This post is part of a guest blogger series featuring Alana Brooks of The Good Girl Gone Blog.

Whether you shell out $12 (or $15 or $17) to get your nails done or you’re more of a DIY manicure kind of gal, it’s important that your nails look good, especially if you’re showing off a gorgeous engagement ring. Long or short, neon or neutral, rounded or square, there are tons of manicure options out there.

My advice? Keep nails short, clean and a light or neutral color that you can easily and inconspicuously re-paint (see some of my favorite examples above). Glitter tips are a great option too. Not only will glitter polish add a little fun to a neutral look,  it’s also extremely easy to touch-up. Find yourself with a chipped left pinky? Simply slap on another coat or make small fixes! Because the polish is mostly clear, you won’t see any color discrepancies. It’s genius really, and a tip I love to share.

What are your tips for creating the perfect, long lasting manicure?

Photo sources (clockwise): 1, 2, 3, 4

Kate stuns in an enormous aquamarine ring. (AP Images)

Aquamarine is more than just a pretty blue gemstone; it’s a fashion accessory and quickly becoming a crowd-pleaser among the Hollywood elite. Screen queen Elizabeth Taylor’s gargantuan aquamarine and gold bauble has turned up on the hand of Real Housewife Jill Zarin (not Hollywood elite) after the well-publicized auction of her jewelry last December. Zarin’s husband reportedly paid $19,000 for the ring.

Last spring, Black Swan star and new Dior celebrity spokesmodel Mila Kunis posed for W Magazine sporting an aquamarine, sapphire, and diamond ring set in 18-karat yellow gold. What a lucky girl — and who wouldn’t love to wear that ring? Back in 2011, Phil Collins’ starlet daughter Lily attended the MTV Movie Awards bronzed in a tangerine dress and a big ol’ aquamarine ring.

Kate (AP Images), Mila (photo by Craig McDean), Lily (Getty), Jill Zarin's ring (Getty).

At the Something Borrowed premiere in July 2011, Kate Hudson stunned in a canary yellow gown and a ready-to-pop baby bump. What really took our breath away was the planet-sized, emerald-cut aquamarine gem on her finger. It contrasted perfectly against her sunny dress.

In fact, Hudson had a hand in creating that aquamarine ring and her matching earrings (not shown) as part of her new collaboration with Chrome Hearts, a collection called CH + KH. The line includes 18- and 22-karat gold pieces set with pearls, diamonds, and green tourmaline, peridot, citrine and aquamarine gems.

Do you own any aquamarine? What do you think of these rings?

Back in the time of the Civil War, President Lincoln caved into societal pressure and bought a seed pearl suite for his wife, Mary Todd-Lincoln from Tiffany & Co. The two woven rosette bracelets and necklace cost $530 back then — no small sum — and in fact, Lincoln was criticized for spending extravagantly in wartime. Her inaugural ball gown cost a kingly $2,000, which is still a lot for a dress today!

President John F. Kennedy proposed to Jacqueline Bouvier at the Omni Parker House in Boston with an emerald engagement ring. Of course, we all know what her answer was and how the Kennedy legacy has continued. While it’s true that the emerald ring was one of her most treasured objects, the other piece of jewelry she was most known for was the triple strand pearl necklace she often wore. Most people were very surprised to discover that the pearls were simulated. We say that that just allowed JFK Junior to play with them.

Current First Lady Michelle Obama is no stranger to style. Often compared to Jackie, she also favors well-cut dresses with strong silhouettes and pearls, but sometimes leans towards edgier outfits and very creative, intricate jewelry. Her amazing choices are chronicled here. Which first lady is your favorite?

Sachin and Babi sent out contrasting fabrics like flowing chiffon and leather, Diane Von Furstenburg stuck to ladylike silhouettes, and Michael Kors went all snowy tartan on us. What really struck us was that all three runways featured rich garnet, crimson, and ruby shades; it got us thinking about which jewels we’d style on their models.

