Nairobi News

It is perhaps the latest invention in the world of beauty, the temperature colour changing gel polish that transforms from colourless to dark pink (fuchsia) throughout the day.

This comes right after the polish that glows at night making your night out pretty interesting as your nails standout in the dark.

For the temperature colour changing gel, user has no control over what color the nails will be as the body temperature also triggers the change.

Here is the tale of one user who walked out of the salon with colourless polish but ended up with fuchsia in hours:

“If a chameleon had nails, this must surely be what they would look like.

“Looking at my pink tinged tips against a clear base with random patches of fuchsia all on the nails of one hand, I wondered what I had got myself into.

“I want a French manicure, I had sternly told the beautician at the salon who was pleading with me to agree to a gel nail polish manicure.

“I have many reasons for not wanting gel nail polish on my nails least of which is that it is eye wateringly expensive.

COLOUR CHANGE

“Second is that it stays put for so long only pushed up by a growing nail leaving them so much the worse for the wear.

“Thirdly, it doesn’t sit smoothly on the nail like ordinary polish. It has this indelible bumps unseen by most but for the perfectionist in me, it just doesn’t cut it.

“We have something better,” she replied. “You see it is a clear pink but will change colour when you touch water.”

“I thought about it and since I am not in laundry or dish washing business much, I agreed to it.

“She set to work. She started by applying a base coat and put my hands under an ultra violet (UV) light to dry. First one hand and then the other. She followed with two coats of light pink. Repeating the UV treatment between each coats.

“Almost an hour later we were done. I loved the result. You see, it was hardly noticeable, a good look for the office that is at once professional and chic.

SHADES OF PINK

“As the gel polish dries at once, I did not give it much thought until I saw a finger tinged in GV in the salon mirror where I was getting my hair braided.

“To my horror, I discovered that finger was mine! The other fingers were all shades of pink with the thumb a slightly lighter shade. The other hand was almost the same and it looked like a tie and dye artist had gone to work on my nails!

“I self-consciously tucked my fingers away and sought to understand this phenomena in my own time.

“As the beautician had promised, the nails immediately turn a bright furious fuchsia upon contact with cold water. They also immediately turn a demure nude pink in hot water.

“As room temperatures are anywhere on this spectrum, the colours get a life of their own and evolve constantly in the course of the day to loudly proclaim the personality of every finger. Sometimes even the corner of the nail.

“The thumbs must be the warmest and someone needs to toss a blanket to the pinkie as it must be cold back there as it stays dark most of the time.

“The transformation is amazing and it is starting to grow on me. Fashion aficionados the world over have caught onto the thermal color changing polish also known as mood changing polish. There are many polishes with different colour spectrum.

“Ask at your nearest salon and watch your nails come alive and reveal their moods to you.”