The problem: You've had to remix the same orange acrylic paint for your Halloween nail art over a dozen times, because it keeps drying up between clients.

The solution (courtesy of nail tech Wendy Causey, Vivify Hair and Nail Studio, Torrance, Calif.): Buy a Daler-Rowney Stay Wet Palette. Originally designed for painters who want to keep their acrylic paints moist, it works well for acrylic nail art paints too and can keep your paint fresh for up to a few weeks. (Osmosis moisture evaporating from the surface is replaced by water from the dampened reservoir paper beneath the membrane that forms the working surface of the palette.) Causey's only complaint is that it doesn't come specifically in a nail art size.

Do you have a non-nail-industry item that's proved handy to you in your salon services? Let me know by leaving a note in Feedback.

—Sree