Jen Karr is happily addicted to nail polish and shares her favorite swatches and nail art at The PolishAholic. A reformed nail biter, Jen’s interest in polish started in 2009 when she would purchase new colours as a reward for quitting her nail biting habit. She now has over 2000 polishes! Jen recently collaborated with Picture Polish to release a limited edition PolishAholic nail polish in her favorite emerald green called Mallard. She shares her nail romance below.
Tell me a bit about your blog
The PolishAholic is a resource for swatches and comparisons of the latest nail polish collections along with dashes of nail art and tutorials!
How often do you post?
I typically post 6 times a week Monday-Saturday!
Are you left or right handed?
I’m a righty!
What’s your best tip for painting your other hand?
Go slow, I like to paint my right hand very slowly so I’m less likely to mess up.
How often do you paint your nails?
Usually every 2-3 days. I tend to do everything that is featured on my blog during the weekend when I’m not working my 9-5 job then during the week I wear my favorite polishes.
How many polishes in your collection?
For a while I liked to be blissfully ignorant about the actual number but I made a spreadsheet a while back to avoid rebuying things so unfortunately now it’s easy to figure out how many I own…I think I’m around 2000 bottles (crazy, I know)
How do you store your polishes?
Right now I have 3 Helmers and a 9 drawer Alex, all from Ikea. I need to get another one of them though!
Which brand has the best brush?
I really enjoy the OPI Prowide brush. It’s a nice size for my nails so I’m able to paint my nails quickly.
Favorite polish brand?
That’s a tough question! I love a lot of brands for a lot of different reasons; I love OPI for their crèmes, China Glaze for their range of colors, Zoya for their formula. I could go on haha!
Favorite indie brand?
This is another tough one, I don’t think I could ever pick one but there are a few that I always look forward to getting my hands on. They include Dollish Polish, Girly Bits, Cirque and Enchanted Polish among others!
Best luxe brand?
I don’t own a ton of high end brands, but my favorite of what I do have is Butter London. They have really been putting out amazing polishes this last year, my collection of their polishes has doubled!
Best bargain buy?
Lately it’s been Ulta’s house brand of polish; I bought a lot of their polish when I started getting into nail polish and forgot about them. I’ve been going through and wearing them a lot more recently and they have become favorites. Their polish is already pretty affordable and it’s on sale all the time for buy 2 get 2 free, it doesn’t get much better than that!
Favourite color?
Green, hands down. If I could own every green nail polish ever made I’d be the happiest polishaholic ever.
Favorite color combinations?
I really love cobalt blue and gold together, I’ve worn that combo 4 or 5 times over the last couple months!
Best color for school?
I really think you could wear anything, lord knows I would have been rocking some crazy colors on my nails if I had been into nail polish when I was going to school.
Best color for work?
I’m lucky where I work, I can wear whatever I want but occasionally when I have to be more professional I like wear a nude with a little something special like Cult Nails Crusin Nude.
Best party color?
Anything neon, I like my nails to stand out…it’s a good conversation starter!
What color did you wear on your wedding day?
I’m not married but I imagine I’ll wear something blue like Nails Inc Baker Street.
Best tip for making nail polish last longer?
Wrap the tips of your nails with everything you are putting on, your base coat, polish and top coat. It will help prevent tip wear!
What’s your favorite nail art trend?
Texture, anything with texture or that gives the illusion of texture…fuzzy nails, striped nails, caviar nails etc…They are always fun to do and I love the way they look!
Thanks so much sharing your Nail Romance Jen! Check out The PolishAholic and you can connect with Jen –
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Twitter: @ThePolishAholic
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/thepolishaholic/
Instagram: @ThePolishAholic
What a great interview! I love nail polish and right now I’m on a 30 days of no polish challenge where I am just massaging coconut oil into my nails. I can’t wait til this is over! I’ll be sharing about my experience on my blog on Feb 1.
I too have Butter London and while their colors are gorgeous I don’t think the brand has the staying power of some of the cheaper brands. I have 6 bottles of Butter London and honestly, if there weren’t a sale when I purchased them, I would have opted for Essie. I love that brand. Lasts a looooong time on my nails.
Oh I would love to hear how you find your nails are after 30 days of no polish. Interestingly I find mine are stronger with polish, or mayble I don’t notice as they are always covered? Will be interesting to read your experience