Saturday, September 12, 2009

NOTD from Labor Day (and reader request): Anna Sui 02


If I had an endless supply of money, I would probably blow a good portion of it on Anna Sui polishes. As it is, I depend on people de-stashing and swapping or selling their Anna Sui polishes for cheap to supply my habit.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the brand, these polishes have a strong candied rose perfume scent. I think it's adorable and it lingers long after a mani has set and dried (as long as you haven't layered it over anything that makes it smell like bugspray which is what happened to another time I used an Anna Sui polish). Two days after this recent mani application, my SO was still commenting on the scent. I don't think he was commenting favorably on it but I favored it so on it stayed. :)

Anna Sui 02
It's like candy. Sweet-smelling candy. With glitter! Unlike a lot of my chunky glitters, these big chunks are actually circular (as opposed to hexagonal). There are also square and small hex glitters, all suspended in a dark pink jelly. Three coats are pictured above and because it's a jelly, you can see all the glitter from even the first coat -- which I'm led to believe is the point. And if it isn't the point, it should be made the point. I love jelly glitters with depth!

Close-up of Anna Sui 02

Glitter is good stuff. I didn't like glitters as a teenager; didn't even like it that much a couple of years ago. But now, it's like, "Give me glitter... or give me death... by glitter." What makes this great is that I gesture a lot when I'm talking and even more when I have sparkly nail polish on -- that or it seems like more because it's more attention-catching. Since I work with a bunch of language people, they're always aware of what gestures I'm using to accompany my talk. The new grad student in my lab always comments on it. Actually, the first time I sat down socially with him, I was wearing a holo nail polish (I think it was ChG Kaleidoscope Him Out) and he interrupted me and asked if I was capable of talking without gesturing. My answer: "Nope." I mean, seriously -- I'm incapable. It helps me keep track of my thoughts (so-called "cognitive offloading"), it captures my audience's attention... and I don't feel fully expressive without using gesture: my gestures don't necessarily have set meaning unto themselves but they complement what I'm saying with words.

There's a whole psychological literature having to do with gesture: how we gesture, why we do it, how it might help us process information. Super nifty stuff! If anyone's interested, I recommend Susan Goldin-Meadow's book Hearing Gesture: How Our Hands Help Us Think. (You can read a preview of it here through Google Books.) University of Chicago's Goldin-Meadow -- great name, eh? -- is a fantastic writer: her writing is so clear and engaging, whether it's in a book meant for a wider market or in research papers meant for her colleagues. She uses solid examples from real life but she's also talented at making complex research accessible without dumbing it down . Really, one of my favorite academic writers. And her research is so cool. Squee!

(If only gesture research wasn't such a pain in the ass: I mean, I complain about doing audio transcripts of conversations. Video transcripts of gesture research is where the real pain is. My lab was all into gesture research the year before I matriculated and my advisor, who is pretty laissez-faire, was happy to go along with the zeitgeist. Now she's like, "You're interested in gesture? Let me recommend... NOT gesture." It's just too time consuming and no one wants to spend eternity in grad school. If and when I get tenure in... 12+ years, I'll do some gesture stuff. For now, spoken language is fun enough.)


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8 comments:

Unknown said...

Love the mani even though it's pink. lol
As for gestures try signing while wearing a flashy glitter np. I get comments from a friend of mine everytime I wear glitter or holo np that it's very hard for her to read my hands when she's busy looking at my mani.

augusta said...

do you have the ann sui that's a near dupe for zulu? i forgot the number, i think its 925 or something.

Anonymous said...

do you know where anna sui polishes are available online?

Piff said...

Oh flint - u and your glitters.

P.S. I checked out Essentials in NYC today. AH-mazing.

Anonymous said...

Love the glitter! I bet it's stunning IRL. The color isn't quite me, though.

Hello Adrienne said...

this was is so cute!! I need to hit up Anna sui asap!

Lucy said...

That Ana Sui is lovely and glittery. I found one online on Amazon. I love the fragrance. I haven't worn it alone but wore it over another. I would love to find more. As for hand gesturing I say you should have used one. I think you know which one I mean. That was just plain rude.

flinty said...

evil angel: THE PIIIIINK is coming to GET YOUUUU. Seriously, we'll have you in a bow and pink gingham dress in no time.

augusta: nope, don't have that one,

anonymous: I've only found it at a couple of online retailers and they're usually sold out or come in kits of 3 that cost, like, $50.

D: Isn't it a FABULOUS store? I mean, it's not that exciting if you go every week but dropping by once or twice a season will net you some great stuff.

allikin: it was great fun IRL. :)

adrienne: I'm jealous of people who can actually go to Anna Sui stores!!

Lucy: LOL!!

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