Orly Stone Cold
I just recently told a bunch of my college friends about this blog. I'm still being all covert about it with people I know professionally (i.e. all academics anywhere) but the more I thought about it, the stranger it felt to be quiet about Polish or Perish to my friends. Most of these are people I've known for going on ten years now. What was the worst that could've happened? They've known me for awhile, they know a ton about me, and I'm pretty sure I've done some (or many?) things that they haven't totally liked/enjoyed/respected... and yet they still like and respect me anyway. Why would this be any different? So a couple of days ago, I talked about it on my private blog that only longtime friends of mine have access to. And it turned out that while I was writing the post, the most awkward thing about telling people is that I spent years NOT telling people. The post was like, "Hi guys, I didn't tell you this... for a very long time... but I belong to a beauty blog... that is 2.5 years old... and has over 1,200 posts. And I own... many, many, many dollars worth of nail polish. And I kept it a secret from you all... so yeah. That's all. Nail blog."
And then twelve hours later, I realized I had accidentally disabled comments on the post, so it kind of looked like I was so anxious about telling people that I didn't want to hear from them! Which then just made me feel foolish for being so apprehensive about any of it, especially since the people who have commented all think it's pretty nifty that I do this. (It's possible the rest of them might think it's unspeakably flakey. Oh well.)
I love this color!! So bright and sparkly!
ReplyDeleteRegarding sharing your blog, I totally understand. There are only of people in my circle who know about my blog. I'm slowly getting bolder about it, but it might take a while :-/.
Good for you ;0)
So cute x
ReplyDeleteI had major issues with Stone Cold, it was thick and goopy and took forever to dry. When I finally added my quickdry tc it shrunk almost before my eyes.
ReplyDeleteKudos for letting your two worlds come together, I know that I feel embarrassed some times about my nail obsession and collection of polish. The people around me who know about it (fam, friends, work, bf) don't know I take pictures and post to a blog. It's a new thing for me and I'm too shy to share.
I seem to have fallen hard for blues sometime in Aug this year. I used to only wear dark blues. Now love these bright/shiny ones. Funny how our tastes evolve over time and expand. I was overwhelmed with what seemed a lot of bright shiny blues released all about the same time. I ended up getting this one on sale/close out at a Sally's. I am seeing and loving the slight differences now between what I used to just lump into bright/shiny blues before. I am surprised that the Minerals Orly did not keep going with. The similar set that came out last yr with Galaxy Girl I think it's called and others (also with an FX at the end of the name of the collection)..that collection is still being sold at a lot of etailers. I like Emberstone out of this same collection as is Stone Cold as well.
ReplyDeleteI just started a blog and I also haven't mentioned it to anyone and don't really plan on doing so. If a friend stumbles across it, I don't mind, but I just don't know how to bring up just how obsessed I am with beauty products (especially nail polish). I think your blog is awesome though! Nothing to be afraid of people discovering. :)
ReplyDeleteCrazy how you feel that you should hide your blog. I think you should be very proud about it. I don't think you should worry about what colleagues think. I always ask myself if someone's opinion is going to make or break something in my life. I wouldn't worry. You can't always be focused on academics. Love the polish. Just chill out!
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate to your issues with not revealing your blogging habits to colleagues. I've been going through the same thing, in that while I have an all-about-me, shooting the breeze kind of blog, I have also blogged on a friend's blog with political opinions. But since I just graduated with an MA in English, I'm totally afraid that the political stuff would make someone not want to hire me. So I go all nom-de-plume on it. However, I am soon coming to the realization that with everything in life you just have to be yourself. Although I have to admit, having a nom is freeing. ;)
ReplyDeleteI think it's great you let your friends know about the blog, but I understand your hesitation. I wear different NP at least 2-3x a week so my coworkers know I have a lot of polish (I'm a vet). But when they were at my house recently and wanted to see my collection I was reluctant... Is it more frivolous if they see 300 np's all together? In the end I said who cares and showed it off. A "flaky" habit doesn't make me (or you) a flake! :)
ReplyDeleteI think that sometimes it is hard to tell something personal to a longtime friend just because they know you to well and it's just easier to share stuff with random people who don't know you (I'm the same ;)
ReplyDeleteOh, about nail polish, this one is so bright and eye-catching that it caught my eye
I'm an academic too with a fashion/beauty blog, and I feel a bit uncomfortable that my posts spring up in my Facebook feed! I'm in a field full of Marxists so talking about the prettiness of stuff is particularly frowned upon! One dude always comments on my Facebook updates that although my blog's titled The Postcolonial Rabbit I hardly ever post on poco theory stuff. He posts snide things like "postcolonial makeup? postcolonial lipstick?" Meh. I thought maybe I should change the title but it's quirky and sums up who I am, 1 part seriousness, 1 part frivolous waffle.
