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Message |
    
Cathy
Supporter
Username: Clkelley
Post Number: 687
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 3:06 pm: |     |
There are several threads going on MOL right now about the opening up of a third nail salon in Maplewood village. I have to agree that this is not good for the town.
But I read in one thread that New Jersey has the highest numer of nail salons per capita of any state. As somebody not native to NJ, I have to admit that when I moved here I was astonished by how many women have "done" nails. I had never had a professional manicure in my life before coming here, and rarely painted my nails. I think I've had my nails done maybe three times in my life. I have a few congealing bottles of polish in my medicine cabinet, but generally am incapable of sitting still long enough to apply paint to all 10 fingernails and allow it to dry.
I am at present the only woman I know who keeps my nails cut down nearly to the bottom, and unpainted. I'm not a slob or a geek or a hippie type - I dress professionally, wear makeup, try to keep my hair nice, keep my weight within the Misses range of sizes, etc. But I really don't get the nails thing.
So I have to wonder - Am I alone? Do I reveal myself to the world as a hopeless style-indifferent geek for keeping my nails devoid of paint? I don't feel bad if this is so - in fact I might be slightly snobby about it. I'm just curious.
Do you get your nails done, and if so how frequently? |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 3892
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 3:16 pm: | |
Cathy-
Interesting question. I used to get my nails done regularly & intend to get back around to it. I started when I was in my late 30s & noticed that my hands looked "my age" when the rest of me didn't.
Lotion, cuticles, shaping, etc. help a lot, especially since most people think I'm about 8-10 years younger than I am. My professional world can get pretty age-cutthroat.
Weekly or bi-weekly. Before I started doing so many projects around the house that it wasn't worth it, I started doing them myself. I don't have the patience, either, but it's a way of forcing myself to sit still for an hour or so.
Warning: moment of potential over-sharing in next sentence:
I paint them because when I'm stressed, I tend to pick at my cuticles & painting, for whatever reason, seems to keep me from doing it. |
algebra2
Supporter
Username: Algebra2
Post Number: 2955
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 3:17 pm: | |
I get my toes done in the summer but have never gotten my finger nails done. Remember the Palmolive commercial with Madge (" you're soaking in it") I remember growing up I had no clue what that was all about. |
shh
Citizen
Username: Shh
Post Number: 2170
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 3:42 pm: | |
Some of my earliest memories growing up involved playing with my mom's old make-up and polishing my nails. I knew kids in middle school who'd get weekly manicures!
I was a late bloomer and don't remember getting a real manicure until after HS.
I also have always been a nail/cuticle picker and find when I do get manicures I stop myself a little bit.
FWIW, we are way "behind" in the manicure phenom than the NY boroughs, where I'm from.
If I had the free-time I'd do it at least on a semi-weekly basis just to keep my hands looking a little nicer. |
mjc
Citizen
Username: Mjc
Post Number: 242
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 3:42 pm: | |
Had them done once on an emergency basis for an event, but it didn't help that much. 
Every few years, I paint them myself for a few weeks "for fun" until I get tired of the chipping and repairing (they're very thin and flexible).
If I had more time, money and interest, it seems like having them done regularly could be pleasant and relaxing, like having a shampoo and haircut or going for coffee with a friend.
I do remember on first moving to NJ thinking, omigod, there are whole buildings just for nails?? |
mjc
Citizen
Username: Mjc
Post Number: 243
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 3:45 pm: | |
shh - earliest memories, yeah. My older sister, when she was babysitting me, would paint my nails and then tell me I had to sit still for a LONG time while they dried.  |
Bobkat
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 7586
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 3:47 pm: | |
Aren't painted nails part of the whole "Jersey Girl" thing? |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 3894
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 3:56 pm: | |
Bob -
You get into the length and color decision tree to answer that. 
That's a whoooole 'nother thread! |
Lizziecat
Citizen
Username: Lizziecat
Post Number: 509
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 4:16 pm: | |
I do'em myself-fingers and toes. Always have--I just don't think that those nail places are clean. I read about some nasty fungi that you can pick up in nail places, and it creeps me out. I use Sally Hanson's clear on my fingenails--it keeps them from breaking. |
Brett
Citizen
Username: Bmalibashksa
Post Number: 1447
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 4:26 pm: | |
My girlfriend buffed my nails once. I loved it.
