and I miss a lot! I work 4 days a week and spend the other 3 pretty much working on my blog constantly. I have no life. ;)

9. What is the one beauty item you cannot live without - you won't go out of the house without
using or wearing it?
Not including an SPF, which I wear every single day, I would have to say Benefit Brow Zings. I MUST have my brows filled in or I look like an alien!

10. What is the craziest/most interesting thing you've ever done?
Hmm I definitely don't do many crazy things, not a big risk taker. When I was 27 I quit a job I had been at for 2 years without getting another one first. It was kind of a big deal because I was paying a half of a mortgage, but I just couldn't take it anymore. I wrote the owner of the company a letter telling her exactly why I 
was leaving and everything I thought about how they were running that place. It felt great to get it off my chest! Got a MUCH better job 3 months later. :)

This is a photo of Kelly's beloved China Glaze Out On Safari! I knew that it was her favorite polish, so I was hoping she'd include that picture. It's a stunner and one I'd love to find!

With A Little Help From My Friends: HELEN!

Helen is half of the blogging duo that runs Just Nice Things, a UK based blog that I've been following forever, it seems! She has beautifully long nails - yet another lady that I envy, I wished mine would grow to that length but mine seem to always snap off well before I ever get there. Helen blogs mainly about nail polish, for her part of Just Nice Things, but if you haven't seen it, she's got the most AMAZING Nars collection ever and has done a series of posts about it. Makes me swoon! I've found that although most of the ladies I'm featuring blog mainly about nail polish, we also share a love of makeup as well. Helen got married last year, and shared with us her absolutely stunning photos - and she's just bought a lovely house that if I were her, I'd never want to leave. The garden! Oh gosh, that garden is too perfect.

1.How long have you been blogging?

I’ve been blogging since February 2009. So about two and a half years of daily posts now. I feel exhausted just thinking about that!

2. What inspired you to start blogging? How did you come up with the name of your blog?

It was when the OPI Russian and France collections came out and I bought a few of the shades and went over to my friend’s house to show her my haul. She just looked at me quizzically as if to say “but these are all the same colour” and I had to point out that actually they were subtly different, and that she just didn’t get it.





I then stumbled upon Scrangie, read her entire blog in a weekend and she led me to a number of my other favourite American nail bloggers. It dawned on me that there was a gap in the market for an English nail blogger and so I mulled it over for a while before asking Sheenie along for the ride. Sheenie is a friend I  made through Facebook (via a forum about The Apprentice tv show) and I knew that she was a qualified makeup artist so could add something else to the blog. We started out as “Helen & Sheenie’s Nice Things” before buying the Just Nice Things domain.




3. What is your favorite color? Is it your favorite polish color, as well?

I don’t really have a favourite colour. I wear a lot of earth toned shades but I don’t honestly think I have a “favourite”. Although people who know me do know that I have a weakness for taupe and mushroom toned polishes.


4. Is there a polish color you won't wear?

Mint green, like China Glaze For Audrey or any of that family. They give me the worst lobster hands and I hate it!


5. Do a lot of people offline notice your polish/nail art? What kinds of comments do you get?

Shop assistants, mainly. I get asked how I keep my nails so long. Ironically, they are about a third of the length that they were when I started blogging!


6. What are some of your favorite blogs? (Doesn't necessarily have to be polish related!)

The ones I always read are:


Scrangie http://www.scrangie.com/        


Vampy Varnish http://vampyvarnish.com/          


Get Lippie http://getlippie.blogspot.com/          


Vex In The City www.vexinthecity.com/     


London MakeUp Girl www.londonmakeupgirl.com/         


Modesty Brown http://www.modestybrown.com/



I’m lucky enough to count these ladies as friends as well, which is one of the best things to have ever come out of blogging – I never expected to get such a great social life with like-minded people.


