One of the questions recently sent to me during my 100 Follower Giveaway was:
What got you into blogging about nail polish?
The question was asked by the lovely blogger over at That Girl Reads (If you love to read or just need a book idea for the moment then you simply MUST check her blog out...it's perfect for finding good reads!) Fair warning, you may leave Barnes & Noble with an empty wallet and a giant stack of new books after visiting her blog. Anyway, today I decided to do a whole post to answer her question. I sort of talk about it in my "Meet Nikki" tab (at the top) but I don't give into much detail. The story begins like this:
Once upon a time (aka when I was little), in a place far far away (aka the master bathroom at my family's house), lived a basket (yes, I just said basket). Said basket was full to the brim with all these wondrous glass bottles of all different sizes and all different shapes. These glass bottles sparkled and shined and could make your nails look pretty and colorful. I learned that these glass bottles were called nail polish and that was the end.
Just kidding. The story is more like....my mom kept a giant basket of nail polishes under the sink in her bathroom. There were all different brands (hello, my first China Glaze was lifted from my mother's collection) and all different types. I never had a big collection when I was little because I went to Catholic school that wouldn't let us paint our nails (thoughts on that is a whole different story!). I was only allowed to have a manicure (no acrylic) on special occasions, such as weddings and holidays, and even then my mom would usually take my sister and I to get them done. Anyway, my sister went to a private high school where nail polish was allowed (in fact, pretty much everyone had acrylic nails) and soon she was accompanying my mom to the nail salon on the regular. Unfortunately for me, I still was in grade school, locked in the land of anti-polish. Don't you worry though, I became a rebel...starting with one nail and eventually rocking three red nails on my left hand. I was quickly told nail polish wasn't allowed (thank you 8th grade teacher) and given nail polish remover to swipe away my rebellion. Lol. Finally I graduated and went to the same all-girl high school that Steph did. I think this was the beginning of the end.
I never liked acrylics and I would paint my own nails. I pilfered more and more nail polishes from my mom's arguably unused (because she would always pick a salon color) collection. I accumulated cheaper brands first, from Avon, BonBon, and The Icing but then I would go with my mom to Beautyland...which is now my Holy Grail...for the big guns: OPI and China Glaze. At first my collection was normal, probably about 30 bottles of polish stored in a shoe box, and I would do simple designs (usually just a base color with a tip). My sister eventually mentioned that I should take photos of my nails because some were cute and pretty soon we were contemplating the Nikkis Nail Files blog. I thought it was a great idea (although at first I thought my designs were too lame and no one would care) and I wanted to blog just for me. Eventually I found some nail blogging giants, such as The Daily Nail, Scrangie, and AllLacqueredUp, and decided I wasn't lame for wanting to blog about my little manicures.
I don't remember exactly when I started hoarding polish (I'm sure my bank statements could tell us) but I'm sure it was around the time that I started my blog. I couldn't just keep reusing the same polishes over and over again, you know?! Admittedly, I still show definite favor to some polishes in my collection but I liked having more and more polish to use in designs. I would see designs on other blogs or in magazines and I would need "just one more polish" to be able to do something like it. Soon I was trying all different designs, my polishes were taking over, and the blog was up and running. Ever since then I've been sharing random designs and parts of my life on my blog and I really enjoy it!
Thanks for reading everyone!
