Yellow, a lesson in do and don't.

Yellow is happiness.
Beauty.
Warmth.
Wildflowers.
Sunshine.
Lemonade.

It is also a very, very, very bad choice in nail polish.
Consider yourself warned.
What is seemingly cheerful and fun in the bottle is actually sad and sickly on your toes.
So sad and sickly, that I can't even bring myself to post a photo of my jaundiced pedicure.  The first pedicure that I have treated myself to in embarrassingly long.

I now vow to limit the sunny colors to my shoes and accessories, and steer clear of the toes. You would be wise to do the same.


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40 Comments

  1. Heather @ Life Made LovelyApril 7, 2011 at 2:02 PM

    oh no! i just bought a tiny bottle in hopes of bringing a bit of sunshine to my feet. oh well, off to the donation bin it goes.

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  2. BarbaraApril 7, 2011 at 2:08 PM

    I found a yellow that I love...it ends up pretty bright when it's on. It's Sally Hanson Hard as Nails "Mellow Yellow"...there's a picture of it on one of my nails here: http://theoriginofwonder.blogspot.com/2011/03/nail-polish-of-week-3-spring-mix.html if you want to see what you think of it on.

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  3. TaraApril 7, 2011 at 2:11 PM

    I bought some last year...big mistake! It looked horrible on my toes too!

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  4. AnonymousApril 7, 2011 at 2:12 PM

    What a bummer. It does seem like it would be happy and bright and lovely too.....

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  5. sarahApril 7, 2011 at 2:13 PM

    that made me laugh out loud! love the bright pics though!!

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  6. Alida L.April 7, 2011 at 2:13 PM

    UGH been there, done that! I bought that all natural piggy polish (read: ridiculously expensive) in yellow for my girls and it looks HORRIBLE on all of us. Next time I will stick with what I know!

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  7. Mindy HarrisApril 7, 2011 at 2:13 PM

    duly noted.
    that last picture is gorgeous!

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  8. UnknownApril 7, 2011 at 2:13 PM

    now, wait.
    oh julie.you silly little thing.
    are you tan yet????
    this is the WHITEST time of year for all of us cali girls!
    how long has it been since those legs and feet of yours have seen the sun for a few days in a row?!
    give the yellow another chance in late july....please.
    poor yellow has been shunned by julie at joy's hope and now every nail salon in the country is gonna have extra, unused bottles just sitting around polluting the world....(i am not dramatic)

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  9. Elisa @ What the VitaApril 7, 2011 at 2:14 PM

    Haha aww. I can imagine it could look like fungus...ew! But I really think Barbara's nail polish looked pretty! I guess it depends on your skin tone?

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  10. Perpetual Blind DateApril 7, 2011 at 2:43 PM

    I really like the peachy pinks... maybe that will give you the feeling of spring without the side of jaundice

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  11. JillApril 7, 2011 at 2:47 PM

    oh my goodness!! so glad I read this!- I JUST bought (what I thought) was the happiest yellow nail polish!- I think I'll save it for a craft project now! :)
    Thanks for the warning!
    Blessings!
    Jill

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  12. JeannettApril 7, 2011 at 3:04 PM

    i feel the same way about pale pink polish...but i'm thinking that in both the case of the yellow and the pale pink it's about skin tone.

    deposit: 2 cents.

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  13. CoryApril 7, 2011 at 3:22 PM

    bahahahahahaha! So sorry that happened to you. Thanks for the lesson!

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  14. Jen~ Lipstick and LaundryApril 7, 2011 at 3:32 PM

    I found a bottle at Walmart it's Sally Hansen Insta-Dri color 10 Lightening and it's AWESOME bright dark yellow... My toes rocked it all last summer and I intend for them to do it this summer too... Maybe try to paint over your jaundice color... hahaha

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  15. RachelApril 7, 2011 at 3:41 PM

    Oh no!

    I felt that way when I put bright blue polish on my toes. It is my favorite color for everything except my toes.

    BTW I love the dress in the first picture.

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  16. BaileyApril 7, 2011 at 4:01 PM

    I'm thinking along the same lines as Shauna at The Reed Life - I would think it would look FABULOUS on tan toes (something we here in Idaho don't have much of at all yet). Give it another chance in mid summer and post a picture of each (white toes vs. tan toes)!!

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  17. JuliaVPApril 7, 2011 at 4:25 PM

    Haha... I was actually just about to paint my fingers yellow tonight. I guess I will just have to stick with something tried and true... aka TEAL!

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  18. meg duerksenApril 7, 2011 at 4:27 PM

    i almost did yellow at my last pedi!!
    i said oh wouldn't this be cute with little white polka dots on super tan skin??
    and then i decided i have NO tan at al so i would save it for august.
    :)
    at home.
    for $2 from the walmart brand nail polish.