ReplyDeletePersonally I love it when I find out my academic colleagues/friends are ACTUAL HOOMINS with ACTUAL LIVES and interests, rather than starting their day by theorising their cereal choices. Academics who have nothing to their lives except "their work" bore and depress the hell out of me. And they're usually fairly stupid :) x
MariJo: It took me 2.5 years to get around to telling them. It was definitely a slow progress to bold for me. ;)
ReplyDeleteSia: Thanks!
GaffoRama: Huh, that's odd. Mine was fairly easy to apply but the dry time was kinda long. As for friends/fam… yeah, I kind of hide the extent of it. The only person who knows how much polish I have -- and even then he doesn't really -- is my SO but only because he lives with me and it's hard to hide all of it. :)
beachgal: Blues are awesome. I absolutely love them… though I love them less than I used to. (Mostly because I get some bad staining with blues.) Galaxy Girl was a great polish (most of the original Orly FX ones were).
collegebeautyjunky: Thanks! I was really bowled over by how my friends seemed to think the blog was cool once I told them about it. But my original plan was like yours: just refrain from mentioning it. And if they found the blog on their own, they wouldn't know it was me. (Although I found out today that one of my friends has read the blog before! So strange.)
Lucy: I am proud of the blog but I think I'm in an industry where someone's opinion does make or break my career. And many academics have a poor opinion of people who like cosmetic products. It doesn't lessen my enjoyment of nail polish, but it definitely gives me incentive to stay quiet about it.
Sara: It's cool that you blog about your politics (regardless of whether you do it under a nom de plume or your own name)! The funny thing is that my personal blog is where I talk about my political opinions… and I keep my politics very, very far from THIS blog. First, I don't think there's much of a place for discussing my politics on a nail blog. Second… I'd probably end up alienating some readers (and possibly the other members of this blog). And I really don't want to do that! :)
Laikabear: Haha. Anyone who sees me regularly must know that I have a large collection. But I will NOT show anyone my collection. It's gotten to the point where *I* think I have too much polish!
MissDoll: There was a span of two years (around the time I started this blog) where I was actually hiding from my friends. My life had just gotten so confusing and I didn't really want anyone to know. And during that period, I spent a LOT of time on Nail Board, on nail blogs… because it was so much easier to talk to all of you guys rather than my friends, since none of you had expectations about who I was.
Postcolonial Rabbit: I would not be able to bring myself to let any of these blog posts be posted to my FB feed! Too many academics that I don't know very well. And a big handful of Marxists, leftists, feminists. What's really hard for me is that I agree that the beauty industry is awful: though many women own makeup as a hobby and art form/form of expression, it is nonetheless an industry that exploits insecurity and promotes a harmful status quo. Yet I literally throw money at it. Because I like what I like and the best I can do is to not promote that sort of attitude when I talk about cosmetics. And to avoid companies and products that I feel are particularly egregious.
It is a lot of fun to find other academics that like "normal" things. Usually, everyone has some sort of "vice" (i.e. not purely intellectual pursuits), it's just a matter of getting them to talk about it. :)
Though I think there's something to be said for "postcolonial makeup". Don't get me started on beauty products and advertisements in Asia. I'm of East Asian descent and I was horrified by how/what cosmetics are sold there.