Polish Finishes
What your nails say about your health
Interactive Color Wheel (and shows complimenting colors too!)
Nail Photography Tutorial
Natural Nail Care
What the heck is a “Dusty Hunt?”
Dusty Hunting is the fine art of going into nail salons and beauty supply stores in search for VHTF (Very Hard to Find) and HTF (Hard to Find) polishes. Many times they are a treasure trove! The best way to go about Dusty Hunting:
- Have a list of polishes you really would like to find. I’ve decided at the last minute many of times to drop in someplace and have gotten lucky. But it’s good to have a list. Make sure you have both the name and number of each polish.
- Map out beauty supply / nail salons in your area- make sure you keep notes about who carries what brands and what you managed to find there. Also note the dates of your visits.
- Be cordial to the counter person/owner. You would figure this goes without saying but they may decide to hook you up and go the extra mile to find something for you.
- Make sure you have padded bag in case (many times) salons don’t have any. Don’t want your new polishes babies to break!
- Carry cash just in case- some places are still behind the times!
- Be prepared to have salon owners refuse to sell you used polish- even if it is HTF. You may be able to sweet talk them…but many won’t budge.
- Don’t be afraid to negotiate! If you’re ok with taking a slightly used polish ask for a break. Most will oblige. It is also important to know the value of the polish. For example, OPI costs no more than $8.50 (retail). Don’t get swindled by being over charged. Also, if you are buying a crap ton, certainly ask for a discount.