Your Stereotypical Valentine Manicure

I was laughing when I started this manicure. There I was with a bottle of Sinful Colors Black Diamond in hand, starting off a Valentine's Day manicure with black nail polish on my fingers. :) And the end result?

This manicure was made with only two nail polishes, pearlized rhinestones, and a small addition of flat heart-shaped glitter. A base of Black Diamond topped with two coats of a Pure Ice nail polish that lost its name label many, many years ago. I think it might be "Busted", but I only have online swatches to compare to what I have, so no promises on that. :) It looks very, VERY purple in these pictures, and only a few of them give the hint of pink that it actually shines in the light. It's really really pink in real life. Purple with pink shimmer, I guess? I don't know, but over black, it makes what I thought was the best color for a pretty, girly Valentine's Day manicure.

One of my co-workers has been mentioning...nudging...okay, badgering for a Valentine's manicure for nearly two weeks now. Any time I've had anything pink, red, girly-swirly on my nails for nearly a month, she's said something like, "That would make such a good Valentine's manicure!" So even though it's not a holiday I celebrate, I put the pretty hearts on my nails, just for her. :)

And no, I'm not bitter about love or anything silly like that. I'm very VERY happily married and I'm polyamorous on top of that, so I'm perfectly open to the idea of falling in love again if the right person comes along. To be honest, I still whole-heartedly love every person I ever *have* loved in my life. I don't stop loving people, even if we couldn't manage a relationship for one reason or another. Probably why I'm still friends with most of them. :) I just don't celebrate Valentine's Day any more than most Christians celebrate Beltane. It's a tribute to an old dead guy who was sainted by the Catholic Church. It started being associated with romantic love when Chaucer wrote it into something. People only started giving gifts rather than just love notes for the day (and more and more elaborate ones are becoming "required") in the past 50 years. If I were going to celebrate this day, I would do so by writing a letter to my loved one describing all the reasons I love him and how thankful I am to have him in my life. Other than that? I'd rather have a bouquet of chrysanthemums on a random day of the year than roses, chocolates, or jewelry today. It means more to me to be thought of as special on regular days rather than this day where every other commercial is reminding you that you're obligated to buy something to prove that you care.

So enjoy the hearts and flowers and pretty girly manicures that are all over the interwebs today. But if you want to tell me I'm special? Do it on a random Tuesday. Because it's Friday. The first week of every month. It actually means less today rather than more.