7. What other hobbies and interests do you have outside of polish and blogging?

Hmmm well if you follow me on Twitter you will know that I love to cook and I love to read. We also have a pretty cool home cinema setup at our house so spend a lot of time watching films and TV series (I’ve just started watching Game of Thrones and I am obsessed already!)


8. Tell us a bit more about yourself. Any tidbits you'd like to share!
I have a cat. I have a degree in English Literature. I work in sales. I’m happily married. A fairly open book really, which you’ll know if you read my blog!

9. What is the one beauty item you cannot live without - you won't go out of the house without using or wearing it?
Well I go out of the house without make-up all the time (at weekends, nipping out for some milk) but I suppose it would be eyeliner. I like a good smudgy kohl eye  - quick and easy to pull off.


10. What is the craziest/most interesting thing you've ever done?
I am so boring! There was the time that I ended up on TV  - a BBC researcher read a blog I did about a spa and how the water there was beneficial to my skin, and asked me to appear on TV talking about it. Alongside a disgraced Conservative MP who was presenting the show. Really strange. Also crazy as there is no way in the world I ever wanted to appear on national television in my bikini but all my friends egged me on to do it. Peer pressure or what!

Helen's wearing a shade from the OPI holiday collection, The Muppets. This one is called Designer, de Better! Gorgeous, I can't WAIT to see all the shades from this collection - I love holiday collections and Helen has given us a sneak peek at two of the shades! I want to add here that she's right - I follow her on twitter and she's always mentioning what she cooks for dinner and leaving me starving. 

With A Little Help From My Friends: GIANNA!

I don't think there's many of you who don't know who Gianna is - she runs the absolutely amazing blog Nouveau Cheap. It's literally the go-to on affordable beauty! I remember stumbling across Nouveau Cheap and being instantly attracted to G.'s writing style. I later found out that she's almost exactly a year older than me - my fellow Sagittarius sister, and we have SO much in common! As soon as I asked her if she would like to be included in my series, she replied with a very enthusiastic yes, and I'm very gratified to say that she is my friend. I love her positive outlook and her overall enthusiasm about everything. She's got that happy go lucky Sagittarius trait in spades, I tell you. We even like many of the same TV shows, in addition to beauty products! We both were huge Lost fans, and eagerly discussed many episodes together, including the very controversial finale.
Gianna sent me this montage - a favorite photo of herself, and TWO favorite manicures! The first manicure is her Borghese syrup mani, and the second one is her Retro 80's Half Moon Mani. I LOVE the color combination she used for that, so very eighties!

1. How long have you been blogging?

About 2-1/2 years.


2. What inspired you to start blogging? How did you come up with the name of your blog?

A group of female colleagues at a previous job used to refer to me as their "beauty guru" because they'd come to me with beauty-related questions or problems. One of them urged me to start a blog so I could share my info with others, so I eventually took the plunge!  "Nouveau Cheap" came about because I wanted a blog title that conveyed that it's possible to be cheap yet still be stylish. It's a play on the term "Nouveau Chic", of course.

3. What is your favorite color? Is it your favorite polish color, as well?
Great question! My favorite color is very, very pale pink. That is definitely not my favorite polish color though.

4. Is there a polish color you won't wear?
I won't wear muddy rust-browns because I just think that's an awful color for nails in general (sorry to any muddy rust-brown lovers out there!).  

5. Do a lot of people offline notice your makeup or nail polish? What kinds of comments do you get?
Another great question! As for makeup, that rarely gets noticed because, for daytime, I'm very subtle with my makeup (I'm of the less-is-more approach). As for nails, when I go all out (patchwork manis, lots of glitter, etc.) they definitely get noticed--especially by cashiers in stores.

6. What are some of your favorite blogs? (Doesn't necessarily have to be polish/makeup related!)
I love all of the blogs in my blog roll, for starters. For non-beauty blogs, here are just a few: I love humorous grammar-oriented blogs like Apostrophe Abuse and the "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks, I love craft blogs like Dollar Store Crafts. I also love food blogs like Veggie Belly and Candy Blog and I'm totally obsessed with Anna the Red. She creates the most amazing bento boxes EVER--check out her gallery here. She does things with food that will blow your mind.

