I know I haven't been on here for a while, or posted anything, but that's because I am embarrassed to post my questions, i feel dumb asking these things. why does nail polish look better underwater? it looks more deeper and a brighter color. i cant seem to photograph it really well because i can not work my phone with one hand that well, it doesnt set the sharpness where i want it to be. there must be some kind of way the light bounces around once it gets underwater, i also noticed you can see a better contrast between where you put a think coat of nail polish on then thin. i know this is a really girly thing of me to ask.

p.s. I don't know which category this goes in, i thought it should go into physics because it deals with light. sorry if this is in the wrong category.

The nail's surface, like most things, has texture, which we can imagine as hills and valleys if we magnify it enough. Some parts of the hills will be bright and scatter the light in all directions and the deeper parts will be darker. It is all this mixing up and reflecting of the light rays into different directions that makes things look washed out. When we view things that are underwater, the water fills in those valleys and makes the surface smoother and the light rays are reflected off your nail in a more directional and parallel manner giving a deeper colour to things.

Edited October 12, 20169 yr by StringJunky

I see, thank you

Or, to put it in a way that guys understand...

Cars always look more shiny when they're wet.

I know that blood is green when you about 30 feet under water...