She won't do it anymeore so now I have to buff them myself 
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monster
Citizen
Username: Monster
Post Number: 534
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 4:34 pm: | |
I prefer to have my smurf buffed...
that being said, I think that all of these nail salons have to be a front for something, money laundering or something, they have to be.
If the trend keeps up in Maplewood, I may as well start shopping on Springfield Ave. in Irvington. |
Joan
Supporter
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 4943
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 4:58 pm: | |
Never hand my finger nails or my toe nails done. I prefer the natural look. |
Bobkat
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 7587
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 5:52 pm: | |
Don't know about nail joints, but my father in law picked up some really, really nasty nail fungi in the South Pacific during WWII. |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 5487
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 5:52 pm: | |
My mother grew up in Westchester and has lived in NYC all her life. I don't think it's purely a Jersey girl thing. I don't think she would ever go out without something on her nails.
But even having said that, I don't know why anyone would feel that way. |
Cathy
Supporter
Username: Clkelley
Post Number: 688
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 6:06 pm: | |
Maybe it's a New York/ New Jersey thing? Or NY Metro area thing - I'll bet there's lots of done nails in western CT.
Joan - are you a native NJer? Just curious. It seems that there's a pretty clean split between locals and transplants. i.e. most locals feel like Tom's mom ... whether somebody does their nails or they do them themselves, they won't go out with naked nails. Transplants might do their nails, but don't feel this compulsion.
What about lipstick? My sister won't leave the house without it, even if she has no other makeup on. I won't go out without eye makeup, but rarely wear lipstick. Maybe that's another thread though. |
sac
Supporter
Username: Sac
Post Number: 1834
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 7:04 pm: | |
I don't do mine and I'm not from around here either.
My Jersey-native daughters (ages 9 and 13) both like to have theirs done.
However, I doubt that this sample is statistically significant. |
Mustt_mustt
Citizen
Username: Mustt_mustt
Post Number: 272
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 7:26 pm: | |
Too many nail salons in NJ - Well, that was the story on FOX 5 this evening, datelined from Maplewood. The reporter mentioned the meeting that is supposed to take place tomorrow that I'd hope would ban these salons from our neck of the woods. My daughter was excited at seeing the village on TV |
Lizziecat
Citizen
Username: Lizziecat
Post Number: 510
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 7:56 pm: | |
I rarely wear any makeup, never wore lipstick, but I won't leave the house without my earrings. |
Taylor M
Citizen
Username: Anotherusername
Post Number: 300
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 8:05 pm: | |
I don't bother doing my nails either. I think I've had then done maybe 5 times in my life. I bite them to trim them. |
Wendyn
Supporter
Username: Wendyn
Post Number: 1369
Registered: 9-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 8:32 am: | |
My nails are also short (I cut them every week) and unpolished and I am a NJ native. And believe me, NJ does NOT have the run on painted nails. Go to the south and you will see some painted nails.
I get pedicures in the summer but I don't have the patience to wait for a manicure to dry. Plus after years of biting/picking my nails won't grow properly and look ridiculous painted. Sometimes I get a no-polish manicure just to clean them up. |
thegoodsgt
Citizen
Username: Thegoodsgt
Post Number: 755
Registered: 2-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 8:39 am: | |
As a guy, I don't find painted nails particularly attractive or sexy. Just artificial. Neat, well-trimmed nails are just fine with me.
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Cathy
Supporter
Username: Clkelley
Post Number: 689
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 10:14 am: | |
Ok Wendyn! I'm glad that other women cut their nails way down.
As to points south - I grew up in Maryland and don't recall ever having seen a nail salon or anything like it. I do remember sometimes painting my nails in high school, but it was really just for a lark - even the cheerleader / alpha types didn't necessarily have painted nails.
Maybe that's not far enough south? I left that part of the world in 1990, so there could also be generational stuff going on.
The few times I've been in nail salons I can't help but channeling the movie "The Women." That's kind of how I feel about the whole nails thing ... |
Wendyn
Supporter
Username: Wendyn
Post Number: 1373
Registered: 9-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 10:18 am: | |
I'm thinking the Bible Belt. I've been to Atlanta a couple of times and Dallas countless times and they give NJ's big-hair-long-nails a run for their money.
