Aphrodite's Pink Nightie

From the: Greek Isles Collection by OPI

http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/nail-chat-what-color-are-your-nails-right-now

            I’ve been having a pink phase recently. More accurately I’ve been having a pink phase since about the first grade, though I will admit to an awkward tomboy blue stage in fourth and fifth grade. Pink is said to have a calming effect when painted on walls or placed around a room. (My bathroom walls are painted hot pink and I don’t think calm is the feeling you get when throwing on the lights, but it does certainly wake you up in the morning.) Sticking to the point however, pink is a great color for nails because it looks good on all skin colors and embodies the girly essence of nail polish. Finding a good shade of pink nail polish is hard. I find it particularly hard because there are a plethora of shades to choose from. OPI, itself, probably has a good hundred shades for you to pick from. One of my all time favorites is Aphrodite’s Pink Nightie from OPI’s 2004 Greek Isles Collection.

            It’s a great medium shade of pink, not to dark and in your face, but also not too subtle. The worst thing with light pink nail polish is when it is too subtle and doesn’t look pink at all. You definitely need more than one coat but it has a nice shiny finish. I am currently wearing this shade with Crown Me Already on my ring fingers. Like I said last time, accent nails are “hot” right now.

             Personally I’m fascinated by ancient Greece. I love the togas, the mythology, and the leaf crowns. The mythology is fascinating and it is of particular interest to my art historian side. The Greek gods and goddesses pop up in art from the time of ancient Greeks all the way to modern day. Perhaps the most famous depiction, or my personal favorite at least, is Aphrodite of Knidos by the ancient Greek sculptor Praxiteles. (I didn’t add the image here because it is a little risqué, but definitely take a second to Google it. It is beautiful!). This sculpture was one of the first to depict a goddess in the nude, whereas, at the time, it was common practice to sculpt male gods in the nude. This particular sculpture has Aphrodite, who has just stepped out of the bath, reaching for a dressing gown or perhaps a nightie… see the connection here? (Though the nightie is white marble not pink, but close enough.)  It makes sense that the first goddess done in the nude was Aphrodite. She is the goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and protection. She was born from sea foam and floated to the island of Cyprus on a shell. Aphrodite is known and was feared by the gods for her incredible beauty. Hopefully this shade will make you feel as beautiful as Aphrodite herself. For the full effect pair this shade with a white Greek style dress and some gladiators and enjoy life as a goddess.

             

Get Me in the Expresso Lane

From the : Touring America Collection by OPI Collection

           What is it about nail polish that makes it so great? Is it the shininess, the shimmer, or perhaps the plethora of colors in which it is available. To say I like nail polish is an understatement. I'm in  love with it, especially OPI. Not only because it is a great quality nail polish, and that really does make a huge difference, but because of their creative names. I pride myself in being able to identify what color OPI someone is wearing. Being able to tell the difference between Shoot out at the OK Coral and Cajun shrimp is a great skill that will totally get me far in life, right? Have no fear, this is not some airy blog telling you what shade of nail polish is hot right now in Vogue (but if you are interested accent nails, painting your ring finger nail in all glitter while the rest are matte,  is all the rage). The real point of this blog is to give more depth and meaning to a beautiful bottle of nail polish. So sit back, get some acetone and cotton balls, and enjoy a history lesson with your new shade of nail polish. 
         This color comes to us from Clarksdale, Mississippi. The town is famous for the cross roads between highways 61 & 49. The meeting of the expressways inspired Robert Johnson’s famous blues song Cross Road Blues. Johnson's supposedly sold his soul to the devil in order to receive his musical genius. Clarksdale also inspired the OPI designer’s creation of Get in the Expresso Lane, and no dark magic was used in the process. Clarksdale is famous for being the birthplace of the Blues. (But don't worry this shade of nail polish is not blue, that is much too obvious and there is no fun in the obvious. ) There are countless blue’s festivals here every year and it is the birthplace of blue’s legends Muddy Waters and Son House. The Delta Blue’s Museum, which became famous because of the rock band ZZ Top, is in Clarksdale, as well as Morgan Freeman’s Ground Zero Blue’s Club.

            I don't know about you, but I don't really know what blues music is. My version of blues is probably Billy Joel, which is sad, to say the least. Well it turns out that blue’s music has deep roots in the African American culture and has origins from the music slaves sang while working. Guitars, basses, pianos, harmonicas, drums, saxophones and trombones are all typical blues instruments. Think those smoky little bars, with the dim lighting, and some guy sitting on a stool playing the harmonica. Blues melodies are identified by notes that are a semitone lower than major scales. This gives the note a sad and more expressive sound. Blues music uses flattened thirds, flattened fifths and flattened sevenths. Though these chords are found in a variety of music they are usually used over minor scales. So the sad tonality of the chords matches that of the scale. However in blues the chords are put over major scales producing a dissonance in the sound, which is what people identify to the blues style.

           Get me in the Expresso lane is a muted dark espresso brown, (expresso… express way of Clarksdale and espresso… get it?). The color goes on opaque and definitely needs more than one coat. It is reminiscent of Here Today… Aragon Tomorrow, though that has more of a green base while Get me in the Expresso Lane is, obviously, based with brown. It is a great dark color that’s bold yet neutral enough for everyday. It would look at home at any blues music festival in Clarksdale. Enjoy your music/history lesson and your new OPI shade of the week!

http://www.visitthedelta.com/explore_our_region/clarksdale/

http://www.roadfood.com/Restaurant/Overview/1269/ground-zero-blues-club

http://blog-mademoisellec.net/?p=2101&lang=en