The sun finally came out (we’ll see how long it lasts, hmm), and the blue skies inspired me to paint my paws with MAC’s Blue India ($12; on counters now).

I like the color, but from certain angles it kinda reminds me of my friend’s hoopty Buick back in high school.

Still deciding on what to do with my toes…

What nail polish are you rocking today?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

I lurve nail polish, but sometimes I get a little crazy with it. Most of the time I’m wearing 2-3 different colors at the same time, or I’ll only paint one hand (or maybe just a thumb). I don’t know why… I think it’s just more fun that way.

Lately I’ve been wearing a lot of crazy colors, but this morning I was in the mood to tone it down, so I chose Sephora by OPI’s Let’s Do Lunch ($9), a warm peachy pink with golden shimmer (I did ALL of my fingers this time).

Do you ever wear different colors on different fingers/toes, and what are you wearing on your nails today?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Happy hump day!

I’m so glad I picked up the Sally Hansen Maximum Growth Cuticle and Nail Moisture Treatment Pen ($6) on a run to Target a couple weeks ago. It basically does the same thing as the Sephora Cuticle Pen I’ve been using (and liking) but for half the price.

Like the Sephora doohickey, it’s a clicker pen filled with an oil for softening and moisturizing cuticles, and it totally works.

How about making nails grow faster?

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TGIF, rockstars! Congrats on making it to the weekend, *raises teacup.* Just a quick polish check in — I’m wearing China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy ($6.50) on my fingers and toes, ’cause I want to pretend it’s summer. How about you?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Speaking of nail polish, Illamasqua’s hosting a contest to create their next hot Nail Varnish colors.

Submit an image, photograph and/or swatch of your dream color along with a description of it in 50 words or less. Tell ‘em what inspired you and why the shade should be one of Illamasqua’s next polishes (one entry per person, please).

From February 21 through March 14, send your entry via e-mail to competition@illamasqua.com; bloggers who post an entry on their sites can send their link to competition@illamasqua.com. Snail mail more your thang? Send your entry to Competition c/o Illamasqua, 6-8 Amwell Street, London, EC1R 1UQ.

On May 5, two winners will be selected to see their dream colors created and sold exclusively online at Illamasqua.com and at select Selfridges department stores in England. They’ll also get a bottle of their winning colors before anyone else. Kinda cool, yah?

Put down that snow shovel, ladies, and grab your swimsuit, sunscreen and your stunna shades, because you and I are heading Poolside.

Don’t worry if you’re snowed in and/or haven’t shaved your naughty bits in months (yo, been there, done that), it’s not that kind of pool. For this pool, all you need is nails.

The six new summery shades in the China Glaze Poolside collection ($6.50 each) are available now, and to put it mildly, they’re BRIGHT!

What’s brighter than bright?

Neons are notoriously streaky and can take forever to apply, but Kiwi Cool-Ada and Towel Boy Toy are a breeze to apply. They’re smooth (like Tabs) and apply evenly, only requiring two layers to look fully opaque. Definitely my faves of the bunch!

Kiwi Cool-Ada

Towel Boy Toy

As for Pool Party and Flip Flop Fantasy, I think they’re also relatively easy to apply, but getting opaque coverage with them seems to take a third layer. No problem at all, though, because I think they’re totally worth the time. Oh, hello there, muscular surfer dude telling me how great my hair looks and oh, sure, you can fetch me another piña colada and come back and have a seat beside me on the sand under my umbrella…

Sorry! Lost my train of thought!

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