7. What other hobbies and interests do you have outside of makeup/polish and blogging?
I'm an avid reader (I just finished Freedom by Jonathan Franzen, which was amazing), I'm ridiculous addicted to reality tv (I've never missed a season of Big Brother, which I can't believe I'm bragging about), and I LOVE anything crafty/DIY. Sagittarians are notorious for starting projects and then growing tired of them quickly, so I have an endless array of dead craft projects in my spare room: knitting, card making, jewelry-making, cross-stitch, you name it, I've probably tried it.

8. Tell us a bit more about yourself. Any tidbits you'd like to share!
I studied tap dance for 18 years. I could listen to Foreigner's Waiting for a Girl Like You over and over again all day. I hit snooze on my alarm at least five times before I officially wake up. I'm left-handed, which means I ROCK at using drive-thru ATM machines. I am in and out of there so fast it would make your head spin.

9. What is the one beauty item you cannot live without - you won't go out of the house without using or wearing it?
Without hesitation, my Physicians Formula Healthy Wear Powder Foundation SPF50. That bad boy has saved me from many a rough situation!

10. What is the craziest/most interesting thing you've ever done?
The craziest thing I've *ever* done? WOW. Thanks for making me reevaluate my entire life, Nicole. Ha! But seriously, I'd never share with the world THE craziest things I've ever done, but I do have a funny one I can share. But keep in mind, this was crazy for the time: in junior high (in the early 80s) I was the first person in the school to have an asymmetrical bob haircut (you know, where it's longer on one side than the other?). So for MONTHS, all the guys in my school would walk down the halls and look at me and tilt their heads to the side as a way of making fun of me, which was completely devastating. But sure enough, about a year later, every single girl in the school had that same haircut. And this, my friends, was the beginning and the end of my trendsetting abilities.

Extra tidbit:

Since I know this will probably be read mostly by nail bloggers and those who love nail bloggers, I really want to take a moment to THANK the nail blogging community for being so incredibly kind to me. Even though I'm a nail polish novice (heck, I didn't even know jellies could contain glitter until Niki schooled me!), I have a sincere love of nail polish and I am incredibly honored to have such wonderful friends in the nail community. Many of my favorite bloggers are nail bloggers and you all are such an amazing group of people--so ridiculously talented, generous and thoughtful--it's an honor to be friends with you.

I told all of the ladies when I sent their interview questions that they could feel free to elaborate with long answers and any extra tidbits they might like me to include along with their answers - so thanks G. for adding this! Gianna is one of two ladies I've interviewed so far that run a blog that includes makeup reviews as well as nail polish reviews, so I was interested in her answers and thoughts, makeup blogging is definitely a different experience than blogging solely about polish. So many times, I wish we all lived closer together so we could see each other.

In which I answer my own interview questions.

It was requested by Liz of Life and Polish that I answer my own questions, so here goes!


1. How long have you been blogging?
I've been blogging forever, actually! I started blogging around 2004 or 2005. I started nail polish blogging around May of 2009.

2. What inspired you to start blogging? How did you come up with the name of your blog?
Ahh, I originally started blogging about makeup and nail polish, but there were a couple of things that happened! I started getting more comments on my nail polish posts, and less on the makeup posts. I also stumbled across some folks who were blogging exclusively about polish - there weren't many at that point, but to name a few you'll know, Mary of Body and Soul, Kae of The Hungry Asian, Brooke of Getcha Nails Did, Kelly of Vampy Varnish, Scrangie. Well, reading these blogs created some serious lemmings, and so off things went. Lemmings bought, (horrible) swatches posted, and two-plus years later, many lessons learned. My first blog was named to coincide with my YouTube channel. Nightly Nails - I could NOT come up with a cute name. But I knew I was a night owl, and it was available, so there you go.

