Welcome!

Welcome, and let me start by saying “Thank you!” Thank you for clicking, reading, and experiencing with me.

I wanted to start this blog because, well, I love nails, and want a chance to share that excitement with as many people as possible. Reflecting on 2011, overall, I had a great year- I had a chance to go back to school, spend more time with family and friends, and rediscover my love for nails polish.

When I was younger, I was a chronic nail bitter. It was gross, it was painful, and if I had the understanding of how much bacteria we have on our hands and under our nails, I probably never would have started. Believe it or not, my saving grace was when I got braces. Because I had both top and bottom braces, I could not squeeze my little nails between my brackets and munch, and since I had the braces on for several years, the habit was broken.

During that time I found nail polish! I remember my first polishes, and the bulk of my stash, was made up of Wet’n’Wilds. I always reached for their brand because they had such a fun color selection. My little box of polishes had navy blues, soft greens, shimmery purples, and even the conservative pearly white. I recall my dad coming in to my room demanding I open a window because “It smells like paint in here!” Those memories of young nail polish days make me smile.

My next major nail landmark didn’t happen until around the time I was getting married, in 2005. I decided long nails would be so pretty since I was going to be wearing the long elegant dress, so I got acrylics. I thought they looked amazing, and even learned to do them myself. Big mistake- I had nasty chicklet nails and did a horrible amount of damage to my nail beds. I remember having them professionally removed, and the person removing them tore my nail in half vertically- that was the last straw for me. After they were removed, it did take quite some time to recover, nail polish and I took a break for a while.

Sometime after the damage had healed, I did pick up polishing my nails again. Since I was in a more professional setting, I tended to go with mostly pinks, mauves. There isn’t anything wrong with those colors, I know plenty of women that have a signature red or pink that is a go to color for them, but those colors are no longer my first choice.

This past year, I took some time off to go back to school and get my degree. During that time, I had reason to be conservative about my color choice so I went nuts. I collected polish almost without discrimination, taking my collection from about a dozen to 400 plus in a very short time. With so many polishes, I painted my nails frequently, switching color approximately every three days. The frequency has really improved my paints skills- thank goodness! I learned about the importance of clean up, the appeal of a small gap between the polish and cuticle, and that thicker coats aren’t between coats. This has given me the chance to try every color of the rainbow, so many finishes, and brands that I finally feel I have something worth sharing.

So again, thank you for joining my, and I can’t wait to share my stash with you!