Never, ever have I had long nails. Between being rough on my hands and nervously biting them, they never even had a shot. Maybe its all the vitamins I'm taking or a less physically-demanding day job, but they're growin' like weeds.That by itself is not revelatory. (duh) But what they've done for my sense of femininity? It's bizarre. And surprising. Somehow, being able to tap my nails and paint them to some effect has made me more conscious of being female. Proud of having curves. Happy to be a little girlie.
Until now, I'd glossed over that beautiful middle ground between tomboy and overdone time-suckingly coiffed woman. But nails... they suit me. In an hour, I can go from sweet and innocent lavender (the hot May shade, I've heard) to bad-ass black with blue sparkles to channeling my inner vixen with blood red. Hello self-expression for the personality conflicted.
I think I'm gonna keep them, despite the time needed to file and the dirt that gets stuck under there when gardening without gloves (I'm still struggling to remember the gloves before I'm wrist-deep in loam). They're almost a more versatile accessory than purses and shoes--cheaper, too.
What about you? What gives you that surprisingly feminine edge? Do you hate having long nails, or revel in it?
Skylar, who's nails are currently fuchsia.
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6 comments:
Skylar, you have my envy. Polish makes my nails split and long nails bug me. But I love the way they look on other people. For me, it's hair. One of the big advantages of Colorado is the low humidity--for the first time in ages I don't have to fight the dreaded hair pouf!
I love long nails! Unfortunately, I have not been blessed with them in the natural sense, so I go the acrylic route. It's my favorite feminine pampering indulgence. And, it's almost time to sport those bright neon summer colors! Yea!
Long nails? I wouldn't know. Mine break. All. The. Freaking. Time.
Also, they don't match--some are square, some are rounded. My fingerprints don't match either, but that's another story. So, for the coupla days they are longish, before they all start breaking off painfully short (usually in the shower, 'cause my HAIR is apparently made of DIAMOND and slices them to shreds--no joke) they look like mis-matched china, only not in a good way.
However, I now have long hair for the first time in my life--that's bugging me, too,in a "careful what you wish for" kinda way--but my husband loves it. Sigh. So I guess I'll keep it.
Oh I love nice nails! Not necessarily long, but I do like a little tip with a French manicure. I never wear coloured polish any more. After I had kids, for years I stopped wearing polish at all cause I had no time, and now colour looks weird on me, but I like my French tips! Course I am all girly girl.
Meg, you're so lucky to have good hair! Even though SoCal is lo humidity, I'm usually frizz central. Debra and Kelly, I wish I could get my nails done more--they always look better from the salon. PG, I definitely miss my long hair... is so versatile! But I always ended throwing it into a ponytail.
My nails are quite strong but it's useless for me to wear polish - I'm a librarian - worse, a cataloger right now, so I'm picking up books and paper all day long. There is no polish strong enough to stand up to 6 hours of book handling a day. So I keep them buffed and shiny.
As for hair - ish. If they'd had ceramic flat irons and silicone glosses thirty years ago, my life would've been very, very different.
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