For a person who doesn’t really wear much nail polish (I do wear it on my toes, but I only change it about once a month), I certainly own quite a few bottles – around 30, I believe, despite giving them away on a regular basis. So why would I need so many? The answer has suddenly become obvious to me: I need them so that I can construct a nail polish rainbow, in support of the US Supreme Court’s decision on same sex marriage.

I realize that I am a bit late to the party, but I’m so impressed with this hidden meaning of my polish collection that I’m going to share this regardless. I do think it would have looked more aesthetically pleasing if it had all been Chanel, but I could not find my bottle of Mimosa and the only blue Chanel polish I have is back in Tallinn. (I could, however, easily do a loooong greige rainbow, from beige to grey and back again.)

As it stands, the rainbow is pretty representative of my polish habit – I do have a few from Deborah Lippmann, & Other Stories and Ciate, but mostly I’m using the brands on the picture. By and large, I prefer Chanel for the colours and YSL for the brush and the formula. Dior is hit-and-miss, some of the polishes are excellent, but the beautiful Porcelain on the picture is a nightmare to apply. Essie is my favourite budget option, their tone range is truly impressive.

The main reason I don’t wear polish as much as I’d like is that I really am not good at painting my nails. But I like the idea of nail polish: it’s democratic, easy and cheerful. If you don’t dare to wear yellow or turquoise clothes (or hair), purple nails might be doable. It’s an opportunity for being a slightly more colourful, slightly braver person. Not totally unlike supporting gay marriage, come to think of it.