One of the things I love the most about the winter months are the fabulous nail colors. While I’m a fan of neutral skin tone shades, in the winter I always gravitate toward the deep, dark dramatic shades that look so good on short nails (I keep mine short – damn you contact lenses). My favorites all happen to be from the Essie brand. I just really love how their brush is wide and flat – it is the best when you are painting your own nails as you only have to use a few strokes. There are some other great brands like OPI, Butter and Chanel (of course) but I always go back to the following colors (accurate descriptions from the Essie website):

Wicked – award-winning. forever stylish. deep, dark sinister red is not for the faint of heart. strident, striking and bold, blood red lacquer creates a sensational, sexy nail look.

After School Boy Blazer – it’s back to cool when you’re back in blue-black. this academy blue lacquer is the prep-school chic must of the season.

Berry Naughty – racy, wild and unapologetically sexy. this luscious, deep berry lacquer makes every night a night to remember. being bad never looked so good.

I also recommend a really good cuticle oil (I love Cuccio Milk & Honey Cuticle Oil), a strengthening nail polish remover (Zoya 3 in 1 Formula) and of course my own The Beautiful Hand Cream.  And I actually use Essie’s Gel Couture Top Coat that is made for gel nail polish but it works well on regular polish too).  Your sexy ass hands will thank you for it!!!

Oh, and share your favorite colors and/or nail routine! What works best for you? Please share – I’m always looking for fun, new nail looks and nail care.