A job interview for me would be an ultra professional setting, and for those types of interviews I would go with one of my old stand bys: butter LONDON Yummy Mummy. This a great nude on me and gives the mannequin hand look. It also makes my nails look to be well groomed.

Another great choice for a professional setting would be Jana from Zoya. I think Jana is very close to SH CinC and is one of those gray/beige colors that certainly would not be offensive or even distracting during an interview.

Depending on what you were wearing CHANEL Skyline could be a great nude. I think the focus of an interview for a professional job would be the fact that you are put together from your wardrobe, make up and nail color choices.

Now, I’m going on a limb here, but I can see an exquisite black, fitted suit, great toned down make up, and with just a pop of color on your nails tells the interviewers that you have confidence. If you are just starting out in the business world I would not suggest this red but if you are an established professional I think this CHANEL Dragon conveys the message of confidence like nothing else can. Of course, I would never wear this in an initial interview. I would break out Dragon on the 2nd or 3rd interview. And happily so!

Again, depending on what you are wearing and the position you are interviewing for, I likeZoya Drew as a conservative, rosy colored polish with a bit of shimmer but not enough to take away from your entire look.

A few of the things I take into consideration before choosing my polish for an interview is: What I will be wearing.. A dark suit can be perfect with the nude Yummy Mummy and that would my first choice. Especially if this a first interview.
#2 to consider is the type of work you are applying for. For me that is an accounting position, usually with larger companies. Again, the dark, fitted perfectly suit with Yummy Mummy is perfect but then when called for the 2nd interview, which is very common for my “job types” I would probably wear a linen suit, again fitted perfectly and with this linen suit I might choose CHANEL Skyline, Zoya Drew, or even Jana from Zoya.. This 2nd interview might also be the time to break out the CHANEL Dragon red. It just depends.
#3 item to consider on all interviews is to know your audience. I applied for a job as an office manager for our county fair board. I was interviewed by the county fair board of 12 people, mostly farmers and people in the agriculture community. I was entirely over-dressed for that interview. The girl who went in behind me was dressed in jeans, she got the job.
#4 don’t be afraid to be yourself. I would never go to a job interview with no nail polish. I’m going to wear my nail polish so I don’t want them to have expectations that I wouldn’t. Does that make sense?
#5 I always cut my nails down to ‘nubs’ before a serious interview. A serious interview, and for a job I really want.

Naked from Deborahh Lippmann is another great choice for a nude “interview type polish”. Naked and Yummy Mummy are my go to interview polishes.

There are lots of choices for nude nail polish but for me ultimately it is butter LONDON Yummy Mummy.

Wish me luck in my hunt for a job. It is going to take some time and be full of rejections. I realize at my age and experience level I have “priced myself out of the market” but I think I have a plan to overcome those issues. I will, of course, keep you posted in my hunt and how it ends up. With a great J-O-B!! I hope I have helped someone in their choice of polish for a job interview, and I hope anyone out there looking for a job nothing but great success !

💅 As always, thanks for stopping by.

If you’d like to see all my original review posts:

January

February

March, part 1 and part 2

April

May

As you can see, over time you’ll start to build up a varied and interesting collection.

I mean, is this a gorgeous gaggle for spring or what?  (One from January, three from April, two from May)

I had no issues at all with the January collection, but don’t feel I showed the sparkly top coat, Arctic Frost, to its best advantage.  I took a photo of it over the light blue of Glacier Skies and you could barely see the top coat.  Here’s Arctic Frost over a much darker color, February’s Dear John which is a blackened red shimmer:

Speaking of February, I’d found the peachy-nude shade, High School Crush, thin and streaky.  I tried it again over a base coat of opaque white, which worked sooooo much better.  Also, I was more careful to mix up the bottle before application.  Here I have two thin coats of High School Crush over one coat of white.  I like this much better than the four coats of HSC I tried originally.

Oops, I didn’t wrap the tip, but otherwise it’s great.

On to March.  I had problems with Blond Ale and this time I made sure to mix the bottle more thoroughly since it had been sitting for a long time.  Three coats was sufficient instead of four, although the frost finish showed brushstrokes.

Then I tried a matte top coat from Butter London that practically eliminated the brushstrokes.  An interesting look, like suede.

April’s box was perfection.  Wouldn’t change a thing!

Yesterday when I swatched May’s box I had a hair-pulling fit with the frosty Mother’s Pearl.  Today I tried to slow down more in my application, and also I topped three coats of it with the matte top coat.

