Mani-Madness

HK thing #472 that drives me crazy:  Nail salons here have 2 types of nail polish--  those you can use for your manicure and those you can purchase...and never shall the two meet.

Why does it matter, you ask?  Because the colors that are for sale are infinitely nicer than the ones they offer up for manis.  Since it's been summer (and let's be honest it's almost always hot and sunny here), I didn't really notice this because I'm always choosing bright, fun colors.  However, it's cooling off a bit (east-coasters would laugh at what "cooling off" means here) so I decided a few days ago that I wanted to go for more Fall colors.  I've become slightly obsessed with plums, wines, berries - that color palate, but anyway...

The only Fall colors I see are in the OPI "Espana" display, so I grab one.  (Manicurist of Seville, if you're curious.)  The lady then indicates that I'm not allowed to use that color for my mani because it's only available for purchase.  I'll spare you the tit-for-tat conversation that ensued but needless to say it ended with me saying, "But all those colors [available for manis only] are ugly."  And trust me, they were.  We're talking metallic maroon, pearly greys, glittery greens, bubblegum pinks. And that was the stuff that didn't look like something Katy Perry threw up.  Apparently OPI's "Shrek" Collection wasn't selling well so that was thrown in the bunch, too.  (Whoever came up with that concept should be shot.)

In the end, I got my way and refused to fall for the old bait-and-switch trick.  It's not like I was aiming for some exotic color.  I'm sure 3/4 of you reading this have a similar color on now.

PS-- Mani/pedis in Hong Kong are EXPENSIVE.  I know what you're thinking, "But aren't all the nail ladies in NYC Chinese?"  No, they're Korean.  Same goes for dry-cleaning.