And so it begins. The purpose of this blog is to 1) provide the reader with a candid opinion on varying shades and brands of nail polish and 2) provide the writer with a cathartic outlet. I am employed in an amazingly busy, stressful, male-dominated profession where the uniform is strict. I had really hit rock-bottom emotionally, feeling tired, burned out, androgynous and, let's be honest, not at all sexy (to my SO's -significant other's- frustration). I was at the grocery store when I noticed this loud, beautiful shade on the shelf and I thought, well, the only rule about nail polish at work is that, if it is worn, it cannot be chipped or cracked. So why not?
Now I have never worn nail polish. Ever. On my toes in the summer, maybe. But on my fingers? I don't think I ever did it even as a kid. Like ever. My job requires a lot of work with my hands, and I it just never occurred to me to wear nail polish because my few female co-workers don't do it.
But WOW. Can I just say how empowering it was to come to work with this gorgeous pink-lilac shade shouting from my fingertips? You ladies know how wearing bright red lipstick (a real no-no at my work) makes you feel instantly more bold, sexy and confident? This is the red lipstick of the nail world. It really knocked me out. I got some admiring comments and some not-so-discreet mockery, but there is no rule about nail color and so the staff can't do anything about it. Which made me feel rebellious and powerful. (I was the kind of teenager that thought rebellion was staying up until 10:30 at night.... purple nails are a HUGE step!)
Since then, I have varied my shade at least twice a week, for almost a month now. I am hard on my hands and manicures often start chipping after three or four days. When I do my nails, it is this magical hour twice a week that I take for myself, completely to myself, to listen to music and just relax. In my highly stressful world, it has been better than any therapy session- hence the title of this blog.
So here I am, pouring my heart out.
Anyway, let me tell you about this color. It is Flirt from Revlon, from my grocery store, for like $4. I stole the above picture from another blog because a) I forgot to take a picture of my own nails when I did it and b) of all the pictures I found online, this one seemed to be most accurate representation of the color.
I'm not sure how much experience y'all have had with Revlon nail polish, and it may be bourgeois of me to say this, but I ADORE this polish. The color is bold and gorgeous, it lasted a WEEK on my hands after only 2 coats and a top coat, dried in just a few minutes, and had the easiest and smoothest application ever. Highly recommend.
I hope to bring you a few more posts in the up-coming days, to get caught up on the colors and brands I've tried so far. Stay tuned, dear readers!
Oh, my dear readers (reader? Is anyone looking at this?) - have I got a treat for you today! I was flipping through my snail mail when I came across the Ulta magazine -- dutifully, I turned to the nail polish spread. Bingo! Fall colors were in stock - including the coveted Essie collection! I picked up the cube, as I really wanted to try those four colors the most, and lucky me - they were the four in the box! Over the next week I'll be showing you swatches of them all!And let me tell you, if they are all like the first one I tried, you are in for a real special event!
Just look how cute they are - the cube includes "For the Twill of it," "Cashmere Bathrobe," "Vested Interest," and "The Lace is On" - how cute are these names?! Per the press release, the vision for this fall's colors comes from the feel of certain fabrics, as if Essie was trying to bottle the feel of a schoolboy blazer, the comfort of cashmere. 
The first one I tried was "For the Twill of it" - according to Essie, part of the inspiration came from FLOTUS herself, Mrs. Obama's inaugural coat, which was made from silk twill, something usually made into neckties. Look at the lovely coat below, and see how it matches so well with her daughter's coats -- definitely the color inspiration behind this holo polish! It looks lovely in the bottle, and the holo transfers so well. It is a nice gray base with a purple-green shift, like alexandrite! It also kinda reminds me of how I image shark skin to look under water - that incandescent gray. Maybe I just have shark week on the brain. ;)