My 4 year old is begging me to do her nails. She watched me get a pedi once and was facinated. I might relent this summer... |
Spare_o
Citizen
Username: Spare_o
Post Number: 195
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 1:13 pm: | |
I used to always paint my nails with the more natural, light colored polishes but don't have the time anymore. I'm also a bit too much of a perfectionist so I was constantly touching them up. I'm from LA and I used to go every other week for a manicure and monthly for a pedicure year round. Most women I knew there had artificial nails and I was one of the few exceptions to that. I found back in the day that I was usually the youngest person in business meetings so I found polishing my nails helped me feel a little older. Maybe that's another reason I don't bother anymore...
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C Bataille
Citizen
Username: Nakaille
Post Number: 1848
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 1:26 pm: | |
I have never had my nails done professionally and my own skills are so poor that it's not worth the effort. Also, they split easily and are ridged despite generally good nutrition.
My mother, who was pretty earthy in lots of ways, did her own nails whenever she was going some place special. She also wore a modicum of makeup. I'm not into either except for a bit of makeup for a really dress-up occasion, like a wedding. When my nails get a little long I get these serious urges to cut them and then feel relief after I do, which sounds funny to me, like compulsive behavior. I think I let my daughter do my toenails once but that's the sum of my experience with pedicure. I'm way too ticklish to even think about that.
My kid likes to paint her nails sometimes but will start to pick the stuff off almost before it's dry. She's the type to trim all 20 nails with her teeth!
I'm nearly a Jersey native, having lived here since I was 2 years old.
Cathy |
mim
Citizen
Username: Mim
Post Number: 412
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 2:39 pm: | |
I have never had a manicure or pedicure either. I do a lot of gardening and handiwork, so it would be a total loss in any case. So who IS patronizing these places??? |
redY67
Citizen
Username: Redy67
Post Number: 597
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 2:43 pm: | |
It's not just nails, they do waxing, facials, and well, butt massages..... |
Lizziecat
Citizen
Username: Lizziecat
Post Number: 512
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 3:49 pm: | |
Grandma picks up granddaughter (then two and a half) from day care. Kid sits in her car seat and says that she want "parmasan." Grandma promises parmasan the minute we get home. As soon as we get home, grandma, true to her word, offers cheese. Kid throws herself on the floor, screaming that she wants "parmasan." ??? Not cheese? Grandma finally figures out that kid wants "POLISH ON" nails. Grandma finds purple polish, applies it to fingers and toes. Kid is happy, eats cheese. Peace. |
mem
Citizen
Username: Mem
Post Number: 4628
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 5:25 pm: | |
Count me out - I don't paint my nails and I don't use lipstick either. And I would never opt for a butt massage on purpose. |
shh
Citizen
Username: Shh
Post Number: 2185
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 5:35 pm: | |
No lipstick? Don't your lips get chapped?
For all the DIYers out there, what is your favorite pale pink/nude/cream nail polish? I have found I like Sally Hansen because they don't streak like other sheer/pale colors but I have a hard time finding that perfect natural color that just makes my nails look neat and done without being too done. My skin is pretty fair, and even though I "keep" my nails short my fingers are long. |
Cynicalgirl
Citizen
Username: Cynicalgirl
Post Number: 1129
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 16, 2005 - 9:41 am: | |
I don't get either set of nails done, and where I come from (Delaware) it isn't nearly as common as it is here. My daughter, though, has gotten into it as her little friends get it done (here in NJ, but not where we used to live). Same with waxing, BTW.
And outside help with housecleaning, laundry and yard work. I find that people around these parts outsource more!
I would be interested to see a map, kind of like those ones in Atlantic Monthly, that shows concentration of Nail Service Providers across the U.S. I'd guess it varies by urban-ness, but maybe the South has a lot of them as women there seem more into the whole hair/makeup/nails thing.
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campbell29
Citizen
Username: Campbell29
Post Number: 131
Registered: 4-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 16, 2005 - 11:25 am: | |
I used to get my nails done weekly when I had a job. (Lived in Florida) and there were plenty of nail salons available. Once I moved to NJ and had a child and no free time, I stopped. Now, every so often, I will paint them myself. Have never gotten a pedicure because I can't abide anyone touching my feet, but will paint toenails at the beginning of the summer and touch up as needed. I was listening to the radio in Boston last summer and there was a whole discussion about whether or not is was gross for women to wear sandals without painting their toenails.
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