So here’s the thing: I kinda like nail polish. Just a little bit. And by little bit I mean 132 bottles worth. I like to tell myself it could be so much worse – I’m not on a TV show because I have 56 cats and a trash collection that fills my living room. Yet.
Kidding. Sort of. I’d have 56 dogs, not cats. Anyway, the fact of the matter was that my collection no longer fit on my acrylic shelf, so some of it had to go. Here’s what we started with:
Then I began to go through one by one. First went the ones that had gotten dried and goopy beyond all belief. Could I potentially save them with thinner? Yes, but none of them were special enough or full enough for the work. Peace out, my beloved Essie’s Set in Stones. I will be repurchasing you.
Then I went through and got rid of the colors I hardly ever wear. Lime green? No thanks, Sally Hansen. Pee-yellow sparkly Zoya polish I got for free in an Ipsy bag? Buh-bye. Purple Selena Gomez shade for Nicole OPI, where did you even come from? Next went the inferior formulas, such as that white, streaky Julip polish I hated from the get go.
Then we went through dupes – this one was hard because I was sending away perfectly lovely shades that I clearly loved so much that I had purchased multiple brand versions. I had three dupes for Essie’s Fiji – wait, what? You’ll notice I did keep the X-Factor and Julep nail polishes that are the exact same shade of cobalt blue (because I couldn’t remember which was the one that didn’t stain my nails through the base coat). Get off my back.
In the end, we purged 36 nail polishes:
Minus the nasty dried ones, I put them all in a box and passed them off to my sister, who was thrilled. They went to a good home … where I can still borrow them if I find that I miss a particular shade. Mwahaha.
In the end, I purged 27% of my collection. Not bad for a first pass at one of my obsessions. And this organized beauty is what we’re left with. Note the damn Juicy Couture nail polish that only fits laying down and is totally killing my vibe:
And now I have a whole empty row to fill with more polishes. Woohoo!
She's Always So Polished 