GETTING TO KNOW.....NEVER TOO MUCH GLITTER

Good Monday morning ladies! Today I have another blogger I would like to feature in the Getting To Know Series. Today's blogger is one of my favorite blogs and also a lady I consider a friend. It is none other than Jen of Never Too Much Glitter. Jen has yet to cease surprising me! When I first found her blog I assumed that she was Japanese because that is where she is located, only to find out that she is American - surprise! Jen I think could franken ANY color requested. I know I asked her to franken a H2F China Glazes - Dorothy Who? - and I think she nailed it dead on! I just think she is fabulous - and not just because she made it possible for me to get my beloved TiNS either! I think I was most shocked though to find out that Jen skateboards in her free time, something I never would have guessed. I think this interview so far has held the most unknown information and from a blogger that I chat with in comments and emails frequently. So keep the surprises coming Jen and thank you for doing this, I really appreciate it :)

***EDIT***
Jen just added a little bit more info about herself and Japan life over on her blog - it's really full of some quite interesting info. CLICK HERE to be directed to the post.

1. How or why did you start your blog?
Nail polish in Japan was so expensive that I knew I couldn't buy all the bottles I wanted! OPI is around $20 US and that's the main foreign brand here. Japanese brands are around $10-15 each. Instead of buying every shade I wanted, I decided to do some mixing to see what would happen. I found that I could duplicate almost any shade I wanted!

I found that a lot of people didn't know that you could mix nail polishes. Even my more adventurous friends thought that mixing polish could cause some kind of explosion. My blog aims to show the world otherwise!

2. How did you come up with the name for your blog?
I love shiny stuff of all sorts. I also do other kinds of arts and crafts in addition to nails, and I have a lot of supplies in my small apartment. I was at the craft store looking at glitter with my guy, and he jokingly said, "Don't you have enough?" Of course I told him that there's never too much glitter!

3. How many bottles of NP do you own?
About 250.

4. How do you store you NP?
I sort it by color in plastic boxes. Some people store by brand, but that won't work for me as I need specific colors to be handy while frankening.

5. What’s the most you have ever paid for a bottle of NP and was it worth it?
I paid $10 plus shipping for a bottle of Nfu'Oh 60- black with rainbow flakies. The $10 I paid for the blue creme from Nfu'Oh- not really worth it.

6. How much would you say you spend on NP a month?
Yikes! I usually do a giant online haul every 3-4 months and spend around $200, so that's $800 a year, plus goodies I pick up in Japan....probably $30 month....the total works out to about $100 per month. Plus decals and glittery bits and rhinestones...oh, I don't even want to think about it.

7. How do you feel about fake nails?
It really depends. For myself, I can't wear them because I type a lot and it would drive me crazy. I do see them as an art form- especially here in Japan, the home of crazy nails. When they're done well, they have a certain attitude that I can appreciate, though I wouldn't wear them. But when they're done bad...ugh! Chunky hideous pink and white French tips are the worst. But some people can pull even them off!

8. If you had to get rid of all your NP and could only keep 5 bottles, which ones would you choose?
Well, with red, blue, yellow, and white and black, I can make almost any color at all!In my franken stash, a good medium red (Essie Jelly Apple), deep blue (Orly Star of Bombay) and yellow (OPI Need Sunglasses?) are three of the ones I reach for the most.

9. Do you Franken your own NP?
Heck yeah!

10. What is your favorite brand of NP and why?
Color Club because it's vegan and cruelty-free- and they answered my inquiry about animal testing the same day I sent it! CC is great for frankening because it's fairly opaque and not expensive.

11. What is the best NP advice/tip/trick you have ever gotten?

Whatever color or crazy nail art you wear, wear it with confidence! Actually, this applies to all fashion.

12. Where do you live?

Tokyo, Japan, but I was born in Connecticut, and went to university in Taiwan, Massachusetts, and Hawaii.

13. What do you do for a living?

Translator/office monkey by day, one woman art factory by night.

14. Do you have a significant other and/or any kids?

One sweet guy, no kids.

15. What other hobbies do you have?
Travelling, painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, scrapbooking, making jewelry, skateboarding and motorcycle riding. I have one accidental hobby: irritating Japanese people. I don't always mean to, but it seems I'm good at it. I live in a very old-fashioned area of Tokyo with few foreigners, and I really stick out a lot. Unfortunately, a lot of older people really dislike Americans. But I'm going to win them over with my funky nails! There's an old guy working at the 7-11 who seems to appreciate them. He oohs and aahs over them like a girl!

16. What is your favorite food?

I'm a big fan of sushi- there's more to it than raw fish! Nothing like a nice sushi roll with pickled eggplant, cucumber, and avocado.

17. What is your best memory?

I'm lucky enough to have a lot! Childhood memories: riding in my dad's red truck- he would let me get a soda pop and a candy bar before dinner. Travel memories- the first time I snorkeled in Hawaii, a place where fish actually lived (my hometown in Connecticut wasn't exactly an aquatic paradise), watching the sunrise in Laos...there's a lot of great memories.

18. What is your best and worst quality?

Being a slightly compulsive perfectionist, as you guys probably already know from my frankens. I have learned that it's OK if everything is not perfect, but that lesson came pretty slowly.

19. If you could spend a day with anyone, who would it be and why?

Hmm, it would have to be someone funny. Probably Shaun White, pro skateboarder/snowboarder. I actually met him a couple times, and he was great. Skateboarding lessons from Shaun White for a day would be a good time.

20. What is something about you that most people don’t know?
I feel guilty eating those chocolate Easter bunnies- you know- the hollow ones made of really awful chocolate for kids. When I got them in my Easter basket as a kidlet, I made beds for them in a shoebox and put them in my sock drawer. They stayed there for a very long time and didn't change shape at all. My mother told me she used to chomp the ears off viciously and fill the body with milk and drink it. I was totally horrified that my mom was such a savage. I still can't eat those bunnies.