A Good Mandarin is Hard to Find

I love the names of nail polish colors. Sometimes I will pick one just because of its name. This could be my favorite of all times. Riki was wearing this on her fingers (way too bold for me) and when she told me the name it was a near obsession.

I always wonder what the department that names these must be like. When I first graduated from art school I had the lofty design job of working in the graphics department of a major lingerie company. You know those ridiculous bra tags that hang right in the middle making it impossible to see how they fit? Yeh, well I designed those. Very rewarding. And equally rewarding was the job of this woman, Fay, who worked in office next door to us, chain smoking and making up lingerie color names all day long. Picture this if you will:

Fay walks into the room puffing on a butt and in a scruffy voice that could only be compared to Harvey Fierstein, she would ask, “What do you think of wisteria?”

Well, you know, as a vine it is not bad but I am not thrilled with the fact that it attracts bees. Oh, you meant for a bra color. Yeh, sure, ok.

I have been wearing Beach Party for quite awhile because, well because I love to have a beach party on my feet. But A Good Mandarin is Hard to Find… can’t beat that one. Even the manicurists were giggling at the name.

2 Comments

Filed under humor, nail polish

2 responses to “A Good Mandarin is Hard to Find

  1. J.

    Okay, that may be the best nail polish name EVAH. Brilliant. (As are those tootsies. Very nice.)

    I wish you had posted this a day earlier, though, Amy, because I got my nails done yesterday and had I known… Sigh. (And for once I didn’t even check the name on the label – so unlike me.)

    In my next life, I want to be Fay. (Bras have color names? Really? Who knew?)

  2. Pretty scary. Even our toes look alike. Only my toes are painted with “Polyester Pink.”

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