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Underground > Art, Fashion & Design >

Nail Polish and Men

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22:05 / 08.05.05

I couldn't find anything similar, but my google-fu has been weak lately, so let me know if I missed an appropriate thread.

A few days ago, my SO got a bit bored and decided to paint my fingernails (toe nails too, but unimportant to this discussion). I've discovered that I actually kind of like it. While I will of course go with my own opinions on this, I thought I'd see what the 'fashion world' thought of this practice (that of men painting their nails).

I don't mind bending the gender norms here (this nonsense about gender being a binary thing bores me), but I wonder if there is a limit to which a mostly-heterosexual male can/should go. For instance, is there a range of colors to stick to or avoid? Should length be kept as it usually is, or grown out? What about those artificial nails like my grandma wears? Let me know what you think about men with funny-colored hand parts.

In case you're curious, currently rocking black fingernails and dark green toenails (but I'm never barefoot, EVER, so it doesn't really matter).

22:43 / 08.05.05

Tip: as cool as glitter nail polish is (especially on guys) it's often a bitch to remove. So consider carefully.

23:33 / 08.05.05

Nail Polish and men: I say yes, definitely.

Dunno why I think that though. It's just cutely cool.

07:22 / 09.05.05

I say wear what you want and don't worry about it. The more weird the better actually, because then people get so embarrassed that they won't even attempt to give you a smartassed comment about it. Honest, it works for me.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

16:46 / 09.05.05

Are you a Goth? If not, then avoid dark purples and black, they'll just make you look like you caught your nails in a door. I've always tended to do my nails in the evening while watching tv, gives them time to dry without smearing. If you have any cuts on your fingers, don't go anywhere near them with nail polish remover. There are no words for the agony of remover in cuts...
Silver and Silver-Blue seem to be the safer shades to go for men who aren't too keen on being called 'puffs!'. I would second staying away from the glittery stuff. It is just not worth it. Women aren't supposed to wear red nail varnish, so try and find the sluttiest shades you can and have a ball.

Next up, can we interest you in skirts and blouses?

17:45 / 09.05.05

Also, not a good idea to wear it constantly 24/7 without giving your nails a break inbetween, or they get a bit yellowy and brittle. Leave it off every few days to let them recover. If you want the polish to last a bit longer put a layer of clear topcoat on top of the polish - helps prevent the annoying skid marks on walls, books, keyboards etc.

Lilly Nowhere Late

19:27 / 09.05.05

I don't mind men wearing nail varnish but I think hetromen should not wear red or pink. Or gay men come to that. In fact, most women shouldn't either, unless they have amazing lilly white hands. All other colours are go.
Tip: Guys, if you put a layer of the topcoat, or preferably a clear basecoat on before the coloured or glittered varnish, it is completely easy to remove! hey hey and it will help prevent the yellowed cracky look nails get when one doesn't use a basecoat.

Lilly Nowhere Late

19:29 / 09.05.05

btw, that "lilly white" bit had nothing to do with my name. I have very old worn icky looking hands as I work with them all the time. Hence, I never wear nail varnish on my fingernails, but often wear darker reds on my toes. Which are also strange looking. nevermind...

20:31 / 09.05.05

I don't like nail polish on anyone's hands all that much, except for a clear polish perhaps. Mainly it's because it only looks good if nails are well-manicured and then fanatically maintained, which is rarely the case. I say no to men in polish, because - sorry boys - your nails are usually in average-to-poor condition, and slapping color on them produces that icky pig in lipstick effect. Not that I'm condescending, I don't wear fingernail polish for that very reason. Again, there are exceptions, and I've seen well-groomed man with manicures and clear polish that looks swanky and nice.

Toenail polish is fine on girls (including me) because it takes less wear & tear, but again, sorry to make the sweeping generalizations, usually men's feet just aren't shiny enough to sport polish. A grungy toe looks much better natural. But if your feet are in good shape, toes are the place to get colorful.

22:31 / 09.05.05

Liger Null: glitter scares me. Therefore, I shall never go anywhere near glitter nail polish.

Dunno why I think that though. It's just cutely cool.
Honestly, that's about as far as I ever got in evaluating my own nails.

