If you follow Eva Chen on Instagram, you’re familiar with her ever-changing manicure. A constant photo stream of her perfectly painted fingers clutching, say, a toy elephant or a new OPI shade. And we always wondered how a woman as insanely busy as Eva—the new editor in chief of Lucky magazine—finds the time to visit the salon so often. This past Paris Fashion Week, during an enlightening car ride between shows (thanks for the lift!!), Eva confirmed that she refreshes her nail color an average of “2.5 times a week,” but, shocker of shockers, she usually does it herself. In the backseat of a cab. On the way to work. Here's how:

'I painted my nails in the car on the way to a breakfast this morning. I know that sounds crazy, but the trick is to do all of the prep work at home. I use pure acetone Nail Polish Remover from Nails Inc. to really strip the nail. It’s actually important to dehydrate your nail a little bit to get rid of all of the oil before you put color on, then the color will really stick. Then, I use OPI BondAid. It’s a liquid dehydrator that you paint onto each nail. Your nails look really scary and desiccated, but that’s good. The nail bed and the skin around the nail turn white, but it’s nothing a little cuticle oil won’t heal. Give that a minute to dry, then apply Orly Bonder. It’s similar to CND Stickey, as it’s essentially a sticky base coat. But don’t touch it, because your skin’s oil will degrade the nail polish. I have that in a pro size, which is the size of a Poland Spring. When I travel I keep it in a nail polish bottle, but I decant it. You know how at the nail salons, the nail technicians decant nail polishes into smaller bottles? That’s me!

Then, in the car, I apply the polish. Today I used RGB Tropic, which is a dark, lush rainforest green, and Dior Gel Coat. Of all of the greens, grey-green and dark green are very cool. This is one of my favorite greens right now—and I love RGB because their polishes are deeply pigmented. You really only need one coat, but I like doing two so it’s extra thick and glossy. Again, leave a minute between each coat. I finish off my manicure with Dior's Gel Coat, which has a thicker consistency than most top coats. It dries quickly and leaves your nails really shiny. I also have Essie Vested Interest in my bag. This is how we Lucky girls roll. [Laughs]

During fashion week, I tend to do a gel manicure because it’s easier. But I just had one for three weeks straight, so I’m ready for a polish. When I use a polish, I end up changing my nail color 2.5 times a week. The '.5' is when I get them done and notice it’s not perfect—I’ll fix it myself. It actually lasts longer when I do it myself. And Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure polish always lasts a full week. It’s crazy and true! I don’t know what’s in it—powdered unicorn horns? It's so good; it’s my favorite brand of nail polish. I typically use a nail polish color once and then send it out into the universe—give it to a friend, a colleague, or to my sister-in-law. So I’m fresh out of Sally Hansen right now,”

All images from Eva Chen's Instagram.