Total Beauty: What's one bad beauty habit you can't seem to quit?

Mally: Well, I have a few. Popping my zits, pulling out my gray hairs, rubbing my eyes at night even though the whole time I know that it's giving me wrinkles -- all the things I tell women not to do.

TB: What's one beauty splurge you make on a regular basis and think all women should, too?

Mally: Gel manicures! It doesn't really count because I have my own system (Mally 24-7 Professional Gel Nail Polish System, $182), but if I didn't, I would go out and buy one. I'm very against chipped nail polish. Even if you're wearing a Chanel dress and carrying a Fendi purse, if you have a chipped manicure you look trashy. And gels guarantee that you always have perfect-looking nails.

TB: What one product (and not one in your own line!) do you swear by?

Mally: I love Wen Fig Cleansing Conditioner, $28. I also use Wen Kids on my children. My daughters have hair like mine -- down to their butts -- and I'd never be able to brush it if we didn't use Wen.

TB: If you look back, what's one moment that changed your life?

Mally: I'm going to go with the tearjerker answer: The day my mom died. She was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was 2, and they said she'd live for six months, but she made it 15 years. I think it was because she wanted to see me grow up. And then when she left, it forced me to figure out where I wanted to go and who I wanted to be.

TB: If you were a nail polish, what color would you be, and what would you be called?

Mally: I would definitely be pink -- a very girly, pinky-pink. A soft pink with a little bit of sparkle. And it would be called Cheerleader Pink -- but not like a cheerleader in a basketball game. I want to be a cheerleader for all women.

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