I’m participating in a project with Beauty Blogs Backstage where bloggers interview other bloggers and feature the interviews on their respective sites. This month I interviewed UK beauty bloggers Helen and Sheenie of Just Nice Things. Helen has a nail polish and shoe obsession, Sheenie is a journalist, photographer and make-up artist.

1.How did you come up with your blog name?

Just Nice Things started out in March 2008 as “Helen & Sheenie’s Nice Things”. One year on and a large site overhaul later, we adapted our name and URL to read Just Nice Things. Because really, that’s what we’re all about. Reviewing and highlighting nice things like make-up and nail polish. And unfortunately we couldn’t simply be called “Nice Things” as that’s the name of some bathroom emporium somewhere in the USA that already owned the domain we wanted.

2.Why did you decide to focus mainly on nails?

I started actively collecting nail varnish a few years ago and realized that I had inadvertently obtained the majority of the OPI France collection in a very short period of time. Something inspired me to Google it just to see what else was out there to complete my collection, and I stumbled on a whole world of nail blogs. It looked like fun and I think subconsciously I realized that reviewing and writing about it would be a good way to justify what was becoming a shopping addiction! Plus I found that many, many nail blogs hailed from the USA, but zero were from the UK. There are now more British bloggers, although many of them focus on any and every beauty product and so I like to think that we found a bit of a gap in the market. However, I knew that I wanted Sheenie on board as well and she is a qualified MUA and so she does some more make-up focused reviews and posts once in a while, just so that we aren’t exclusively nails. I also hoard make-up and am an avid eyeshadow collector but I don’t often do FOTDs as Sheenie is so much better at it than me. Plus, someone’s got to review all that nail polish that currently resides in my spare room!

3. What is your favorite color of nail polish this year?

That I own, probably OPI’s Funky Dunkey from the Shrek collection. In the bottle it just looks like a boring old purple crème, but once it’s on, it looks stunning. A really lovely blurple hybrid that applies beautifully, lasts for ages and is just such a rich colour. Perfect for any time of year as well. I wish I could have said Chanel Paradoxal here, but in all honesty, I found it a bit of a let-down.

My favorite that I am yet to own, I think is Orly’s Space Cadet from their most recent collection. It’s currently en route to me from America and I cannot wait to see it in the flesh. Amazing green/purple duochrome goodness and I am really excited to try it out!

4. Tell us about your favorite Fall nail trend?

I am ever so pleased that grurples like Sephora by OPI’s Metro Chic, and taupe shades like OPI You Don’t Know Jacques are still popular this year. I wear a lot of these grungey type colours and never get bored of them. I am really content at this time of year as the mysterious, vampy and dark Autumn/Winter collections are always my favourites. Regular readers of my blog will know I’m not a pastel girl! I especially like the vibrant jewel tones that Illamasqua have come out with in their latest collection.
5.What do you enjoy most about blogging?

I love writing. I have a degree in English but work in sales so I really missed having some kind of creative outlet, and love taking the time to write all the commentary for my posts. I know most people just want to look at the pictures and don’t really care about the words, but I love to write it anyway. I also get a kick out of the cool people I have met through the blog and Twitter (the UK blogging community is quite small and close-knit) and I get satisfaction every time someone bothers to leave a comment on our site.

6.What is your favorite meal?

My husband took me to the most amazing seafood restaurant on the day after we got engaged. I had lobster with garlic sauce, scallops and the most perfect fries ever. So although we would probably have to take out a second mortgage on the house in order to go there every week, that’s definitely my dream meal. On a more day to day basis, I’d say it’s the Chinese Chicken Curry that I make from scratch (even if I do say so myself!)

7.What is the most important lesson that you’ve learned in your blogging journey?

Keep it different, and blog for you. Don’t regurgitate the same old press releases as everyone else – put a personal slant on it. Blogging is like having a second job, but can be so rewarding. I think it’s also important to take a break from it once in a while as it can become overwhelming, and a little rest from time to time enables you to take stock, go shopping, and come back re-invigorated.