Making Room For More Nail Varnish

How I Cleaned My Nail Varnish "Closet" 

I am a real sucker for nail varnish. I can't explain it but when I paint my nails I feel 120% more like I am in control of my life and just managed to rock this day. I've got this! However, this has lead to a tiny problem, because there are so many options, brands and styles (effect coat, base coat, crackling) I have ended up with too much.


Naturally, a joke about "there is no such things as too much nail varnish" should be put in here now. It really is too much. When I buy new one, I don't know where to put it and there is a very big chance that either I have the colour already - but by a different brand - or from the very same brand!

Hence, I concluded that what needs to be done is all in the style of "cleaning my closest" I shall clean my nail varnish "closet." In reality it's a box. For this to commence I had to collect the stays first. Not every bottle likes to be captured in the box, instead they can be found on the nightstand, the desk and my bag on the odd occasion.

the strays

Where would I start with this project? 

The first things I had to do was really look through this pile and figure out which nail varnish was just beyond saving. It is a sad truth that sometimes nail varnish just breaks. either it dries or suddenly there are two different fluids in the bottle. Though both can be fixed with a lot of trickery, there are cases that go beyond hope.

This goes beyond saving

These bottles needed to be found and without mercy thrown away. Usually they're are easy to find. If you're unsure you can always shake the bottle, and if nothing moves it goes into the bin. Otherwise, you can open the bottle and take a look inside. I had one or two bottles which looked bad on the outside, but when I opened it there was no decay.

In the end I had a handful of varnish that needed to go. The problems these had were that they had dried out or the colour had split from the fluid. There was an odd one which I couldn't even open anymore, and one or two where the brush had broken off and you couldn't get in. Goodbye.

See you in hell!

Next I checked for doublets. I very rarely end up buying the same colour twice from the same brand, however, from time to time I end up with what is basically the same colour but from two different brands. These needed to be found now! Hence I began to sort the tiny bottles by colour.

There were a couple who had no match, and others who matched but were quite obviously not the same shade, or they were but one had a sparkly effect. These would survive.


What did I do with the pairs that were the same shade? 

In this case, I went with the better brand. We all have our experiences and know which we prefer. That's the one I'd with then. In one case I had two Maybelline bottles with the same colour, there I went with the younger one simply because it was likely to last longer.

Now comes the hard part. This one would be about taste and honesty. I had to prove an iron will in taking the next step. I sorted all of them next to each other and began to consider which colours I need - there are nail varnish essentials, we all know this - and which colours I liked. I also needed to be honest which colours I haven't used in years!


Nail varnish essentials for me are: clear, bright red, dark red, always something purple and blue, and a bright colour. Furthermore, I saved the ones I bought this year. Also the one I am wearing at the moment.

The lucky ones

And the rest? They were sitting there with shaking knees because all of them were on my hit list. Now I would need to turn off my emotions and take this into my own hands. Taking a deep breath I began to dig through them ....

I gave all the sparkly and colourful top coats away because I haven't worn them since middle-school, I am actually positively surprised that they would still work - shout-out to s-he. Then I gave colours away that just weren't "me" anymore. They're pretty, but I wouldn't wear them nowadays.

After this, I had halfed my nail varnish supply!

Evidently I prefer dark caps nowadays Left: The remaining ones. Right: The homeless ones

That is a lot of space in my box that can be used to buy new nail varnish. Now it's your turn to sort your nail varnish!