It’s embarrassing to admit, but I’m a bit of a klutz.  Knock on wood, I’ve never broken a bone, but I usually can find a new bruise on some part of my body on a daily basis. Unfortunately, I never imagined that it would get as bad as it has this summer.

Another confession: I’m a bit of an animal when it comes to the elliptical at the gym. Trying to keep up my summertime fitness, I spent all of spring semester attempting to burn off all the Crumbs cupcakes I had been eating (I can’t help it, they are so good). What this meant was pedaling as fast as humanly possible while at the gym. 

In the process, my feet tended to slide to the front of the elliptical pedals, ‘kissing’ the front portion of the pedal and have a merry little date with the front of my sneaker as I burned calories. That little love affair has caused me to severely bruise both of my big toenails, to the point where one of them is in the process of falling off. *Insert disgusted face here*

I guess that’s the punishment I get for trusting a cheap pair of Nike’s I found on clearance…

Of course, this all conveniently happened just in time for flip flop season. So here I am, with beautiful black and blue toenails and it’s June. Usually a girl who loves her light pinks and French pedicures, I simply cannot paint my toenails any pastel shade without exposing what really is brewing beneath the paint.

Hours upon hours spent in Ulta and Harmon’s (beauty supply stores) has caused me to accept the inevitable: I need to embrace darker nail colors.

Summer is the perfect time to try funky new colors. After seeing all the bright colored shorts and tops that have been gracing store windows this summer season, I decided to model my nail polish after that.

The picture (above) is OPI ‘Fly’ from the new Nicki Minaj collection. While I loved this color on my fingers, I was surprised how awesome it looked on my feet! 

In a pair of white flip flops (it IS after Memorial day…) this color popped and made my nails stand out in a good way, rather than highlighting the bruises underneath. Here are two other shades I love:

Turquoise looks great with my red hair. Not that my toes are close to my hair, but they would accent a turquoise top or bottom perfectly!

I currently have this (OPI ‘Pamplona Purple’) shade on my toes – I’ve already gotten four compliments! 

Slowly I’m learning that bright colors may be a blessing rather than a curse. It will be a long summer, but I hopefully will try all the colors I was once too afraid to try on my toes!

Lovelies, do you wear bright nail polish or stick to plain pastel tones?  Would you try a funky color such as “Fly” or “Pamplona Purple”?

Image Source: 1, 2, 3