Nice nails - really, does it matter?

[Merguez]

Doing my nails comes very bottom of my list or priorities. Manicure and polish only for very special occasions. But other mums I know always seem to have immaculate nails.

Does anyone really notice or care? Is it important?

I finally worked out why people got them done last year when I had a proper pedicure and loved the way my feet looked for the first time ever - it lasted weeks and weeks as well. Then I heard a news story about many nail salons employing effectively modern slaves and that was the end of that, I'm not prepared to take the risk and I'm really bad at anything like that myself.

Varnish looks fine but I much prefer hands without, especially mine. I work in a hospital and have never seen any clinical staff with varnish on, I must check the dress code as I assumed it wasn't allowed due to possible hygiene issues - you are less likely to be able to monitor dirt under your nails, presumably.

I am not allowed to have any product on my nails at work, my nails have to be kept neat and tidy.
I wear vinyl gloves and wash my hands at least 40 times a day at work ( in addition to what I do at home)

If I'm away from work, I might try OPI Nail Envy but I find my nails get yellow with treatments.
I have very small narrow nails too.
Usually, I keep them filed and buffed (Leighton Denny buffer) but they do break

I have some stick on nails for Christmas and a mini bottle of OPI "Red Fingers and Mistletoes" laquer.
If they stay on for three days, I'll be happy. I know my nails might be damaged removing them but my nails are rubbish anyway.

I Do notice nails and I wonder how people manage to carry on Real Life with perfect nails. But , that's it.I don't want to have their nails. I'd just like mine to be better.

I agree OP, doing my nails is at the bottom of my priority list as well. They just don't suit my lifestyle. Keeping them snag free is what I do right now, but even before being on mat leave, in my profession it was the non qualified, or non-titled colleagues who largely wore obviously false nails. My profession is male dominated anyway (engineering), but at a professional level I know that I wouldn't be taken seriously describing the intricacies of nanoparticles to both industry & academics wearing fake nails.

Personally, each to their own, but yes, I do find shellac nails cheap looking, and (now I'll be flamed) a self indulgent use of money for women today. Yes, there are many other equally frivolous ways to squander money, but I find this one of the most self depreciating ways.....

I hate long nails- I think they look unhygienic. I keep mine short and clean and that's it. But that suits my personality. Some of my friends have long and/or elaborate nails which suit their style and character.

The lady I go to owns her own salon. She's fab only 22/23 and a very clear vision of where she's heading.

She rents a room in a leisure centre and is getting more and more popular. As her overheard are low she can pass the saving on to her customers who usually come for 2/3 treatments at a time or several times a month.

My nails are short but nicely shaped and the gelish is easy to look after.

Hahaha love the implication that you must be a bit stupid and not important if you have nice nails.

I'm an accountant and my friend who often joins me on a spa day and has longer nails than me is a senior partner in a London city law firm.

I think nice nails do matter. I just think that really nice nails are neat and unadorned

On another forum I use people are posting pictures of their festive manicures. One woman has gone all-out and has on her fingers a gingerbread man, a snowman, a reindeer, a penguin etc.

Yes I'm a Chartered Accountant with Shellaced nails [sharp intake of breath]. I do it because I love how they look, it makes me smile (although I'm not fussed about make-up, and my hair takes me 2 mins to blast with a hairdryer and go every day). I don't really care what other people do. I do keep my nails relatively short though, as I like to go for quite bold colours (currently wearing navy), and I prefer the look on shorter nails.

People who are saying that shellaced nails look cheap are thinking of something quite different to what I imagine carrie74 has. (I also have a friend who is an accountant who often has professionally manicured nails).

These nails are shellaced and look like "painted nails"

And so are these, but they look overly done and a bit Dolly Parton "it takes a lot of money to look this cheap"

I like mine painted, but I prefer to get a gel done as it last longer. I definitely notice nails but as long as the are tidy and clean I don't think anything more of it.

I don't do extensions though as they always wreck my natural nails.

If I see someone wearing a pretty colour I'll ask about it.