3. What is your favorite color? Is it your favorite polish color, as well?
My favorite color is green, followed by purple. Green is definitely my favorite polish color!

4. Is there a polish color you won't wear?
Nope, but there are finishes I hate - anything resembling a traditional frost, anything that's prone to brush strokes.

5. Do a lot of people offline notice your polish/nail art? What kinds of comments do you get?
Actually, yes. People stop me all over the place - Walmart, Sally's, drugstores, you name it. And I don't do a lot of nail art so it's pretty neat they're noticing my polish colors!

6. What are some of your favorite blogs? (Doesn't necessarily have to be polish related!)
Well, I read mostly polish blogs, but I like beauty blogs as well, so I'll tell you a few of those - Phyrra, Nouveau Cheap, Makeup and Beauty Blog, Temptalia.

7. What other hobbies and interests do you have outside of polish and blogging?
Well, I love to read, and I play with cooking a lot. I watch as many movies as I possibly can, although I don't watch a lot of TV. I love music. I'm pretty boring, actually! I also like board games and card games. Yeah, that's right in the boring category.

8. Tell us a bit more about yourself. Any tidbits you'd like to share!
I'm terrible at coming up with this stuff, so let's see: I've lived all over the place, but I call Maine home. I love to travel. I'll probably never be a skinny girl because I adore food. I'm hypoglycemic, which is often confused with diabetes - diabetes is hyperglycemic, so hypoglycemic means I have low blood sugar. It's much easier to control. I hate to be photographed. Hrm, that's all I can come up with off the top of my head!

9. What is the one beauty item you cannot live without - you won't go out of the house without using or wearing it?
Lip balm. Seriously, addicted to it - I have SO many. That and lotion.

10. What is the craziest/most interesting thing you've ever done?
Haha, that's a tough question! Probably the craziest thing I ever did was pack everything up and move to Nashville for a year. I just picked it out as someplace I thought I might like to live. I didn't know anyone there! I did love it, and I miss it sometimes.

Okay, so that's it! I always find it awkward answering questions about myself. I am terrible at coming up with facts when it comes to doing those tags, so I like questions better, but still.
If you're interested, today I'm also featured in an interview at Just Nice Things. Thanks Helen!

With a Little Help From My Friends: SOLVEIG!

You know what, I can remember receiving comments on Magic Maid from the very beginning from Solveig. There were very few people, obviously, stumbling across my little site when I started, other than the few that followed me from YouTube. It's kind of mind boggling when you realize how long you've "known" someone! Solveig runs an absolutely lovely blog called Nailin' It. She'll mention it in her answers, but when I first met her she was living in Qatar! I was so interested to hear that. I knew she was from Norway originally, and she would mention visiting home once in a while on her blog. I think between her and Tuli, they may have been my first "overseas" readers and I was SO thrilled to be able to make friends from all over the world. Solveig strikes me as one of the most kind-hearted people I know. And she's beautiful! (I might be a tad bit prejudiced - I think all of my girlfriends are stunning.) Be aware, though, that if you start following her blog, you may end up lemming polishes you didn't even think you wanted. Perfect example of this was Chanel Peridot - I DID NOT WANT THIS. Then I read her post and drooled over her photos - she absolutely kills me!

1. How long have you been blogging?
 I've been blogging for two years.

2. What inspired you to start blogging? How did you come up with the name of your blog?
 I got hooked on nail polish when I found Karianne's blog Neglelakkmani (neglelakkmani.com) in 2009. I wanted a place to share my excitement about everything nail polish related, and so Nailin' It was born. I chose the name because I was a total newbie when I started blogging, so the blog was going to be a sort of documentation of my experiences in nail polish and nail care, hopefully "nailin' it" eventually.

3. What is your favorite color? Is it your favorite polish color, as well?
 My favorite color is pink, and I definitely have a lot of pink and purple nailpolish.

