Kayt Turner: ‘Did I miss a memo? When did we women all turn into Sandy Olsson from Grease?’

I was, naturally, scoping out each and every detail in order to report back to the rest of our mates. You know the kind of thing: what’s on the bedside table and what they keep in their fridge.

Having duly made a mental note of everything I needed to know (an alarm clock, a David Nicholls book and way too little beer and wine for my liking), we sat down for a good natter.

It was at this point I noticed my nail varnish was chipped. I asked my friend for some nail varnish remover so I could just whip it off while we chatted.

“I don’t have any in the house,” she said. I asked if she had got a shellac polish and, if so, which colour had she gone for. “No, no. Nothing like that. I just don’t wear nail varnish any more.” When I asked why, her reply shocked me to my very core. “My new fella doesn’t like me to wear nail varnish, so I’ve no need for remover.”

Now, just so you understand what a seismic shift had taken place, this was from a woman who had always had her manicurist on speed dial. A woman whose collection of nail varnishes would have enabled them to cover the Forth Rail Bridge twice over – admittedly in Chanel Black Pearl or Nails Inc’s magnetic shades, but you get the gist. A woman who didn’t laugh when I told her she could get Wills & Kate Royal Wedding nail decals.

But now her squeeze merely had to click his (unvarnished) fingers and the whole kit and caboodle had been binned with nary a backwards glance.

And in return? I enquired. What’s he given up for you? “Oh, I haven’t asked him to give up anything. Why on earth would I?” Err, because we’re in the 21st century and are no longer chattels to be directed by our masters’ whims and fancies?

My sister-in-law is another one. She has lovely long blonde hair. She doesn’t particularly like it. With young children, she finds it a bit of a pain to get it into any kind of style in the morning before the school run. She ends up just scraping it back with a claw clip. She would prefer it to be shorter and more manageable, but her hubby doesn’t like short hair on women, so she keeps it long (and tied up).

Did I miss a memo? When did we all turn into Sandy Olsson? Personally, I’ve always found the message from Grease to be highly irritating, even if they do have super-catchy songs. The only way Sandy can get her man is to completely change who she is, and that’s meant to be a good thing? Ask any normal woman (rather than these Stepfordettes I seem to have befriended) and they’ll tell you that the real role model in Grease is Betty Rizzo.

I may well ask Mr Turner’s opinion on outfits and whether or not he likes a particular shade of nail colour – but if he was then to say that he didn’t like it and would prefer if I didn’t wear it ever again, I think we all know what my reply would be. And, to be honest, I would expect to get the same response if I ever asked him to get rid of something I didn’t like.

I wouldn’t ever do that. I would just throw it away when he was out. He should be grateful. As Betty says, there are worse things I could do.