When Strange is Beautiful and Laundry is So Much More......

     Beauty Wonkette rarely polishes her fingernails, but her toes are ALWAYS painted prettily - even in the dead of winter when they're hidden under bulky socks and a pair of UGGS.  Recently, BW discovered gels, got her own LED lamp, and spends her idle time admiring her toes.  The gel polish always looks so absolutely flawless that BW has caved in a few times and even painted her fingernails.  She also was about to give her extensive collection of traditional nail polish away, believing she could never go back after experiencing the indestructible beauty of the paint-on shine of gel polish.  But, then she stumbled upon STRANGEBEAUTIFUL.....

     So much more than just the next-big-thing in nail varnish, STRANGEBEAUTIFUL combines brains and beauty with a wardrobe of polishes that could be mistaken for modern art! Fascinated by Josef Albers theories on color relationships, Jane Schub finds inspiration in the most unlikely yet obvious places; striving to capture the exact shade of a boiled lobster - or a poorly washed white t-shirt - in a bottle of highly pigmented, 3-Free nail lacquer that's guaranteed to get your nails noticed.

     STRANGEBEAUTIFUL stunningly provocative but wearable colors blend the best elements of beauty, science, and design. Every polish has been developed and evaluated with an artist’s eye producing hues that are deeply and richly saturated throughout. The elegant, efficient packaging has been designed with the customer in mind. Six steel ball bearings ensure that each intensely pigmented saturated color of STRANGEBEAUTIFUL nail polish is evenly dispersed throughout and consistently creamy. A 220 strand brush guarantees an effortless, even application every time.

     The colors are deliberately nameless, available only in volumes distinguished by whatever it was that inspired them.

VOLUME 1

Josef Albers Color Theory, A Mid Century Modern Knoll Fabric, Oscar Wilde, the exuberant paint colors used to decorate the walls of the Federalist period, a color of an Andy Warhol painting at the Dia Museum, the color Puce which I remember mixing when oil painting as a child, a green - winged teal, the dark inky blue of a never ending deep lake at night and the fear of swimming in it, and of course the red Valentine typewriter.

VOLUME 2

An interesting color palette of camo called Tan and Water Camo used by an elite German anti- terrorist unit. The slate blue color of a uniform in an 1846 N.Currier print “The Death of the Gallant Major Ringgold).Violette (Pansy Violet) ink from the venerable French ink company J. Herbin founded in 1670, the dull red color of a lobster shell immediately after it has been removed from boiling water.

VOLUME 3

The veins of green mold running through Roquefort, the artist Sean Scully, the rich black olive green color of Loden cloth, aged Armagnac, the dull brown red of Red Rope files, the saturated rusty iron color of an Irish bog caused by the reaction between tannin, wood and iron, Raymond Loewy, the belly of a pigeon, and the dreadfully wonderful dirty almond color used on kitchen appliances.

But, the latest volume, the one that moved Beauty Wonkette to tears (ok, I'm exaggerating, but it IS gorgeous!), is the volume called INEPT LAUNDRESS.  We've all made the error of including a rogue sock with our white wash - only to unload a tub-full of blue-white blouses and bedlinen. STRANGEBEAUTIFUL creator Jane Schub is a self-confessed failure when it comes to laundering, and her inability to keep whites white was the unlikely inspiration behind the gorgeous 'Inept Laundress' volume. A spectrum of off-white hues, the library of ten shades is as stunning to look at as to wear, and the perfect nail polish edit with which to nail 2012.  Take a look:

Gorgeous, right?  You really have to see it on to fully appreciate it.  

N.B.  Directions for use:

This nail varnish is extremely long wearing, in most cases only one coat or application will be sufficient. Make sure your nails are cleaned with soap and water or a cotton bud dipped in Nail Polish Remover. Then paint on a coat of the brilliant Seche Vite TopCoat when the polish is still a little tacky to create super lasting, vibrant colour. Shake before use and avoid naked flames until dry.


It's definitely worth taking a look at the STRANGEBEAUTIFUL website.  As for the volumes of nail laquer, if you're in the U.S., you can find them here:


BERGDORF GOODMAN
754 FIFTH AVENUE
NEW YORK,NY 10019
212 753 7300
www.bergdorfgoodman.com

HIRSHLEIFER’S
2080 NORTHERN BLVD
MANHASSET NY 11030-3545
516 627 3566
www.hirshleifers.com

PULP INC / PULP LAB
1912 NW DOCK PLACE
SEATTLE, WA 98107
www.pulplab.com
LUCKY SCENT
8327 BEVERLY BLVD
LOS ANGELES CA 90048
323 782 8300
www.luckyscent.com

NEIMAN MARCUS
www.neimanmarcus.com