Whoa, soooo much better, although I got a little sloppy.  What can I say; I’m tired.

So when you have a polish of any brand that’s just not working right for you, try these tips.  If it’s thin or patchy, use an opaque base coat — white/light for light colors, black/dark for dark colors.  If the finish isn’t to your liking, change it with a top coat — clear and shiny, matte, glitter, and so on.  If it’s too thick, use nail polish thinner (not polish remover!).

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Some readers have asked me what other POTM clubs or subscriptions are available.  Here’s a brief roundup that is by no means complete.  I haven’t personally tried any of them.  Check with all companies regarding features, availability, commitment, prices, and so on.  By the way, there are some companies that take your money and then send an old bottle of OPI or whatever.  Beware of those!  Also beware of ANY company, polish or not, that isn’t up front about cost.

Julep is probably the Big Mama of POTM clubs.  You take a style quiz which asks for your email to receive results and then you can either go with whatever style they think fits you or browse all the styles.  Some boxes appear to contain two nail polishes plus one other beauty product and some contain three polishes.  You know in advance which colors you’ll get, but the polishes are only 0.27 oz/8 ml, which I consider a mini.  Some people like the bottle shape, which is tall and skinny, and others don’t.  There are many reviews online regarding formula and wear time.

Lacquerous is one where you rent polish.  That’s not a typo.  Rent.  It’s $18 a month and you receive three polishes that you can use up to three times each (yes, appaRENTly they measure it upon return and they reserve the right to charge you for the full bottle price if you use too much) and then send back in prepaid packaging.  They have designer brands like Chanel and Dior, plus more quotidian ones like OPI.  From the web site it sounds like you get to pick the ones you want to try, and I don’t know if you’re limited to, say, one Chanel a month or whatever.

Sorry, but I don’t want to use polish that’s already been used by strangers, plus how do you know someone didn’t sneak in some cheap dupe?  Sharing with friends is one thing, but this is different.  If I’m going to spend the money I want keepers, and besides, my luck would be that the last person to use the polish I got was Typhoid Mary.  (I kid.)

Color Me Monthly appears to send one polish a month for $7.  I’ve read very little about this program but the reviews I have seen are generally favorable.

Are you more into nail art?  Nail Art Society has a club that sends one polish plus some nail art supplies.  I’m not into feathers and sequins, but if you are, it might be worth finding some reviews of the company.

As for me, I’m very happy with SquareHue, but it’s good to have choices.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a fantastic Mother’s Day!!

I got the inspiration for this gold and teal design from Instagram. The metallic gold is Because you’re worth it by L’Oréal and the glittery gold is Milani’s Gold Glitz. The blue is Turned up Turquoise by China Glaze.

This green is Orly’s Coachella Dweller. I’m digging the whole honeydew/matcha green tea shades right now. I like mint shades too (Think Essie Mint Candy Apple, Butter London Fiver, Sally Hansen Mint Sorbet) but I like the slight variation of this sort of pastel green. Buying this color made me happy that I realized I also own Essie Navigate Her and Milani Dressmaker. The geometric glitter is Whirled Away by China Glaze.

Notice my nails are short and square? I’ve mentioned that I’m not into squared nails because my nails don’t take to them well (they’ll eventally start to curl inwards and look tapered) but I broke a nail recently and ended up cutting the rest (I had kept the short nail and the rest of them long but then it just looked so tacky so I cut them all off). This is Butter London’s Jasper.

April 2013

Gah! How is April over already? I know I probably say it in every Nails of the Month post, but where is this year going?! And a word of warning, I done a lot of nail art this month!

The first nail varnish I wore this month was Apricot Punch by Rimmel Lasting Finish. I created an accent nail by layering Barry M’s Gold Mine Glitter over A-England’s Camelot. Apricot Punch is a nail varnish which I’ve had for years, it’s a lovely colour but it is a scented nail varnish and I’m not keen on scented nail varnish.

Next I wore Borghese Rapido’s Menta, which is fast becoming one of my all time favourite nail varnished.