Are you a Goth?
Not anymore. But I do have pale skin, long black hair, and wear too much black. So...kinda. I do like the idea of silver-blue, might try that next if green doesn't convince me otherwise.

Mainly it's because it only looks good if nails are well-manicured and then fanatically maintained, which is rarely the case.
Very true, but I have made it a point to take far greater care of my hands than usual.

usually men's feet just aren't shiny enough to sport polish
Again, true. However, I tend to think of feet as only being around for comic relief anyway, and pigs with lipstick are funny.

Next up, can we interest you in skirts and blouses?
Sorry, don't have the figure for it, too bear-ish.

Anymore color advice?
Is it tacky to match nailcolor to outfits? If it's OK, daily or just special occasions?

Scrubb is on a downward spiral

02:49 / 10.05.05

Men and nail polish = a world of YES.

If you're trying to avoid goffik colours, how about "car" colours? Silver, metallic mid-blues and greens etc. And yes, glitter is a bitch to get rid of but doesn't mean you shouldn't do it.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

11:31 / 10.05.05

Get yourself a pair of nail scissors and a few emory boards. Keep your nails more or less the same length and use the boards to even out any sharper edges. And I wear nail varnish fairly constantly (say about twenty six/twenty seven days out of a month and don't really have any problem with discolouration, though sometimes I will take it off morning/lunctime and put it on again in the evening, so maybe that's enough...

And maybe I just have some very nice shades of red and pink varnish...

04:36 / 11.05.05

So, if you were to paint just one or two fingers, leaving the terrible affectation aspect aside, which two should/would it be?

07:37 / 11.05.05

Another hearty 'yes yes' here with regard to the boys / nail varnish combination. As for the matching with outfits thing -I tend (or tended, when I wore nail varnish regularly) to go for complementary rather than matching colours. Which, if you wear lots of black, basically means that Scrubb's 'car colours' advice is perfect.

I don't know if anyone's told you that putting your hands in cold water after you do your nails makes them dry faster, but this is in fact rubbish. All that happens is you are left waiting for your nails to dry with cold, wet hands, or you have a ruined towel and smudged nail polish. If no-one has told you that, forget I spoke, but it was something I tried repeatedly when I was 15 and it never worked...

09:55 / 11.05.05

After putting on the basecoat, its also much better to put on a thin coat of colour, let it dry, then another thin coat on top, dry, then a clear topcat. If you just put on one thick coat, the top will dry but underneath won't, and it'll smudge. I haven't heard of the cold water idea, but my gf often uses a hairdrier to try and speed things along.

Tryphena Absent

13:14 / 11.05.05

Vincennes, you have to wait until they're almost dry... but even if it works the water takes the shine off.

Nail varnish on men... I've never been partial to it. Don't like it on men, don't like it on women and it kind of disturbs me on toes. I think that has something to do with the idea of years of flaking polish underneath each coat. It's quite difficult to remove toe polish in a hurry and I can never believe people actually concentrate on these things.

My advice comes down to this: if you have long hair then don't wear nail varnish. I beg you. In fact, you should consider cutting your hair if it's long... aesthetically, if you don't have Arata's bone structure you're doomed with long hair (what do you MEAN you don't understand what I'm talking about?). Otherwise you're okay. Generally and with nail varnish.

Tryphena Absent

13:16 / 11.05.05

btw I have foot hate. I hate people touching my feet (dramatically), I hate looking at other people's feet, I hate shoes that show off feet. Cover your feet, there is no reason any of us should be looking at toes, good shoes were created to cover them, so there is absolutely no reason to polish your toenails.

14:22 / 11.05.05

14:35 / 11.05.05

I think the reason I like toenail varnish is that it's something you do purely because you want to have (for example) blue sparkles on your toes -no-one see it but you just know. That's not going to appeal if you're starting from a point of not liking feet, though. Also, if you have hairy outcrops on your toes the effect is kind of ruined.

Triplets, I don't mind feet at all and yet am oddly disturbed by that picture.

19:48 / 11.05.05

Yeah, looking at it again it's like her entire leg/ankle is being held up by her middle toe. That's one hardcore digit!

