Interview with a Polish Blogger: Maria (R3Daily)

I recently had the opportunity to interview someone newer to the blog world, Maria from R3daily. Maria's blog is great, for most posts she incorporates stories from her daily life and finishes with a few nail of the day photos. I think Maria's blog is going to be hugely successful so get to know her below then visit her blog to keep up with her.

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1. How did you get so interested in nail polish?

I have enjoyed doing my nails as long as I can remember. But because I was a nail biter, I opted for acrylics to help me stop biting my nails. For the next 15+ years I wore some type of nail enhancement. Last year after a move and little time to take care of my enhancements, I decided to give natural nails a try. I had done this a few times over the years and always went back to enhancements. This time I was determined to keep my nails natural and I already had a good collection of nail polish, but once they started getting strong and looking good, the polish addiction grew and so did my collection! I have had my nails enhancement free over a year now.

2. What's your collection like size wise? Have you counted?

My collection isn’t as big as some others out there, but according to family and friends I have way too much and I am obsessed! I have 3 daughters and my youngest gets a kick out of counting my collection regularly and letting everyone she meets how much nail polish I have at home. At the last count it was over 300, that was in December. I have probably added a “few” more since her last count. My girls make fun of my polish collection, but whenever I sit down to do my nails, it doesn’t take long for them to join me and they have each started their own small collections recently.

3. What's your favorite polish brand?

I love Rescue Beauty Lounge polishes. I never thought I would pay $18 for a polish, but when I saw grunge I knew I had to have it. When it arrived I was so amazed by the formula – it is so smooth and even after 4 coats it looks like I only applied 1. (I am much better at giving myself a manicure now and can get full coverage in just 1 or 2 coats with Grunge)

4. If you had to choose only 5 polishes to use for the rest of your life, what would they be?

RBL Grunge. RBL Killa Red because every time I put that one on, my husband tells me how much he loves that color. Sephora by OPI Metro Chic, KM Nail Lacquer Purple Bloom (this is a dusty I found and it seems the company only has a handful of polishes – but I LOVE this color. I included a crappy indoor pic and you can see it still looks AMAZING!) And a clear so I can cheat and create a lot of colors by adding stuff to it.

5. What colors have you been rocking most lately?

I’m a huge taupe, purple and blue fan, so I tend to wear those a lot. If I didn’t have so many to try right now, I would be wearing RBL’s Dead Calm, that color just keeps calling to me. I love how different it looks in natural light compared to inside light.

6. Is there any color you do not like wearing?

What? I have never heard of such a thing! Actually, I will have to run and hide after I say this, but those mint green colors everyone is so fond of right now look horrible on me!!! I have olive skin tone and it just seems to bring out the green in my skin. I learned the hard way after buying MAC Peppermint Patty. It sits in my drawer because it is so pretty, but really I should just swap it because I know I will NEVER wear it.

7. How did you decide to start your blog? What was your motivation? How did you choose the name?

Actually this is such a weird story and a long one. My goal is to one day open my own salon. Because I am always thinking of ideas for my salon, or day dreaming about it, I thought I would start a blog and then possibly an online store. I thought I could combine my life experiences and end each blog with a nail of the day to match the blog discussion. I was going back and forth with this idea for a little while and then finally mentioned it to my husband. He thought it was a great idea, but still I waited.

Then I took my daughter to New York for her Birthday and as a fun thing to do, I took her to a Psychic. I just thought it would be something fun to do. Well the Psychic told me that I was contemplating a business that had to do with Paint and Writing. She then asked me if I was an artist or a writer. I told her I wasn’t. She then proceeded to tell me that this business she is seeing has a lot of colors, she sees painting and colors and a lot of writing and asked if this made sense to me. I said it did. At this point the only other person who knew my plans was my husband, so my Mother in Law and daughter and her friend were all staring at me like I was crazy. The Psychic told me that people wanted to hear what I had to say and that the colors were the means to the writing, but the writing was what was going to make me successful. After we left there my Mother in Law immediately laughed over what a crock it all was, but I couldn’t shake what the psychic said. When I told my husband, he said it was my sign to get the blog going and contact distributors to get the store going as well. So a week later I started the blog, I am in contact with distributors and hope to have an online store in the near future!

My blog name is R3Daily.blogspot.com. I may change it to what I want to name my store which is R3 Beauty. R3 stands for Relax – Recover – Retreat. Because we all need to get away and treat ourselves and relax our minds and recover from the day to day grind. Doing nails is a little piece of that pie for me. Of course we also have three daughters so R3 or (Our 3).

8. What do you think is the most essential tool/technique/product needed to achieve the perfect manicure?

The right basecoat. I think so many people skip this step or use the wrong one. The right base coat can protect your nails from being discolored and some can nourish your nails at the same time. There are so many out there to target specific concerns, so I don’t think this is a one size fits all. I have friends who have naturally strong nails and then they put strengtheners on their nails thinking that if they were harder they wouldn’t crack, but they were making them so hard they were no longer pliable which was instigating the problem. What they really need is a moisturizing base coat.

9. What's the best compliment you've ever received on your nails?

When someone asks me for nail advice, I take that as a compliment. It makes me feel that I can make this my job one day. It inspires me to continue on with my dreams.

10. You mentioned you're a bit of a tomboy, how do you balance your girly side with your desire to get dirty?

I think I have a small tomboy side, I drive a Jeep and I love taking it off road and getting it all muddy. I love going camping and hiking, but I am no good at sports! I enjoy going to sporting events, but can’t be bothered to watch them on TV – yawn! When off-roading, I am usually the only one on the trails with makeup on, hair done, and matching outfit to get all dirty and muddy and of course my nails are always done! And I always carry a nail emergency kit in case I need a quick fix!

11. What polish brand do you think is the best kept secret? (Not popular but fabulous)

I recently found a polish called Inglot while in New York for a weekend. This brand is based in Poland and sells in the UK, Australia and Canada. It hasn’t hit big in the U.S. yet because they don’t sell online and they only have the one U.S. store in Times Square. They have over 100 polish colors and they are all amazing. Since I didn’t know the brand I didn’t want to sink too much into it, so I only picked up 5 colors to the tune of $65!!! But it is such a great brand, I regret not getting more now!

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Thanks Maria for a great interview. Visit Maria's blog and be sure to subscribe to updates she has a great giveaway planned when she reaches the 50 subscriber mark!

Remember, if you're interested in being featured drop me a line at primandpolished@gmail.com I'd love to get to know you! :-)