STRANGEBEAUTIFUL NAILS

They say (with all the confidence of mass anonymity) that a picture is worth a thousand words.  Maybe so.  It’s certainly possible to look at pictures of the three volumes of STRANGEBEAUTIFUL’s nail polishes, with eight heavily saturated shades in each volume, and fall in love right then and there.  But if you did so you’d be missing out on all the glorious words used to describe them.



For there’s none of the ubiquitous and banal, “Flame Red” or “Peach Pink” that we’re used to seeing when we open our bathroom cabinet.  Instead you can paint your nails "the dull red color of a lobster shell immediately after it has been removed from boiling water," "the saturated rusty iron color of an Irish bog caused by the reaction between tannin, wood and iron," or "the dreadfully wonderful dirty almond color used on kitchen appliances." Or, if none of those take your fancy, you might like to try "belly of a pigeon," "Violette (Pansy Violet) ink from the venerable French ink company J. Herbin founded in 1670," or "veins of green mold running through Roquefort."

The brainchild of Rhode Island School of Design grad Jane Schub, these are not merely nail varnishes.  They’re mood poems, conversation starters, a perfect combination of words and pictures.