“What’s On Your Nails?” with Sara from Bit By The Beauty Bug

What’s On Your Nails? is a new series focusing on my fellow beauty bloggers and industry insiders, their favorite nail polish and other hot nail topics.For this week’s What’s On Your Nails, I’d like to introduce you to one of my favorite people, Sara from Bit By The Beauty Bug. I adore Sara because she’s a great friend with an innate sense of style and a quick, witty personality. She doesn’t pull any punches and is one of those people that will tell you if there’s spinach between your teeth. Everyone should have a Sara in their life. I had the pleasure of meeting Sara a little over a year ago during a trip to New York with the brains behind Total Beauty. We connected during an uber-packed, day long beauty tour and have become great pals ever since via numerous IM and phone chats. If you aren’t familiar with Sara’s blog, her blunt, no holds barred attitude bleeds over into her product reviews. She’s not one to wax poetic about the latest beauty goody unless it truly deserves praise. Passionate about mascara, her recent Drugstore Mascara Showdown series has saved me from being sucked in by commercial claims. She’s also a big Shu Uemura fan and shares her latest discoveries from the Boston Shu boutique. Of course, we couldn’t be friends if Sara didn’t have a love and appreciation of polish. See what’s on her nails now and find out what other polishes she considers “must haves” after the jump!

Introduce yourself to the ALU readers. Tell us a little about your blog.
Based in Boston, I’m a beauty blogger who calls it like it is. Known as The Beauty Bug to my readers, I’m always in constant pursuit of the latest and greatest, life-changing beauty product, and will try anything once in the name of beauty. While I haven’t found that “it” product quite yet, I’m enjoying the journey. I founded BitByTheBeautyBug in 2006 using a simple, stock wordpress theme while I was bored at work one day and little by little it has grown to where it is today.

What is your favorite nail polish?
OPI’s Lincoln Park After Dark is my absolute favorite. It’s the polish I always go back to. I’ve been wearing dark polish since Chanel, with the help of a Seventeen Reader/contest winner, released Ciel de Nuit back in 1997 and will continue to wear it whether it remains in style or not. I love the contrast of the dark polish against my pale skin. When I’m not wearing Lincoln Park After Dark, my current colors of choice include OPI’s Black Cherry Chutney and You Don’t know Jacques, and Chanel’s Haute Chocolat.

What is on your tips and toes right now?
On my tips, as you can see in the photo, I’m wearing Shu Uemura’s Tanzanite Aquarium. It’s a fun glitter polish that’s somewhere in between a blue and a purple. In the bottle it looks more like a purple, but on my nails it wears more like a midnight blue. I’m embarrassed to say that nothing is on my toes as I type this! [editors note: I forgive you] During the winter months, I slack on pedicures mainly because I don’t have the patience to wait for them to dry. But during the summer months, I tend to be a little more adventurous in terms of colors. My go-to color is OPI’s MalagaWine, but this summer I stepped way outside my polish comfort zone and tried Essie’s Shorty Pants.

Do you consider nail polish a beauty necessity or accessory? Why?
A nice bracelet or scarf is an accessory, but polish is 100% a necessity for any beauty junkie. It’s really no different from the makeup you wear on your face and it’s another way for you to be expressive, look “polished” (no pun intended) and experiment with color.

How many bottles of nail polish do you own?
Not that many – and as you can probably guess – they all pretty much look the same. I would estimate that I own about 15-20 most of which are all OPI, with the exception of a few bottles of Carolyn New York, China Glaze and Chanel.

How often do you change your nail polish?
Every 2 weeks or so. Chances are, even if you aren’t happy with the color or polish for one reason or another, it’s most always wearable.

Do you have a favorite nail treatment you think my readers should know about? Why is it so fab?
I love the Seche Vite top coat so much that I bring my own bottle to the nail salon with me every time I get a manicure. It makes my manicure last much longer, adds great shine, and prevents chipping. You can definitely notice a difference when the product is used.

What do you think will be the big nail trend for spring?
I think the gray polish trend will prove to have staying power, and of course, almost black polishes with traces of colored metallics.

What nail trend do you wish would go away?
Even though I’m guilty of it too occasionally (but not because I think it’s trendy and
stylish), the chipped nail polish “trend” has got to go. No, it’s not a trend, but just a sign of laziness. Instead of letting the polish chip away, possible “offenders” should just take their polish off all together. Lazy slackers should not be confused with trend-setters!

What is the biggest nail faux pas that women make?
Letting their nails grow too long and not keeping them
at a reasonable length. There’s something so unsettling and unclean about long unkempt nails. Don’t even get me started on nails that are so long, they start to curl…

I told you she’s a straight shooter. Thanks to Sara for sharing with us. Check out Bit By The Beauty Bug to read about her latest beauty loves.