...And a Rant

Of course I couldn't put all of those books without looking at them. That made me start thinking and lamenting over the deterioration of Nail Venus magazines.

This is one of the first volumes of Nail Venus I ever purchased, back in 2006. For several years, Venus was a strong competition to Nail Max for my favorite nail magazine. Though I personally hated---and still do---the stapled spine, as opposed to the perfect-bound spine of Max, the nails are equally beautiful. Or they were. Now, honestly, they bore me.

Look at these nails from the above 2006 issue:

Pretty! Unusual! A little extravagant on a couple but still very lovely and wearable.

Now, look at the Spring 2012 issue:

Well, the cover is nice. How are the contents?

YAWN.

I have noticed the shift in nails for the past year or so, and because of that have stopped buying pretty much all Nail Venus issues. The fact that Max continues to improve and showcase more beautiful nails with each issue keeps me content. Now, I know there's been a change in fashion from the more outrageous nails to simpler ones, but it doesn't explain how Venus's nails have started to bore me while new issues of Nail Max have simpler nails, but are still very exciting. It's disappointing, and frustrating. The only plus side to this is the fact that my wallet doesn't have to shell out money to buy two series' worth of issues.

Note: The Nail Venus Bibles, released once a year and very similar to Nail Max Collections, are still quite nice, though the 2012 edition wasn't up to par with the ones in years past. Still, I'm much more likely to buy one of those, than the regular issues.