My Frida Kahlo doll surrounded by “her” nail polishes and lipsticks.
Last year, right before Day of the Dead, I was browsing through Instagram when I spotted a photo of Frida Kahlo nail polish and I was intrigued!!! Or maybe I should say, I was obsessed! I had to find this polish and as it turns out, lipstick too!!! You can read about this more in my original post – Frida’s Lipstick and Nail Polish.
Last month, I got an email from a young woman interested in finding out more about the Frida nail polish and lipstick. She stumbled upon my blog post and asked to interview me for an online magazine. Again, I was intrigued…!!! We set up a time to talk and I went into my original story and my search for the nail polish and lipstick from this icon in the Hispanic community.
As it turns out…the hunt for the nail polish and lipstick is secondary to the reason finding something that “belongs” to Frida is so important. That became the focus of our conversation. Frida has long been an icon of strength, perseverance and independence for many women. So having a nail polish or lipstick with her iconic artwork or her portrait really seemed to be a way to capture this strength, perseverance and independence for ourselves.
Frida had a unique beauty. Who doesn’t know about her “unibrow-?” But even with a unibrow – something that was so defining for her but would have the rest of us reaching for our tweezers…she was mesmerizing to people. I recall going to Atlanta’s High Museum a few years ago with a friend to view the Frida and Diego exhibit. I could have stayed for days reading all the descriptions and going through all their art creations. At the end of the exhibit there were photos of both Frida and Diego. There was one though…Frida was in a white dress and leaning on a wall. It was in black and white, of course. I just remember I stood and stared at it for the longest time. I had never seen this photo before and she was simply breathtakingly beautiful in this photo. I couldn’t get enough of it… And at which point I was saying to myself…”what unibrow?”
Having these different Frida inspired nail polishes and lipsticks seems to be a way to be a little bit like “Frida” ourselves. I was becoming fixated again… So after the interview, I began wondering if I could find any more lipsticks and polishes at my local CVS. As luck would have it…I found some that I didn’t already have! So now, I think I have everything that was offered through CVS and that makes me very happy. And…I have the pictures to prove it too!
Meanwhile…I’m keeping my eyes open to anything new. Who knows? Maybe there will be a line of eye shadows next?!
Southern Señora 