Beauty Closet, Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen

Officially the most fun thing in a long, long, ultra-long time, this pen of nail polish is not one of the brush pens that have made giving oneself a manicure-pedicure so much easier in recent years. No, it is even better: It is much thinner—like a super-skinny-point felt-tip pen, the kind you doodle with.

Its intended use is, in fact, doodling. It says "nail art" on the package—the "art" part might be for most people a bit of a stretch, but even a scrawl looks oddly on purpose and professional when offset by a nicely painted nail. I like the white drawn over, say, a yolk yellow polish. If you're more "street," you'll go for black or metallic gunmetal against, say, cement.

The addition of this pen to any routine amplifies the hypnotic, cross-eyed aspect of painting one's nails—to my mind one of the greatest pleasures enjoyed by the beauty-involved. And the results are always cute.

* The only caveat, in these trying economic times, is that the doodly scrawl is not a look for job interviews. Precisely for such occasions, a white-plus-ballet-pink set (the white is the pen point; the pink brushes on) creates a beautiful, orderly, extra-clean-looking French manicure that takes two seconds.