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Today, I’m jumping right into things. The one thing you all have been dying to know… How do I manage with my nails? Well… Let’s talk!
My nails are a part of whom I am and have become my identity. I’ve had people asking me to cut them, to get rid of them, and of course ask me the burning question, “How do you wipe?”. And to be reasonably honest, you guys, I just.. do. I don’t find it necessarily challenging to accommodate the length of my nails, but I can also see where people can/do have a problem with it. I function just fine daily, and, not to say anyone reading this is judging me, but I don’t think that someone should be judged for something like having their nails long. It’s just their style or it’s just how they like it. And who is someone else to judge for what that person likes? Just think about it something that you like might be considered weird is strange to somebody else and you might take that a little offensively. Not saying that I do but it can get kind of annoying after a while when people ask you how you do things and you’re standing there fully dressed as a human being helping them with what it is they need to do throughout the day.
The whole story behind my nails is that I’ve always enjoyed doing them. I have a thing for hands. Not necessarily a fetish but just a thing.
I like hands.
I began to like the presentation of people’s hands as I got older. But at a young age, I knew that I did like hands. I remember playing with my grandmother’s hand and my mom‘s hand, just touching them and feeling how soft they were; comparing the lines. A lot of things make sense to me now as I’ve grown as an adult in the past that I’ve taken as to why I like hands. So the presentation of hands became a thing for me when I started painting them, and my grandmother was getting her nails done. I would take the big box of just nail polish that my mom and grandmother collected over the years and spend time painting my nails, and I got into designs after a while.
I did play basketball most of my life, so the long nails weren’t a thing until way after, but I would paint my nails when I was in high school and college. I am pretty sure I’m the one who restarted the multicolor nail trend. I remember I think I was a sophomore in high school, and I painted each of my nails a different neon color. We had a game around then, and it wasn’t uncommon for us to be featured in a newspaper. So I remember that particular game was featured in the newspaper and my hands were showing with the multicolor nails, and just about 2 to 3 weeks later I saw it in a magazine. I forget which magazine, but I saw it in like a teen magazine, and I was just like “I started that”.
As I got older, I grew with my art style, and with that, the designs of my nails grew. I had just been doing my natural nails for a very long time at this point (I still have pics, let me know in the comments if you want to see them!). It wasn’t until after college and I had moved to Atlanta that I got my nails done professionally just for fun. I got them done once for prom and hated them. I did the most cringe thing ever, and I bit them off during an SAT. I didn’t like the way they felt. They were duck nails, and they weren’t supposed to be duck nails. I didn’t like the way they felt rubbing against each other when my fingers weren’t touching, so I just put them off. But when I moved to Atlanta and wanted them to get it done as an adult, it was a different story. I liked long nails; I thought that they were sexy, and that’s where the longer nail journey started, but every single time I wouldn’t get them done, they broke. I only ever paid for my nails to be done 3 times.
Right around when Wish first came out and it was super huge, I decided to order the “complete” 36-piece nail kit that now, haunts my nail dreams. I was so happy when I got that package! I thought the same thing as everyone else: save money. The first set was cute and I liked the way it turned out to be my first time, but my perfectionist side kicked in.
It was all over.
I wanted to have salon nails. Picture perfect. The best. I ended up investing so much money over the years. I even seriously considered getting a nail tech license to be able to go work in a shop or start my own legit nail tech business. I truly enjoy it.
There were several downsides to everything, but I’ll save that for a different story since that’s just as long. However, as my new nail talent grew, so did the art. With the art, I needed more space to put characters or my own designs since the stubs just weren’t cutting it for me.
I found some EXTREME nail forms from another Instagram nail tech and knew that’s what I needed in my life and on my hands. Those extended out to about 6” at the longest! I knew I had found my space.
But with the length came the attention and mesmerization. People had every feeling about my nails. Amused. Amazed. Mystified. In awe. Some, of course, were disgusted.
To a degree, I do enjoy the attention. I don’t do my nails for the attention though. I do them because I truly feel naked without 4-6” of acrylic extending from my hands at all times.
Kidding. A little.
I do my nails because it’s who I am. I like how people remember me because of my nails. When someone finally has the courage to speak up and ask me about them, it brings joy to my face and heart when I tell them I do them myself. Nails are a craft and art form. I’ve also learned that mine happens to be the best business card I could ever have lol.
In all, having 4”-6” nails is truly just my preference. I have recorded myself plenty of times doing normal tasks and even considered doing it as a little series on TikTok since it really is a magickal thing to watch how hands work.
Enjoy your day and let me know what you guys think about my little nail journey! Should I do part 2 on the advantages and disadvantages of having long nails? I’d really love to hear from you!
-Hacked