I'm a firm believer that a person can be completely transformed by the clothes they wear. Look good, feel good. The clothes make the man. Dress for success. I mean, cliche, cliche, cliche. But seriously! For example, I behave differently in high heels than I do in flats. I strike a more elegant pose, I walk with a bit of a swagger, and inside, I feel a little hotter (whether or not anyone else perceives the difference is unclear).
On that note, I'd like to throw out a metaphor: fingernails are like the shoes of your hands. I mean, right? (If you factor out rings and bracelets and things you actually wear on your hands.) Think about it: unpainted nails = sneakers. Pink nails = cute flats. Red nails = classic, sexy stilettos. Deep, dark black or purple nails = cool, edgy, heels with straps and zippers and studs.
At least, that's how I feel when I paint my nails in my favorite go-to dark shade, O.P.I.'s Lincoln Park After Dark. A little edgy, a little mysterious, maybe even dangerous. That color became a cult phenomenon in my sorority, starting around the fall of 2006. I spent the following spring in Aix-en-Provence, France, and my nails were LPAD for 5 straight months. It was tres chic.
So, I have to be sick of that color by now, right? No. Not even a little bit. I just bought my 3rd bottle of it in preparation for this winter. I'm a bit of a home manicure-a-holic. I love the ritual of painting my nails, and try to do them once a week. Accordingly, I frequently find myself at my favorite bastion of nail polish heaven, Beauty Works. I spend a totally unreasonable amount of time combing the aisles, sampling colors, and comparing Essie to O.P.I to Butter to whatever else is on-hand.
This winter, I'm going to expand my horizons beyond my beloved deep purple. There are so many great dark shades I haven't tried. Grey, green, navy... For example, my friend Julie recently introduced me to O.P.I Here to today, Aragon Tomorrow, a super-dark grey. Here's a few more dark hues I'm loving right now...
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