First Look Fridays: Erin Giddings of Zoya

Zoya has an intense cult following, and it's easy to see why. The nail polish colors are continually stunning and innovative (like the new craze, PixieDust) and the line's nail care products are unrivaled. (For the record, Zoya Remove+ is the ONLY nail polish remover I'll use.) So I'm thrilled to bring you this week's First Look Fridays column, featuring the fabulous Erin Giddings of Zoya! Read on to find out the moment in her career that made her super excited, the Zoya red nail polish she can't live without and so much more.

How did you first become interested in beauty, and what led you to work in beauty PR?
It's in my genetic code I think, passed down from my Grandmother to my Mother and then to me. Every holiday or event was and still is a glam fest in my world of friends and family.

Initially, I dreamed of being a fashion designer. I used to make a lot of my own clothes, and I figured that my natural artistic ability and eye for style would make it a great career choice for me. But I didn't love to sew. It was actually the visual processes like drawing, illustration, styling and designing graphics that I found myself really relating to, so I became a Designer and Art Director with a focus on fashion and beauty. As my career advanced and the nature of graphics became more and more solitary, I found myself craving something more social so I gradually transitioned from that place to my current position of Media Relations and Design. It all felt very natural. Now I feel like this is it -- this is the perfect career for me!

What is your favorite part about working in beauty PR? Any highlights throughout your career?
I really love meeting so many like minded people. Fashion and beauty is happy stuff. In general, most industry insiders love to dance, rock it out and chat about the good life. Life is heavy enough. We don't take ourselves that seriously and yet we accomplish amazing things together. The chaos and creativity combined, that is what makes my kind tick.

In terms of career highlights, I've had a few but seeing the beautiful purple bottle of Zoya Remove+ on a winning pedestal at the annual Allure Magazine Best of Beauty Awards pretty much takes the cake!

What are your favorite products from Zoya and the Art of Beauty family and why?
Zoya and Qtica are both amazing product lines. There is so much thought and heart that goes into every product, that I find it hard to narrow it down ... but I will.

I have better nails now than I've ever had thanks to Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulator and Qtica Cuticle Repair Balm. Give that little duo a couple of weeks and you will love your nail.

For nail polish, I like a single coat of Zoya PixieDust in Godiva. It's my go to neutral nude.

Zoya Isla is my signature red, I wear it all the time and everyone always asks me what I'm wearing.

And yes, I use a top coat. Qtica Extending Top Coat is the best! It's soooo shiny and dries quickly, it's my little polish and go secret.

I'm also rather addicted to a virtually unknown Qtica Smart Spa product called Stimulating Citrus Massage Oil. I pour it in the bath, use it as a shave oil, body oil, natural bug repellent. I'm totally serious when I say I use it almost every day.

Are there any other beauty products or brands that you can't live without? What makes them stand out for you?

Dior Diorskin Nude BB Creme and Make Up For Ever's Aqua Line are a few of my current favorites but I have to be honest, I'm a bit fickle and change up my beauty routine quite often. There is always something new to try. Anyone who has ever opened my makeup and skincare closet -- yes, closet -- knows truth in this.

Working in PR must be fun, but what do you do in your spare time?
I'm pretty much always on creatively. My head is constantly swirling with decor ideas, garden wonderlands, interesting consignment/resale store finds and working on a city plan that exists solely in my head (It's a lovely little imaginary town on a nonexistent lake that is mine and mine alone -- it has a name but only a few know that much). I also like to escape to my marshmallow of a bed, listen to late night radio until I drift off and dream, dream, dream.