When I went to the Contessa Awards 2016 on the Sunday that just passed, I wore Zoya Hannah from the Focus Collection. (Yes, 2016, not 2015. No, I didn’t go ‘back to the future,’ Marty McFly…although just drop the ‘t’ and you’ll get MARY McFly. It has a ring to it, don’t you think?) 😉
Red is a nail colour that isn’t my first pick in the bunch, but I’ll occasionally get the strong urge to wear a spicy red, especially closer to Christmas.
If you followed me on my social media, particularly Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat (under the username ‘swatchandlearn’), you’ll remember that for the Contessas, I wore all black, except for my gold statement necklace.
I reserved the pop of red for my lips with MAC RiRi Woo (which is extremely close to MAC Ruby Woo), and for my nails with Zoya Hannah.
As I get older (“Hand me my cane there, Sonny Boy!”), I find myself enjoying the combination of black and gold in my wardrobe a lot because wearing bright and bold lip and/or nail colours becomes more dramatic!
While in the car in the parking lot, about to walk over to the Westin Harbour Castle for the Contessa Awards, my friend, who I invited to join me, noticed my red nail polish. Haha, he’s not the type of guy to comment on nail polish (at least not with me), so I was somewhat surprised that Zoya Hannah caught his eye. (I say ‘somewhat’ because the colour red is psychologically known to attract attention. That’s why you’ll notice it strategically used for call-to-action prompts in marketing campaigns.)
He grabbed my hand and inspected my nails suddenly and unexpectedly. (Whenever people do that, whether they’re friends or strangers, I always feel shocked. I’ll never get used to that, and I never grab people’s hands, unless I’ve asked first.)
After studying each nail at an unforgiving three-inch distance, he asked me if they were press-on nails! Hahahahahaha! I laughed so hard and told him that they are my natural nails. He replied, “But they’re all so perfect!” He looked at me like I was telling a tall tale before carefully inspecting my nails again.
I told him that there are most definitely imperfections. And, as I always tell my readers, it’s not about being perfect. It’s about being happy, trying your best, and learning how to get better! 🙂 (I don’t really believe in anything being ‘perfect’ because I don’t believe that anyone should stop trying to improve.)
I’m sure that if he were to look at the photos in today’s blog post that are magnified to larger-than-life proportions, he’d easily see the flaws on each nail…and I am totally comfortable with it.
P.S. If you haven’t already entered, you still have until Friday November 13, 2015 at 11:59 pm EST to participate in my Canadian giveaway for your chance to win 12 Hard Candy nail polishes!
Continue reading →