4. Is there a polish color you won't wear?
 I've tried most nail polish colors, and I love trying new and "weird" colors. However, I don't really like how turquoise and teal look on me, but I've decided to try getting used to them again. They look so pretty on other people!

5. Do a lot of people offline notice your polish/nail art? What kinds of comments do you get?
 Most people don't comment when I'm wearing a "plain" manicure, but obviously Konad and stamping manicures get a lot of attention. Most people ask if I've done it all freehand, and I've been explaining the stamping technique more times than I care to count.

6. What are some of your favorite blogs? (Doesn't necessarily have to be polish related!)
 It's hard to pick a favorite nail polish blog, because I like different aspects with each blog. Some have great swatches, others have beautiful nail art and some have interesting pictures and articles. I usually visit all the blogs in my blogroll daily, and I love each and every one of them. 

7. What other hobbies and interests do you have outside of polish and blogging?
 Other than blogging and nail polish, my hobbies are singing and knitting. I sing in a choir called JazzåKoret, we usually have two concerts every year, one Christmas concert and one pop-themed concert. We have so much fun, almost too much fun sometimes.

8. Tell us a bit more about yourself. Any tidbits you'd like to share!
 I'm a crazy cat lady (so is my husband, actually), and I usually have long conversations with my cat Gizmo. He replies as well, so I'm well versed in cat-speak by now.

9. What is the one beauty item you cannot live without - you won't go out of the house without using or wearing it?
 Nail polish, of course! I don't really think there's anything else I won't leave the house without. 

10. What is the craziest/most interesting thing you've ever done?
 The most interesting or crazy thing I've done is probably moving to Qatar in 2009. My husband was offered a job there, and I was very reluctant, to say the least. Luckily, I changed my mind and we decided to take the plunge and go, and I haven't regretted it a day! We stayed there for a year and a half, from January 2009 to May 2010. I think everyone should try living abroad for a while, it's such an eye-opening experience.

You know what, I'm SO glad she picked out this photo as one of her favorite manicures - this is her pink fish scale manicure and I loved this one. I think Solveig is very creative! I wish I were that talented. Another of my favorites is her Everything's Peachy manicure - so gorgeous. I would LOVE to hear her sing!

With A Little Help From My Friends: ANDREA!

Well, this week's featured woman is a very good friend of mine, Andrea of Black Nail Polish and Lip Gloss! I've known Andrea...well it seems like I've known her forever. In case you don't know, in addition to running a nail polish and makeup blog, Andrea is the owner of Evil Shades, an indie makeup company. She's one busy woman! She's got a heart of gold, and she's a true blue friend. I can tell you from personal experience, when I've been my most down, she's been there and never judged me. That in itself is an amazing quality, so I think she knows how much I treasure her.

1. How long have you been blogging?
I've been blogging for 4 years but I've had BNP&LG for just over 2 years

2. What inspired you to start blogging? How did you come up with the name of your blog?
A friend from the boards at MUA talked me into starting a blog to share my nail art, makeup and other weirdness.
The name came from my 2 favorite beauty products at the time. lol

3. What is your favorite color? Is it your favorite polish color, as well?
I don't actually have a favorite color I have a top 5 lol, Teal, Pink, purple, red and black. Yes those are also my favorite nail polish colors. :o)

4. Is there a polish color you won't wear?
Brown....I call it diaper brown. Not a good color for me and it kind of grosses me out.

5. Do a lot of people offline notice your polish/nail art? What kinds of comments do you get?
When I let my nails grow long (The claws) I do get a lot of people noticing my polish or nail art but since I've been wearing them a more normal length people only notice if I'm wearing very loud nail art or a bright shade.  Even with my nails short the main comment I get is "are those real?" to which I usually adjust my bra and say yes, yes they are.
I have been recognised by readers in real life a couple of times by my nails.

