So You Wanted To Know...

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Last week on Instagram I announced that I would be doing a Q&A here on the blog. I am so happy that I asked because I got so many good questions and answered them all below!

Q. What is your favorite nail polish company & what is your favorite nail polish trend? (asked by @nailsbytaylah)
A. My favorite nail polish company is Zoya. I just love their wide range of colors and the formula is always amazing! I love their bottle shape and their customer service is by far the best. My favorite nail polish trend is large circle/round glitters. I haven't seen these in mainstream brands but they are everywhere on the indie scene! Speaking of, I can't wait to wear Space Cadet 2.0 by Lacquerhead Polish & Pop Culture Cosmetic's Pink later this week!

Q. Do  you use acetone or nail polish remover? How do you keep your nails so long and strong? (asked by @analysemariee)
A. I use both, actually. For glitter removal I use acetone because it removes the glitter faster when I use the foil method (soak a cotton ball in acetone, put it on your nail and cover with aluminum so that the acetone doesn't evaporate...5-10 minutes later the glitter wipes right off). For all other polish I use Zoya's Remove +. To keep my nails long and strong I use a variety of essential nail care products. These are products I think every girl should have to keep her nails in shape. For growth and protection of staining, I ALWAYS use a base coat. My favorite is Essie Grow Faster or Essie Feed Me. I keep my nails moisturized constantly with the help of cuticle oil/butter throughout the day which helps them to not get dry and brittle. I really like CND Solar Oil and Burt's Bees Lemon Cuticle Butter. The last essential product to keep your nails strong is a crystal nail file. Crystal files are much gentler on natural nails and prevent splitting which can happen when you use metal files or emery boards. My crystal file of choice is the NailTek mini.

Q. What are your favorite polishes to stamp with? Which ones work best? (asked by @polishedbyrachel)
A. I personally always use the black and white special stamping polish by Konad. I really like using the Halo Hue's by Color Club & KleanColor's metallic polishes stamp really well, too! A little tip for stamping polish: if it's a one-coat polish it's usually good for stamping.

Q. Stamping tips and techniques? I have the worst time with stamping. (asked by @alicia0910)
A. My biggest tip for stamping - DO NOT GIVE UP! This technique for nail art is so fun but can give you so much trouble to master. Just be patient and keep practicing. I've learned so much by watching tutorials on YouTube and just testing it out randomly. If you have issues picking up the image, you might need to work a wee bit faster or buff/file your stamper. When you file/buff your stamper do it very lightly. It'll give it a little texture to help pick the image up. Placement is always an issue for me. I just learned of this amazing trick that I can share with you! You can make decals out of your stamping images by using a sandwich baggie and clear nail polish. All you have to do is paint the baggie with clear polish and wait for it to dry. Then you use stamp the image on to the clear polish that's on the bag. Once that dries, use tweezers to remove the decal and place it on the nail. Seal it with topcoat and voila!

Q. Which brands are jellies or any info on jelly polish? (asked by @lafashionchica)
A. There are a bunch of brands that have jelly collections & what's not to love about that squishy finish, right? Well.. L'Oreal just released their limited edition Miss Candy collection which has 8 beautiful jellies and can be found at RiteAid (I'm not sure of any other stores that carry this collection). NfuOh has a line called Jelly Syrup with over 40 jelly polishes that you can purchase here! Zoya has a jelly trio (Katherine, Paloma, Frida) that was released last fall for NYFW called Gloss. China Glaze's newest collection, Sunsational, is half creme and half jelly and you can check swatches of those out here. Other jellies you might have seen are Essie Marshmallow, Cult Nails Scandalous, Revlon Watermelon Fizz, & Sinful Colors Big Daddy.


I had so much fun writing up this post! I think I will try this again in the future. That said, if you have any questions for me please leave them below. It doesn't necessarily need to be be nail polish related. Sometimes it's nice to get to know the people behind the blogs ;) As always, I hope you all liked this post my dear Lacquer Luvers and I look forward to sharing my next post with you, xo!

~Jessica