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  19. TKApril 7, 2011 at 4:30 PM

    this past summer I bought the sweetest cutest bottle of lemony yellow nailpolish goodness you have ever seen AND it was a TOTAL DISASTER!!! My toenails looked sick.....very sick!!! TK xx

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  20. ~RosanneApril 7, 2011 at 4:46 PM

    Great post, I am loving yellow everything but will stay away from the polish.

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  21. BethanyApril 7, 2011 at 4:59 PM

    Oh yes! My little girl went for her first pedi last summer (something we never do, but it was for a special girls day) and chose yellow. Yuck! Nasty toes on an otherwise cute two year old.

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  22. Handbags*and*PigtailsApril 7, 2011 at 5:01 PM

    Ut oh. Every woman in America will now be banning yellow toes because of this post Julie!
    Funny, I JUST passed on some funky yellow OPI in Ulta the other day. I wanted to buy it but I am as pasty white as a ghost right now.
    I think if its a deep enough shade of yellow and you're sporting a good tan it wont be that bad. Dont be hatin on the yella:)
    xo,
    Sarah

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  23. TessBensonApril 7, 2011 at 5:38 PM

    I SOOOOOOOOOOOOo agree! I recieved a yellow as a gift, and thought it was BEAUTIFUL in the jar, painted my toe nails and HATED it! So I added a coat of a pink over it, and it made a very pretty sherberty color!

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  24. BeckApril 7, 2011 at 5:42 PM

    Ahhh I did the yellow nail poilish two weeks ago. I didn't have time to get it off before work, and it turned out to be quite the conversation starter. Unfortunatley not in a good way.

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  25. BreeannApril 7, 2011 at 5:55 PM

    This is hilarious to me because I just bought some new nail polish yesterday...and yellow was one of them. I started to paint my finger nails and I was appalled! It's definitely not as pretty as I thought it would be. I settled on hot pink instead...a much nicer color...and the toes are bright blue...which is also a much nicer color.

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  26. Ruth AbelApril 7, 2011 at 6:21 PM

    I.So.Agree. And I can't seem to wear it very well either! I love love love yellow! Wish it loved my pasty pale self. :)

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  27. VickiApril 7, 2011 at 6:39 PM

    I love that umbrella! Did you get it recently? Care to share where it's from? so cheery!

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  28. KristiApril 7, 2011 at 7:04 PM

    I was also commenting to ask where you got that umbrella too. I was just thinking early today that I was ready to replace my 7 year old daughter's tired old Disney princess umbrella with something cute.

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  29. KristiApril 7, 2011 at 7:04 PM

    P.S. I still remember liking pale blue polish, but I think I may be too old to pull that off anymore.

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  30. stephanie joyApril 7, 2011 at 8:34 PM

    ah hahahahahaha!
    TOO funny!
    thanks for the tip! ;)

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  31. Jessica JohnsonApril 7, 2011 at 9:16 PM

    yellow's gonna totally sue you. for slander, defamation of character. trademark... oh wait. ;)

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  32. Holly RookApril 8, 2011 at 6:03 AM

    Who knew that yellow could look so bad? Your pictures are so lovely. I am working on getting better at taking pictures of my son, but most end up so blurry, because he does not sit still for very long! Love you blog and thanks for the inspiration that you provide!

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  33. JenniferApril 8, 2011 at 6:15 AM

    oh no! that's SO worth going back for a polish change!

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  34. CelesteApril 8, 2011 at 6:25 AM

    Note taken. (Jaundice - actually sounds like a name OPI would dub a nail color... lol.)

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  35. briannaApril 8, 2011 at 9:07 AM

    ohmygosh! i just bought yellow polish too! i loved it on the shelf, dabbed a little on my thumbnail, bought it and went home while very excited, i put it on fingers and toes. we went to dinner that night and my husband lovingly reffered to it as my "jaundice mani/pedi" its terrible! i bought sally hanson extreme ware or something. i'm tooo pale to wear yellow. i should have bought the purple! now the yellow is saved for my girls, and for accents like polka dots!

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  36. NicApril 8, 2011 at 10:44 AM

    That yellow pic with the umbrella is just flat out gorgeous!!!

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  37. Kristin SellarsApril 8, 2011 at 7:37 PM

    Ok I seriously need to learn how to get off auto on my camera. Your pictures look fabulous!

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  38. AlysaApril 8, 2011 at 8:13 PM

    So funny! I could never pull off yellow nail polish :)

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  39. MaysemApril 10, 2011 at 10:20 AM

    LOL! I remember painting my toes yellow in college....and I must admit I loved it...thought it looked great! It was my fave color along with a pretty soft blue color. But that was back then (about 12/13 years ago)...haven't tried it since...wonder how I would feel about it now:D Should I take your word for it or be a rebel and give it a try:P

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  40. JenniferApril 11, 2011 at 2:34 PM

    I did the same thing last summer and my sister in law made fun of me for our entire vacation until I peeled it all off. Never again!

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