6. What are some of your favorite blogs? (Doesn't necessarily have to be polish related!)
I follow some great bloggers so I'll just give a quick few:
I am Nymphette, Alizarine claws, Phyrra, LeGothique, Turtle Beauty, Makeup Zombie, Vulcan Butterfly, Lacquerized, TheArtisMakeup, You and about a bazillion more fabulous blogs.

7. What other hobbies and interests do you have outside of polish and blogging?
I am a music fiend so tracking down bands that I've never heard of is something Chris & I do a lot of, I also upcycle jewelry from boring to my own funky style, I sword fight and have been trying to find time to get back in the swing of it, I shower sing (my kids hate it, hubby thinks it's funny), I collect coffins (not the life size ones yet), I stalk artists for inspiration and I have started taking cosmetic chemistry courses but I think my main hobby is trying to cram more time into each day. :o)

8. Tell us a bit more about yourself. Any tidbits you'd like to share!
Well anyone who reads my blog or follows me on twitter likely knows more about me than they should. For those who don't: I'm weird and proud of it, I make pretty stuff for a living, I'm married to a Hot Guy, I have evil children, I'm much older than I act and I firmly believe that one day Boobies WILL take over the world!

9. What is the one beauty item you cannot live without - you won't go out of the house without using or wearing it?
 Lipgloss, seriously I would go naked as long as I have my gloss, I'm good.

10. What is the craziest/most interesting thing you've ever done?
That is classified information and top nonexistent government agencies will not allow me to publicly divulge that information.
So you will all have to DM me so I can blab it privately! XD
Seriously, I'm not that interesting, just a weird chick with a big mouth and no fear.

Okay, so Andrea wasn't feeling great when I sent her my questions, so she had her hubby pick out her photos. I think he did a great job - I'm going to show you both of the manicures he picked out!

This first is Color Club Get Your Lem-On - it's neon with skull stickers, how cute is that?

This next was last year's Halloween manicure, she actually filed her "claws" to a point - dead sexy, I would SO do this for Halloween if I had nails like hers! The polish is a jelly red called Risque Rebu.

I could never get my nails to that length and keep them. I'm always in awe! Now, I'll be honest here, because I've known Andrea for a good length of time - I stumbled across Black Nail Polish and Lip Gloss when she was first getting started! - I knew most of these answers already. Andrea's pretty much an open book, and she's very approachable so if you've ever wanted to ask her something, hit her up on Twitter! I sound like a commercial, haha. But you know what I mean - I remember when I first started, I was nervous about talking to people, and I really shouldn't have been. I have a bit of a girl crush on Andrea!

With A Little Help From My Friends: KIMBERLY!

One of the benefits of stepping away from the "big" blogging scene has been the opportunity to spend a little bit more time getting to know my fellow bloggers. Before, I knew quite a few folks and interacted with them on Twitter - for instance, the lovely lady I'm featuring today, Kimberly from Libby's Pink Vanity. I feel like I've gotten to know her a bit better since I've had so much more time than I used to when I had Magic Maid. She makes me want to move to Florida to hang out with her - Kimberly is just, well she's super cool! Look at the photo below of her and her hubby. Gorgeous, I love love love her smile so much. 

When I first started Nightly Nails, she was one of my very first commenters and one of the most constant. I'm always finding new (to me) and awesome blogs because of her. She's smart, savvy, funny and a constant source of knowledge - and she always finds the best stuff shopping!

1. How long have you been blogging?

It was 1 year this last May. 

2. What inspired you to start blogging? How did you come up with the name of your blog?

I have been a nail-biter over 40 years. =O I have tried everything to stop except the thing that worked. I was trying again and had gone 3 weeks, the longest in history. I goggled on nail products or polish, I don't remember which, and found nail blogs. It was immensely rewarding to read all these nail and makeup blogs. I thought this would be a great hobby and a cool way to meet new people. I work for myself so I don't have office camaraderie, so it's great for me to connect with like-minded people.


