What’s On Your Nails? is a series focusing on my fellow beauty bloggers and industry insiders, their favorite nail polish and other hot nail topics. In this week’s WOYN? we get to know a fellow Midwesterner, one of the only other beauty bloggers I know in this area. And despite my frequent trips to her Detroit-area stomping grounds visiting friends, we have yet to actually meet up. I’m talking about Kerris from Pump and Gloss. It sounds odd to say, though I suppose in the age of social networking it’s not, but we actually met through Twitter. As much as I enjoy reading her updates about the products she’s into, it’s her life tweets about her fam including the “love muffin” (aka son) that make her more than follow-worthy. She brings such positivity to the Twitterverse with her daily greetings for her Tweeple. You may recall that K’s love of Barry M polish is what got me hooked on the brand so you KNOW she’s a true fanatic. Read on to discover what in your face shade she’s loving now and what hand treatment I’ve just added to my wish list thanks to her.

Introduce yourself to the ALU readers. Tell us a little about you and your blog.
Pumps and Gloss began in February 2007 as a group of friends sharing their views of the world. The blog, over the past 2 1/2 years, has discussed fashion, beauty, faith, current events, sex and everything in between.

What is your favorite nail polish?
My favorite polish was OPI Puerto Vallarta Violeta. I used to wear this color all the time regardless of the season. My nail guy would always try to get me to change colors. Last year, I decided to switch things up and now, I am obsessed with China Glaze neon colors.

What is on your tips and toes right now?
I am currently wearing China Glaze In The Lime Light neon on my nails (pictured above). Nothing on the toes.

Do you consider nail polish a beauty necessity or accessory? Why?
Definitely a beauty necessity. I think nail polish enhances the features of the hands and can make them look younger. My mother, who spent most of her life lacquer-free, now gets a french manicure every two weeks.

How many bottles of nail polish do you own?
I own about 12 nail polishes, including China Glaze, OPI, Barry M, NYX and LA Colors.

How often do you change your nail polish?
I change my nail polish every 2 weeks.

Do you have a favorite nail treatment you think my readers should know about? Why is it so fab?
Clinique Water Therapy Moisture Glove Hand Cream is my favorite. When I use this product, my hands feel soft and silky…feels like a protective coating.

What do you think will be the big nail trend for summer?
I think brights and neons are the trends for the summer. Bright colors make me feel energized, especially the yellows and the greens.

What nail trend do you wish would go away?
I do not like colored french manicures.

What is the biggest nail faux pas that women make?
see 9 LOL

Thanks a million K for sharing the polish love. Fanatics be sure to visit PumpsandGloss.com on the regular!

Remember a while back when we talked polish storage? At the time the polish room was overrun by polish. I know it’s not exactly a horrify sitch to be in but I needed a solution, FAST! Not long after our discussion, I finally decided on a new system since my old cabinet just wasn’t cutting it. I’d been looking at the IKEA Helmer ever since the MUA Nail Board first discovered it but with no IKEA in the Cleveburg and the ridiculous shipping cost I was SOL. However thanks to my Michigan pals who have an IKEA nearby, I know own TWO (yes, I need two) IKEA Helmers. I’ve had them for a while but it wasn’t until last weekend when I kicked myself in the butt to organize that they were finally filled. Check out these uber-affordable, compact, storage dreams come true after the jump!

Here they are, my Helmers! They’re utter perfection. At a little over 2 foot high, 11 inches wide and 16 inches deep, with its casters attached, the top of the Helmer hits me just about mid-thigh and fits perfectly under the polish room’s window sill. Now I know the old joke about IKEA’s hard to understand instruction manuals but building the Helmer was relatively easy. The boyfriend and I had them both erected in way under an hour. The drawers basically fold into shape and you just snap the fronts and backs on. Considering the price ($39.99) they’re great but don’t expect the materials to be indestructible. The metal drawers are very flexible so they’re not 100% straight but they fit in the slots just fine. When it came time to fill ‘er up, I decided to keep with the organizational method I used for the cabinet; polish grouped by color. Thankfully most of my collection was already sorted this way so I just had to incorporate the new stuff. Here is how my drawers are organized, from top to bottom.

Dark Green Drawer and Black, Gray & White Drawer

Light Green Drawer and Metallic (Gold, Silver, Bronze, etc) Drawer

Teal & Turquoise Drawer and Nude, Neutral & Brown Drawer

Light Blue Drawer and Yellow & Orange Drawer

Dark Blue Drawer and Holographic Drawer

Dark Purple Drawer and Light Purple Drawer

As you’ll see below, each drawer can hold a LOT. This drawer contains 65 bottles and it’s not even full. So depending on bottle size, each Helmer can accommodate up to 500 polishes. Fantastic, no?
Because I want to leave room for growth, I intentionally left my reds, pinks, peaches and corals in my old cabinet which now houses my treatment products and to-be-tested lacquers as well. I’d have to add a third Helmer (which I may) if I wanted to eliminate the cabinet altogether.

