I love pedicures. They are a 40 minute mini holiday for the sole and soul.

I trot over to this super nail shop around the corner from my house, walk in and pick my color. My favorite part! Which color??

I am not a traditional red or pink lady – I explore all facets of the rainbow – blue, green, black, sparkle.

I am, however, a bit of a polish brand snob. I swear by OPI. The colors rock and I just cannot resist the names! I tend to buy wads of OPI colors at a time; particularly when I am spending time in my happy place – a Duane Reade in NYC.

As the nail colors have become more evocative and complex, I have become more feverish about acquiring these amazing colors. However, I never strayed from good, old OPI.

Until….

I read about Chanel’s Le Vernis Nail Lacquer in Peridot.

Oh.

Well now, they say diamonds are a girls best friend but peridots make my heart sing. Peridot is my favoriite gemstone and endeared itself to me even further as my daughter’s birthstone.

So. I plunked down the embarrassingly decadent price of $25 and skittered home clutching my precious jewel.

You know that old saw about you get what you paid for?

Ahem.

It is just a tragically horrible color. Oh sure it looks alluring and charismatic in the bottle but once the polish sees the light of a nail it withers. Dies on the vine.

I wore it on my nails — I claim it as my temporary almost mid-life crisis. People backed away from me because I looked like I had some horrible fungal thing going on with my nails.

I tried it on my toes. Imagine my horrow when staring down at my toes in my peep-toe heels to discover that my toes looked yellow – as in mistaken by a dog for a hydrant yellow.

So. Now I know. 

Did I mention, how much I love OPI nail polish annd that I can buy it at a drugstore. And still feed my child. And not have a guilt complex. And have great looking toes.

Checkmate.