A long-winded answer and some additional musings on “So, how is nails going?”

As a nail tech, I buy plennnnnnnty of gel colors. I haven't counted lately, but if I had to venture a guess, I’ve probably got somewhere in the ballpark of 250 colors available for my clients to choose from. And while there's a few that sit mostly untouched (though hardly unloved), most get used with some regularity. There are a handful, though, that are such staples in my collection that I make sure to have a backup on hand at all times because it would ruin an appointment if I needed it and didn't have it (ok, maybe not ruin, but you know what I mean).

Whether you’re just starting to build your collection, or you’ve already built one and, like me, are always looking for the next greatest thing, or you just like reading about nail polish (hello, welcome), here are a few of my all-time faves—the heavy hitters, the must-haves, the “who knew I'd use this one so much” and the “of COURSE this gets used constantly”—that I make sure I'll never run out of.

One of the biggest things I have noticed since starting to do nails is that, so many times, I’ll buy a new product or color and think, “clients are going to love this”…only to never end up using it. Part of that, I think, is because people don’t know about everything that’s available, and it’s vaguely difficult to communicate what new products are in or how we can use them to create cool sets of nails—especially if the only time those products are mentioned is in the five-to-ten minutes that we discuss what they’re going to do with their nails that day.

To that end, I want to start updating here about new things I get in the nail room so that my clients know what’s available to them. Here are some of the newest things I’ve gotten in this summer.