Even though it happens every year, part of me wishes I could avoid winter altogether by hiding in the back of my closet with my summery shoes. Better yet, in a closet of a resort on a tropical island . . . but I digress.

When trading sandals for boots, it can be harder to justify spending time (or money) on pedicures. Don't get me wrong, I still treat myself to an at-home buff and polish from time to time, but since my feet hide in boots, it's not a big deal if my piggies aren't perfectly painted. Do you change it up with the switching seasons?

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Do You Stay Polished During Winter?

Yes, I'm a year-round pedicurist.

No, I don't worry about it.

Other — I'll explain in a comment.

Even though I know that months of painting (and repainting) toes can do a number on my nails, much to my chagrin, my surfaces have ridges I swear weren't there in seasons past. Hoping to smooth things over, I walked my bumpy toes over to my local Walgreens where I discovered this peachy miracle worker. The Total NailRx Fill Me In ($8) comes fortified with silk powder to fill in those unsightly gaps while making nails super-strong.

The surface smoothing base coat did exactly as the name implied and totally evened the playing (er, painting) field. The one downfall to note is that it actually dries to a subtle coral. While I like the hue alone, if you're going for glossy sheers or applying a color, it can change the shade up top.

Three cheers for invisible cuticles! I love Essie's Cuticle Pen, which relieves dry cuticles with apricot, jojoba & primrose. It's a handbag staple for me (I usually swipe this on while I'm on the go--in a cab, stuck in traffic,...

Um, yes please, I would like one million bottles of each of these cool colors! My favorite of the three is It's Genius, because that's exactly what the lovely gold-purple is! $8 each, essie.com

If you live in NYC and you like to indulge in the occasional (ok, i admit it, biweekly) mani/pedi, then you surely know and love the fabulous Jin Soon Natural Hand and Foot Spa. Jin Soon has long been a fixture on the editorial nail scene in addition to owning three totally zen salons.

Lucky for us, she's teaming up with NARS, during the month of November, to reward customers with their own NARS Nail Polish when they receive a manicure or pedicure in one of ten NARS shades. Sounds like a pretty good excuse to book an appointment if we do say so.

Can't make it to NYC? Shop the NARS shades on sephora.com from the comfort of your couch!

I'm still trying to figure out the best way to paint my nails with the opposite hand. Although I haven't become quite dexterous enough to master painting perfection, I have mastered two smudge-proof techniques just by using my little ol' pinky fingers to help me along the way. Try out these two tips below. They really do work, I pinky swear. (Groan.)

• Pinky first — Start polishing your pinky nails first. Then, work inwards toward your thumbs. This way, you won't accidentally smudge over any already-painted nails. Frustration over.
• Ready, steady — Ever get shaky hands while polishing? Avoid annoying mess-ups by using your painting finger pinky as an anchor. Just place the pinky finger of your wand-holding hand on the table to steady your strokes — kind of like a little kickstand.

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With the holiday madness soon to hit, All Lacquered Up shows in her Nail Tip Of The Week: How To Fake A Pedicure.

I was doing my daily blog reading when I came across Baze’s post over at the Glamour Beauty Insider about getting pedicures in the winter. Even though it’s freezing here, when holiday party season hits I still love to pull out my favorite special occasion peep-toes. And in my opinion, that means your nails and feet gotta look good. But you don’t always have time for a full pedicure during the shopping, wrapping, cooking, baking madness of the season. So I say FAKE IT!

In general I’m not a fan of fake anything; acrylics, stark white french manicures, costume jewelry, etc. but in this case I make an exception. I never thought I’d share this with the public but if it helps a fellow nail gal, it’s worth it.

A couple weeks ago my company held their holiday party. Cleveland was snow free so I felt it was safe to wear my black satin peep toe slingbacks. Problem was that my toe polish was chipped and my heels were looking rough from padding around barefoot on my hardwood floors. With the clocking ticking and me running late as usual, I had to rely on my quick fake pedi fix.

I do my fake pedi about an hour before I step in the shower.

* Try on your peep toes and see which toes show, even partials count.

* Remove toe polish.

* Quickly file the nails that will show (if needed). Don’t bother with buffing. No one is getting that close to your feet.

* Slap on two quick coats of color to the toes that will show. Keep an orange stick on hand to remove any wet polish that hits your skin.

…. read on…….