I was bored on a Saturday evening and feeling very colourful, so created different coloured checks on my nails. On my thumb I used Barry M’s Strawberry Icecream,  Elf’s Mint Cream and Elf’s Lilac. On my index finger I have Collection 2000 Hot Looks’ Lemon Soda, A-England’s Galahad and Essie’s Navigate Her. On my middle finger I have Butter London’s Teddy Girl, Collection 2000 Hot Looks’ Ninja and Zoya’s Arizona. On my ring finger I have Collection 2000 Hot Looks’ Spangles, Collection 2000 Hot Looks’ Go Retro and New York Color In A Minute’s Lexington Yellow. And finally on my little finger I have New York Color Expert Last’s Lavender Cupcake, Barry M’s Cyan Blue and Wet n Wild Megalast’s Tropicalia.

Next I created a Wildflower Meadow nail art look. The blue I used for the base colour was Collection 2000 Hot Looks’ Blue Hawaii. For the grass I used Collection 2000 Hot Looks’ Ninja and Collection 2000 Hot Looks’ Spangles. And for the flowers I used Collection 2000 Lasting Colour’s Fire Engine and New York Color In A Minute’s Lexington Yellow.

Then I created a rose nail art look, combining a couple of ideas for different designs I’d seen on YouTube. For the base colour I used Wet n Wild Megalast’s I Need A Refresh Mint and for the rose’s I used Essie’s Navigate Her, Essie’s Camera and Collection 2000 Hot Looks Ninja.

After that I wore a daisy nail art look. For all fingers except my ring finger my base colour was Zoya’s Neely and I used Collection 2000 Hot Looks’ Lemon Soda and Essie’s Blanc to create the daisies. On my ring finger by base colour was Collection 2000 Hot Looks’ Blue Hawaii and to create the flower’s I used Zoya’s Arizona and Essie’s Lights.

Next I simply painted all my nails with Lime Cooler from Jessica. This is a new nail varnish to my collection and I love it. I’ve got a real thing for green nail varnish at the moment…

Next I created  an umbrella nail art look. The base colour on all my nails is Collection 2000 Hot Looks Angel Wings. To create the umbrellas on my index, middle and ring finger I used Elf’s Mint Cream, New York Color Expert Last’s Lavender Cupcake, American Apparel’s Coney Island and A-England’s Camelot. On my thumb and little finger I sponged on Collection 2000 Hot Looks’ Wham to create a stormy cloudy sky look and for the rain on all nails I used Borghese Rapido’s Castello Blue.

After that I created a kite nail art design. For the base colour I used Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure’s Himalayan Blue and then used Essie’s Blanc to create clouds. For the kites I used A-England’s Camelot, Collection 2000 Hot Looks’ Ninja, Collection 2000 Lasting Colour’s Fire Engine and New York Color In A Minute’s Lexington Yellow.

The I created a Ladybird design on my nails using OPI’s Red Hot Ayers Rock, A-England’s Camelot, Essie’s Blanc and Collection 2000 Hot Looks’ Button Moon.

And my final nail look of April was Watermelon nails. This was created using Essie’s Watermelon, Essie’s Blanc, A-England’s Camelot, Jessica’s Lime Cooler and Collection 2000 Hot Looks’ Ninja.

On all the nail design’s I am wearing either Collection 2000′s 2 in 1 Base Coat and Ridge Filler with Keratin or A-England’s The Knight basecoat and A-England’s The Shield Top Coat.

Henley Regatta is pretty glorious, I have to say. It goes on smoothly and doesn’t have the crunchy feel of a glitter, probably because it’s so fine. The photos above show 3 coats + top coat. It definitely covers well enough to stand on its own, but I have tried it over a green or turquoise polish, and it looks great that way too. The turquoise and green glitter shimmers beautifully in the sun, and basically super into it.

Hello everyone! I’m so excited to be taking over Jen’s lovely blog for the day while she’s on a well-deserved vacation in Hawaii! Have you seen her Instagram photos yet? Color me jealous! Jen and I bonded last year when we realized we shared a love for all things lovely: turquoise, polka dots and J.Crew. We quickly went from blogging buddies to becoming real life friends {don’t you love when that happens?}.  Another love we share is for stripes, specifically those nautical in nature. Since Jen is enjoying the gorgeous beach-y weather, I thought it would be fun to feature some stripes to inspire the rest of us. Which of these picks are on your wish list?

From the top: Headband // Bow // Light Blue Dress // Navy Dress // Watch // Shorts // Tote // iPhone Case // Umbrella // Scarf // Shoes // Nail Polish

Thanks for letting me stop by and play, Jen! We all can’t wait until you’re back from the sun and the sand to share your photos and adventures with us all!