Believe it or not, these are two different shades!

The other day, Kristin and I were admiring our latest nail polish masterpieces, when we got to thinking about our different personal polish preferences.  She changes her toenail polish once every other week or so, and I do my nails religiously at least twice a week (I find it very Zen to plop in front of the tube and reinvent my look one finger – or toe – at a time).

My other tenet?  I never match my toes to my fingers.  I’m not exactly sure why, but I think it’s the same reason I don’t wear matching sets of jewelry at once.

Don’t get me wrong – I keep the colors in the same general family (I’d never do purple on my toenails and red on my fingers), but I just don’t feel “right” about matching them.

Just a sampling of Anne’s polishes

This ritual causes my poor husband loads of grief and confusion, because he doesn’t understand why I always need to buy new polish colors that are one to two shades away from those I already have.  Or for that matter, change a polish I’m wearing to one that’s only one to two shades away.  If you peeked at my polish collection, you’d be staring at a virtual color wheel.

That said, I know I’m not normal (and this is the least of the examples supporting that).  I really don’t think that people put as much time or thought into their own polishing process.

But hey, I could be wrong.  So tell me  in the comments below – do you practice your own nail polish religion, or are you agnostic?

To me, it’s all just a matter of faith.

Cover Photo -  Aleksandra Solovjova; Inside photos – Anne Houseman