A Visual Ode to Nail Polish

I think a lot of people have that one thing they can’t seem to get enough of. Maybe it’s black boots, or pens, or comic books, but I think we all have at least a little something like that. For me it’s nail polish (and to a certain extent ribbon) I’ve tried to kick it, but I never have. I’m starting to think I need to give some of it away, or start a swap or something. I have shades that are so similar, only I and the manufacturer can tell the difference, but I love each of them. I like testing them on my fingers, matching them to outfits, and just taking them out and looking at the little bottles. When I was in high school I went through a phase of painting hair clips with nail polish, I was making art! Actually in high school I did use nail polish in art pieces. See how versatile nail polish can be?

It all started for me because I was a nail biter, painting my nails gave me a reason to break the habit. It’s difficult for me to walk past a beauty supply store without buying a new shade now. I rarely go to the nail salon, but when I do I am always disappointed that their collection isn’t as diverse as my own. I mix up my own shades when I can’t find the color I want (sometimes it works out, most of the time it’s messy), and I am constantly looking for new and interesting brands and hues. I know it is a luxury, but there are more expensive things to collect, and I found a beauty supply store where Essie is $5.99 and OPI is $6.99, not too bad.

For me painting my nails is ritualistic, before I lost my job, every Sunday night I would sit down, wipe off the polish from the week before, and choose a new color for the new week. There is something cathartic about it for me. I really enjoy painting my nails, it gives me at least an hour to do nothing because I have to let them dry. No multi-tasking, no work, no worries, just watch some mindless TV or listen to music, it’s an excuse to relax. Now I don’t paint my nails on Sunday if I don’t want to, but I still paint them every week even if most of the time I’ll be working from home.

In preparation for this post I dumped out all my polish and counted it, a little scared of the result, the final count was 64 not including nail art pens or base/top coat. Is it bad that I expected it to be a lot more?

In order to share my collection with you, my fiance and I spent some time playing with nail polish in the backyard yesterday. It makes for a good evening, except for the getting eaten by mosquitoes part.

I had to stand on a ladder to get this shot, scary.

Then we had some fun with vegetation.

Buddha got involved, he loves nail polish too.

And our cat Loki, he was super pissed he couldn’t knock over those polishes, that’s usually how he rolls.

Flamingos!

Gnomes!

Isn’t nail polish so pretty?

How can you not like something that comes in tiny colorful bottles?

Love those reds.

Whoa, those polish birds are hungry!

If only nail polish did grow on tree stumps.

This one is my favorite, it’s like Anne Geddes, only with nail polish instead of a terrified baby.

If you want to know any of the nail polish colors, leave a comment and I’ll let you know! Doing this post made me realize I don’t have nearly enough blue nail polish, I will definitely have to get on that. I mean I only have 64 right? Totally room for more.

I’d love to hear if other people have something that they just can’t help collecting. Beauty product or otherwise, let me know!