May 10, 2012

I’ve noticed it in my personal habits recently, and observed it all around me—nail polish is everything right now! I see women of all stripes going all out, using nail art as a method of self-expression and personal style.

But upon further reading and research, I’ve learned that it’s quite possibly a little deeper than just a fashionable outlet.

Nail polish has been an actual growing trend in the past 2 years.  In fact, polish sales went up 54% globally in 2011!  It has been theorized that in a strained economy, nail polish has come to represent “affordable luxury”.  When we have to give up other more costly indulgences we can rely on this budget friendly extravagance to make us feel better about our current circumstances.  

According to the New York Times:

  “Lipstick sales used to go up when the economy went down, perhaps because women were searching for a cheap pick-me-up or an edge in a job interview. For reasons nobody quite understands, the lipstick indicator doesn’t hold up anymore, though nail polish sales now seem to reflect the economy very clearly (albeit inversely). A rise in nail polish sales indicates that we’re searching for bargain luxuries as the economy craters — and sales of nail polish are way up right now.”

 So there you have it– if you can’t currently get your fix with Louis Vuitton and Christian Louboutin, you can likely at least splurge on some fun nail color.

Check out some of the artistic designs that the more daring women about town have been rockin’.

creative, design, economy, fashion, luxury, nail art, nail polish, style