Left to right: Sachin and Babi, Diane Von Furstenburg, Michael Kors.

Left to right: Sachin and Babi, Diane Von Furstenburg, Michael Kors.

The bold and glam Racetrack Ring is decidedly high society, perfect for that amazing, breezy Sachin and Babi couture dress. The Diane Von Furstenburg dress is decidedly demure, yet commands attention at the same time, just the way the Belle Earrings do, set in ruby, rhodolite garnet, and white sapphire gems in palladium. Lastly, the models at Michael Kors looked like they’d just come indoors from a skiing spree in Aspen (sans pants) — we’d definitely pair the Ararat Ring with the sporty, cozy outfit shown above.

Now onto the strange part of New York Fashion Week. Thom Brown went way avant-garde, going the way of edgier runways more often found in Tokyo and Paris. Not only did the living dead arise from actual coffins, but they sported whitened lips, straight jacket-like dresses with quilted cones, and shrouds… sometimes in the form of a mesh bag over their heads. Here’s one shot, but you can see more oddities over on Glamour’s blog here. “They loved fashion. They died for fashion, and twice a year they get to dream about what they love, their fantasy,” Browne stated on Valentine’s Day. In a bizarre twist, 95-year-old fashion stalwart and socialite Zelda Kapman dropped dead while in the front row of the Joanna Mastroianni show a day after the Thom Browne show.

Left: Model-zombie at the Thom Browne show; right: Zelda Kaplan.

Click the image above to shop our Naked Cushion Triple Earrings!

While Katy Perry usually has the most unique style out of anyone attending any awards show, her blue bouffant and pretty sky blue Elie Saab dress didn’t make our jaws hit the ground the way these attendees did. Our hunch is that the new divorcee was looking to make a classier statement, yet keep her trademark sassyness.

When we spied her arriving on the red carpet, our hearts nearly stopped; from afar, she appeared to be wearing one of the two triple drop Naked Gems earrings that we gifted to her. Alas, she went with enormous, Norman Silverman asscher-cut diamond earrings set in platinum, worth $2 million. With a matching bracelet, because she can. No hard feelings, Katy, we still adore you. Rock a similar look for a lot less by customizing our Naked Triple Earrings in rock crystal, in platinum, sterling silver, rose, yellow, or white gold, or with or without diamonds on the leverbacks.

Camila Alves’ ring has finally seen the light of day (at least for us plebeians) at NYC Fashion Week. The model-turned-handbag designer flashed the three-stone, rose-cut diamond ring at a show, telling Us Weekly “it feels so great”. Eternally shirtless movie star/bronzed god Matthew McConaughey proposed to his girlfriend on Christmas Day. What’s a rose cut? Think of a 3D, faceted dome, like a cut cabochon.

(clockwise from top left) 1. Ashley Ring; 2. Alma Ring; 3. Oval Pear Ring; 4. Ramona Ring

While Gemvara doesn’t currently offer rose-cut gems or diamonds (they’re not so easy to find), we do have four styles of lovely engagement rings very similar to Camila’s three-stone style. And because we’re all about customization, we’ve added some sparkly side gems. Which style is your favorite and how would you customize it? All diamonds? Center diamond with sapphires? Discuss!

Happy Valentine’s Day! More often than not, today is the day we associate with romance. Chocolates, flowers, jewelry — you know the deal. However, along with the happy moments of love, there’s also a lot of pressure attached to this one day and frankly, we’d like to take your mind off of it for a second.

Instead of stressing out about what to get or how to ask someone to be your valentine, why not think back to some funny Valentine’s Day moments?

In the comments below, share your funniest Valentine’s Day memory with us. After all, we could all use a laugh at love’s expense.

Here’s a cute story from a coworker here at Gemvara HQ:

When I was in 3rd grade, a boy I liked asked me to be his Valentine. I was so excited and full of joy, flattery, etc. But that was fairly immediately crushed when he quickly followed with at “YES! Five Valentines!” and ran off to tell the boys where he is in their ‘How many valentines can you get today competition’. I should have known that it was too good to be true.