18:09 / 12.05.05

As a woman, I usually only go for french manicures. My make-up is very simple (if I wear any), so drawing attention to the tips of my fingers seems ridiculous. For men, I'd say the same thing. If they don't wear make-up to polish their face, then I think that colouring their nails will simply detract from their overall look.

I do love a man with well manicured nails and a french polish. I do have traditional tastes, though.

18:18 / 12.05.05

It's funny, while I think nail varnish on (some) men looks cool, I would totally be put off by it.

What I mean is, if I fancied a guy then saw he was wearing it, I wouldn't like him so much.

What about the rest of yis?
Would a little colour on a man's nails stop you?

alejandrodelloco

23:12 / 12.05.05

Now, I am a veritable hobbit when it comes to hairy feet, and the thought of wearing toenail polish makes me giggle uncontrollably...

09:21 / 13.05.05

I surprised no-one's mentioned this...

09:23 / 13.05.05

Oh, and for all you yanks who don't know, that's David Beckham, the world famous captain of the England football team.

13:51 / 13.05.05

Do you think Posh painted his toes for him too?

alejandrodelloco

00:55 / 23.05.05

Tomorrow I will wear blue nail polish, I think.

Scrubb is on a downward spiral

19:00 / 25.05.05

What I mean is, if I fancied a guy then saw he was wearing it, I wouldn't like him so much.
Nope, the absolute opposite. If I saw a chap who I'd already though was rather fine reach for his wallet/adjust his tie with immaculately blue/silver nail polish on then the deal would be done.

Moreover, this now gets me to thinking if certain clothes look good on chaps with painted nails. I for one would like to see more suited chaps with painted nails, possibly to match the bright lining of their Ozwald Boateng suits *drools*

20:02 / 25.05.05

Would a little colour on a man's nails stop you?

Not me. Nail polish is definately a plus.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

15:35 / 26.05.05

Note to self: Invest in ties over the Summer.

lord henry strikes back

12:13 / 27.05.05

I've been wearing nail varnish solidly for five or six years. I did all through uni and I now wear it to work. It took a week or two for a few people to adjust, and I still love to watch peoples reactions when I meet someone for the first time.

As far as colours go I have a wide selection. I do have a soft spot for vamp reds and pinks but today they are black and violet. I will coordinate with my outfit for a special occation but normally I pick a few colours that go together well and have fun.

I change the varnish 3-4 times a week, depending on free time and mood. And yes, late night TV is the best time.

Quick tip: I find this really helps my timing. Apply the first thin coat, one cigarette later it is dry enough to apply the second (if you smoke rollies, roll in advance).

13:53 / 27.05.05

Well, with school over my options are limited as I have to live with my parents because I can't afford a place for the summer. However, I still occasionally paint the nails for a day or two. I went with a nice blue the other day and rather enjoyed it.

I really wish it was more socially accepted for men to wear nail polish so I could wear it in to the office. Sadly, all the higher-ups there are fairly republican and stiff, and not into the gender rule-breaking like I am. We'll see how long till I'm fired.

13:57 / 27.05.05

Oh, but I have seen evidence of men who should not paint their nails, and it convinced me to never wear black nails again. There was an overweight, rather slobby emo kid at the movie theater with black nails on hands and feet. It was not good in any way.

As far as painted nails on men being a turn off, I'd have to disagree. If there was a boy I fancied a bit and I saw he had well painted nails, it would probably make me think a bit more highly of him, unless it was black nails and he was being all emo.

15:14 / 27.05.05

I like blue, green, and silver on men. Only goths (or possibly punks) should wear black.

Of course, I usually wear blue, green or silver myself. Or purple. I hate red polish.

rakehell - If you only paint one nail, make it your thumb. Two, thumb and index finger.

21:31 / 27.05.05

If there was a boy I fancied a bit and I saw he had well painted nails, it would probably make me think a bit more highly of him

Hmm. My immediate reaction to this was "I like men, not boys." Perhaps it's simply that my type of man (usually older, "bear" types) simply wouldn't suit nail polish?

Is there an upper age (or weight?) limit to men wearing nail polish, do you think?

(That's really not as shallow as it first sounds, I swear, and I don't mean the "men not boys" remark in a derogatory way.)

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