I find the process of painting my nails relaxing. I first started paying attention to my nails when I quit smoking. I wanted to keep my hands busy and needed the practice so when I got better I played around with embellishments and designs.

I can't wear polish at work but I'll always have a colour on at the weekend but because I can't wear it for much longer than a day or two, I don't buy the pricey long lasting gel or shellac products. Pound land Revlon reject colours with a half decent topcoat is fine for me. Cheap enough to swap and change colour everyday.

I can't keep my nails nice, so I concentrate on keeping them a decent length (ie all the same, not too long), a decent shape and a coat of neutral varnish when I get a chance.

I would hate to work in the US, where a blow dry and a manicure seems to be a near daily requirement for the professional woman

I have a pedicure every 6 weeks all year round.
I have short but nice nails, but only have them painted sporadically. Love the way they look when done professionally...Im too cack handed.
I have a facial every month, also eyebrows and Brazilian.

The assumption that manicures are for bimbos is just ridiculous.

I keep my nails short at work (you don't want me to examine you with long fingernails, trust me) but I definitely paint/manicure/shellac just before going on holiday. If it's an active holiday, shellac is best as it lasts me 3 weeks (although I have noticeable nail growth by then so there's unpainted nail by the cuticle!)

I bit my nails for years and they are very short and weak, gel nails keep them in one piece and looking neat. I notice nice nails on other people, painted or not, I hate the look of badly bitten nails.

I worked in healthcare in the past and love that I can have my nails done in my current job. When I was a teacher most of my colleagues had their nails painted.

Shellac doesn't look tacky, just looks like painted nails. Even acrylics done very well don't look tacky.

I take great care of my feet and have pedicures/paint my toenails whenever they are on show (ie all summer). I think bare toenails are a bit rude .

I have a much harder time meeting the same standards for my hands. I should like to, but my hands are very busy and nail varnish quickly chips so I tend only to have painted nails after manicures, when I have been to the hairdresser for the whole shebang.

Here are my nails.

i do mine to stop me biting them, or go to our local Vietnamese place.

People notice that you are ' together'

bare toenails look HORRIBLE ( IMHO)

like chipolata sausages

Dont like them too long though ( as below)
oR the ' pick your nose' type odd colour out finger

I always have my nails painted , I feel so much more put together with a few costs of polish.
I do mine every night after kids are tucked up , takes literally ten minutes , either take full colour off and do two coats again or just top up current colour.
Let it dry while watching telly for half hour before bed.
I don't see it as a chore or as a treat either , just totally normal part of my daily routine.

I also take the bottle to work with me in case I ever get a chip as I hate chipped nail polish.

Each to their own but there's no way I could ever go without my nails looking emaculate.

I love painting my nails, and I love how they look when they are done, but I don't have time to do it very often. If I do my nails I can normally get a couple of days out of it, but when it starts to wear or chip at the ends, I'll either touch it up (if it's a forgiving colour that won't show - glittery ones are good for that), or take it off. I don't like scruffy nail varnish, it's got to be good or not there at all.

I notice other people's nails if they have a nice colour polish on, or if they are particularly long and square - I am really not keen on that look, but each to their own.

My mum has always bitten her nails down as far as they will go, and over the years, she's bitten them so much that the actual nail bed is very short, and there is a lot of fleshy fingertip at the end of the nail (if that makes any sense). As a child, I bit mine too, but I remember being about ten years old and looking at her nails, and thinking I didn't want mine to look like that, and stopped myself from biting them.

Its important if it makes you feel good. If it doesn't bother you then its not. I like nice nails.

I've always thought that long nails - painted or not - are hideous. They remind me of witches.

I have horrible nails, and almost always have. I can't grow them long anyway as I play an instrument and they can get ripped. Which really, really hurts.

I do notice when people have lovely fingernails, but I'm not a big fan of polish in bright colours, which always seems a bit immature to me. I don't know why - maybe lots of girls at school wore those sorts of colours when I was a teenager or something.

I absolutely detest fake nails, and most nail art. I've seen some nice subtle ones, but most of them make me cringe.