The 54^th Annual Grammy Awards was one awards show to be remembered for many reasons. Pop queen Whitney Houston left us two nights ago, essentially transforming the Grammys into a tribute show, Adele won six awards, and Jennifer Hudson performed a moving rendition of “I Will Always Love You”. Normally, we cover which designers the stars wore and how they sparkled in million-dollar jewels, but some outfits were so over-the-top bizarre that we just couldn’t let them go unnoticed.

Nicki Minaj, Fergie, Robyn, and Russian pop singer Sasha Gradiva all wore costumes (a.k.a. “dresses”) so baffling that the normally wild Katy Perry (in blue hair and a sky blue Elie Saab dress) paled by comparison. (However, we can’t help but mention Katy’s baubles on loan; the Norman Silverman $1.6 million, Assher-cut diamond drop earrings set in platinum. Accompanied by a $350K matching bracelet, of course.) For an up-close view of more Grammy bling, check out this post by our friends at JCK Magazine.

Nicki Minaj dressed up in a cardinal-esqe, red satin Versace cape with black beading and red gloves. She even brought her own bewildered-looking Pope. Swedish pop star Robyn arrived in a Calvin Klein “mullet dress” — short in front, party in the back. The tiny, rumpled satin skirt with the long tail paired with a boxy white men’s tee and platform work boots was a very odd choice. Fergie shocked in an unlined, orange Jean Paul Gaultier dress with black undergarments, enormous gold hoops, and a brushed gold cuff. Perhaps her theme was Halloween at the rest home? The only thing missing was a cabana boy. Lastly, Russian conundrum/pop singer Sasha Gradiva strolled onto the red carpet looking to kill it — literally. The blonde wore an otherwise innocent, cotton-candy-colored Alfredo Flores dress — with the addition of a gun arm, styled by Leonid Gurevich. Our guess is that she was inspired by Rose McGowan’s machine gun leg in Planet Terror.

At the premiere of her new movie One for the Money in Germany, Katherine dared to take a walk on the wild side with a zebra print dress and some stand-out earrings. Her gems reminded us of spring and we couldn’t help but associate them with our Hera Earrings. We love that they look like little leaves. They are gorgeous in yellow and orange gemstones, like citrine and fire opal (styled above), but would be just as gorgeous in green, purple, or blue.

You can customize the Hera Earrings however you’d like on gemvara.com. Just get ready to attract some attention!

Dear Gemvara,

I just wanted to thank you guys for making an incredible and gorgeous ring. Now, I don’t pretend to understand everything as this was a “promise” ring (apparently the ring before the ring) – I imagine I have the Jonas Brothers to thank for this – but regardless, it made an amazing anniversary gift.

Frankly, I had a very hard time trying to find the “right” Claddagh ring for Lisa. I spent weeks and looked at hundreds of rings, but in the end, I realized that I should have just started with making the perfect ring, instead of finding it. Creating something where I was able to put together the options and then engrave it, made this ring as unique as Lisa is – and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Toss in the fact that you guys are in Boston made the Claddagh as “authentically Irish” as one would could get in the US :)

My reaction being positive enough, but when Lisa saw it, she was so excited it induced an asthma attack. I’m not sure how other people have reacted to your craft, but I think you guys have some serious bragging rights now… looking forward to the “real” ring next, though I might have to propose to her with medical staff standing by.

Thanks so much :)

- James

A few weeks ago we received this charming and comical e-mail from a customer, James. The office got a kick out of his girlfriend’s breathtaking reaction (pun intended) and it got us sharing stories of our own gift-giving hilarities — and mishaps!

In the spirit of James’ funny tale, we would like to know if you have any funny gift-giving or proposal stories. Did she fall off her chair? Did you forget the ring? Whatever it is, share it with us!

Leave your story in the comments below and hopefully we can all share a few laughs in the name of love.