Libby's Pink Vanity is named after my ragdoll cat, Libby. Libby's full name is Precious Princess Libby. 
And as a princess, she loves to be brushed and fussed over, but then she turns around and belches. Best of both worlds: feminine and brash. I envision her sitting at a girly, pink vanity putting on tons of pink lipstick and huge false eyelashes. 

3. What is your favorite color? Is it your favorite polish color, as well?

Since starting the blog and making pink my home site color, I choose pink over a lot of other colors now. It wasn't always like that. I never thought of myself as 'girly' but my friends and family say I am. I wear pink makeup, clothes, polish, lots and lots of other things like never before. It is a polish color I love. However, my favorite color to wear is a blackened, deep red. Totally vamp-ified.

4. Is there a polish color you won't wear?

Since I started blogging, I have stepped out of my small comfort zone quite a bit. I can't think of any color I wouldn't wear. I even try out some that I know won't look good on me just to see and to share it on the blog. I'm fairly game to try any color.

5. Do a lot of people offline notice your polish/nail art? What kinds of comments do you get?

I do! I would get comments before, however, only once in a while. Now, I get them almost every day. I do work in different places daily so I don't see the same folks each day. Usually, they mention the color of the polish that I'm wearing that attracts their attention. Often people will just say I have nice nails. It's quite an ego boost to get noticed for something I love creating.

6. What are some of your favorite blogs? (Doesn't necessarily have to be polish related!)

I have many I love to follow. Here are just a few (because I don't think you want to see my entire blogroll!) 
Cheap Nouveau
Just Peachy
Jack Fit 
Makeup Zombie
Scrangie

7. What other hobbies and interests do you have outside of polish and blogging?

I workout to exercise DVDs. I have over 200 DVDs; a library of different workouts and collections. This month alone, I have worked out every day but one. I usually workout 5 to 6 days a week. I have been doing this 9 years, as a lifestyle; right after I got married.  In April, I started running again, and it has been over 2 decades since I last ran. So far, I'm liking it. 


I'm a fanatic for scary movies. That's something I usually enjoy just by myself. No one around me likes horror movies. Well, it makes me braver!

8. Tell us a bit more about yourself. Any tidbits you'd like to share!

I used to be a nail tech, end of the '80's, and worked at the spa in the Stouffer's Resort here in Orlando. Discount nail salons came along that same year and took that all out. 


I started out as a makeup artist for a 'Glamour Shots' type of photography company that traveled from state to state. I got the opportunity to become a photographer and sales in the second company I worked for. It was popular at the time and I made mad money. So I can say I made a living at being a makeup artist and a photographer as well. 


I have a masters degree as a transpersonal hypnotherapist and worked in Washington DC for an addiction therapy business. I also have a doctorate in naturopath sciences. That's someone who deals with health issues without drugs, like herbs, vitamins, food, etc.

9. What is the one beauty item you cannot live without - you won't go out of the house without using or wearing it?

That has to be a moisturizer for dry skin that has at least a 20 SPF. I put that on every day, even if I'm not leaving the house. 

10. What is the craziest/most interesting thing you've ever done?

I entered a radio drawing to win a Thanksgiving turkey. I was listening to my radio at work before everyone got in. They called me! I had to gobble to win the turkey. They had me do it twice. Hey, it was for free food! I had a lot of people stopping by my office to tell me they heard me on the radio on their drive to work. I refused to do a turkey call for them. It was humiliating enough to know that so many people in this large office complex heard me that morning on the radio.

I am LOVING this photo Kimberly chose for one of her favorite manicures - this is so pretty! It makes me want to give it a try, even though I'm a huge fail at nail art. I love the color combination and it was a clever way to use a crackle. 

You know, I am learning so many interesting things reading everyone's answers to my questionnaire. Isn't it amazing the people we meet while blogging about nail polish? I'm so grateful to have made some wonderful friends like Kimberly!