The IKEA Helmer comes in Red, Silver and White and retails for $39.99. The white is more of a creamy eggshell than pure white but so is my window trim so it blends nicely.

What do you think fanatics? Who else has a Helmer? Have you found something even better? Share!

While I’ve talked about the Sally Hansen Salon line ad nauseam, I’ve never really discussed the Insta-Dri line that was introduced last year. Building off the success of their popular Insta-Dri top coat (a MUA nail board fave), Sally Hansen created a highly pigmented, quick dry polish for those of us with little time for our hands. With the recent launch of their summer shades, I figured now is the perfect time to discuss the line. Again, I’m seeing a rainbow-esque theme from Sally Hansen, much like the HD line. I’ve got the first four polishes from the collection for you after the jump!

Sally Hansen boasts “One Stroke! One Coat! Done!” but before we discuss that let’s talk about the brush for a sec, shall we? As far as wide brushes go, this one is the most unique. It’s as wide as the bottle neck with a rounded tip. I call it man sized and I don’t mean that in an offensive way just that it’s really well suited for a man’s wide nail beds. So to my guy nail fanatics, I’m talking to you George, this brush was made for you! Due to its size and densely packed bristles, this brush picks up a TON of polish so make sure you wipe it off well before applying or you’ll end with monster pooling at the cuticles. In spite of its size, the rounded shape does make application pretty simple. Though those of you with thinner nail beds may disagree. Mine are kind of wide and squat so it really is almost a one swipe process. However, while these polishes are well pigmented I wouldn’t call them one coaters, especially the yellow. They get close but you definitely need two coats to avoid streaking and unevenness. They claim you can wear them without a top coat and while they do dry VERY fast with a shine, it’s not the same effect as what you get by adding a layer of Seche Vite. Now on to the colors…

Brisk Blue is more unique than I anticipated. I can honestly say that I don’t have a duplicate shade in a drawer filled with 40+ light to mid tone blues. It’s a very brilliant sky blue. Held next to OPI Just Groovy, Just Groovy looks pale and washed out.

Lickety Split Lime has a bit too much yellow in it for my taste. You know how I feel about my greens but I’m just not loving this. In the bottle I was all ecstatic, on my nails not so much. It’s like split pea soup on crack, very in your face. While I have some lime greens I adore, this just isn’t one of them.

Lemon Dash reminds me a lot of Essie Shorty Pants from last summer’s neon collection. On the nail they are very, very close. And unfortunately Lemon Dash has the same application issues that plague most yellows. I was able to get it even with work and a layer of top coat but unless you are totally into the shade, it’s not worth it. I’m diggin’ it so I’ll put up with its problem child status.
Orange You Fast! is more of a tomato red to me than a true orange. What I love is that it applies very true to the bottle shade from the first coat. You know how with a lot of reds, the first coat looks NOTHING like the bottle color? You see its berry, pink or orange base color and have to build to bottle color? That’s not happening here. What you see is what you get!
The Sally Hansen Insta-Dri summer collection is on shelves now in limited release so hurry out to your local Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, WalMart, Kmart, etc and snag your favorite shade before it’s gone.

I’ll be bringing you swatches of the rest of the collection tomorrow but in the meantime, what are your thoughts on these? Have you tried the Insta-Dris? How do you like the formula?

Happy Friday kids! Are you all ready for something really fun? Then head on over to New York Magazine online and check out their latest Shop-A-Matic feature on nail polish.

The Shop-A-Matic highlights NY Mag’s top picks in fashion, lifestyle and for the first time ever, beauty. We’re talking over 100 of the best sneakers, bags, dresses, etc. They even have gift giving guides for holidays, family and friends that include all the details you need to hit the stores.

What really impressed me with the Nail Polish Shop-A-Matic is that instead of just showing you the bottle like every other commercial site, they actually took the time to photograph each polish on the nail.

As you’re paging through their list of 110 favorite polishes, click on ones you like and check out the swatches. Granted they aren’t dead on accurate but I certainly give them an A for effort.

This one’s for all my male nail polish fanatics out there.

To this day, one of my most commented on posts is the Fanatic Feedback question regarding Men Wearing Nail Polish. I love reading your passionate responses to the subject, both positive and negative. And that people are still commenting, only shows what a hotbed subject it is. Also, between the emails and comments, I discovered that I have more male fans than I realize. *waves to the men*

So when I stumbled across a post from tech geek Chris Pirillo, I just had to share. He has a whole series of “how to” beauty tips for men he calls Geek Eye for the Sloppy Guy and while the accompanying video is a bit long, his goofball style is charming enough to keep me from clicking “pause”.

source: Fingernails Tutorial: a “How to” Cosmetics Beauty Tip