Today will be my first full day since before Halloween to experience life without the ½ inch long acrylic prostheses that vanity dictates I attach to the ends of my fingers every winter. Seriously, I love acrylic nails. But if you actually have to work for a living, manual labor type work that is the bread and butter of my business, they become at best an annoying luxury, at worst a handicap.
This year, in a fit of insanity, I actually toyed with the idea of just filing them down to a manageable length and seeing if I could nurse them through my busy season. I allowed myself to entertain the theory that beautiful, well-manicured hands would enhance my image and impress prospective clients…so it would be worth the pain in the ass, and $20 every three weeks, to maintain them. An unforeseen cash-flow crisis started to erode that dream…and when one of the acrylic appendages in question popped off while I was making dinner last night, the die was cast for its nine amigos as well. I sat down in front of the television last night with a bottle of heavy-duty polish remover and a pry bar.
So today I sally forth into life with slightly sore, short and stubby unremarkable fingers. Maybe I’ll purposely drop my debit card at the grocery store just for the thrill of being able to pick it up.
LOL! Jae
ReplyDeleteI hate it when my fingernails grow too long and am always happy to clip them ~ Always think how lovely they look on other people ~ but they do get in the way lol ~ Ally
ReplyDeleteWith my stubby fingers, beautiful manicures always seem to look better in my imagination than for real. Seems to be true of a lot of other things too. Siiiiiiiiiiiigh.
ReplyDeleteJackie
I can't believe you wrote about this--I gave mine up a while back, but still mourn; I love them, too! Even after I stopped going, the Vietnamese techs waved at me when I strolled by on the way to the grocery, so now I take a roundabout route to avoid them. I want to go in so BAD! However, it's not only the long-term commitment, the expense, the manual dexterity issue, and how they would look when I'd wait 3 weeks (I'm a nail biter and they were no match for me when I got stressed), but I just know that in ten years there will be an article about some horrendous medical effect of those chemicals. But after a lifetime of stubs, it was a halcyon period under the luminous OPI rainbow and feeling like one of those well-coiffed, manicured, tailored women I always envied. Now I have to be content with brow waxing.
ReplyDelete*debbi*
I like the short, cropped look of neatly filed nails ... but that's only because each acrylic set I've done have caused more pain than glory! LOL.
ReplyDeleteyou know what I meant...nails!
ReplyDeleteYou would shriek if you saw my mails.
ReplyDeleteAcrylic nails -- who woulda guessed?
ReplyDeleteI have never had nice nails. Any time they start to get a little long, they drive me crazy scaping something, or clicking against keys and I have to get rid of them. I can't imagine what it would be like to try and function with them.
ReplyDelete:)
My mother, btw....has talons. Real ones. Always has, and most likely always will.
I'm with 'alphawoman1 ... you would shriek if you saw my 'mails' too. LOL I was born to a woman that had nails of steel. She had beautiful hands and it took a hack saw to break her nails so she always had moderately long nails. My sister and I both inherited partialy strong nails so I have had medium nails most of my life. When one of them breaks I cut all of them off and then I can't type, pick anything up or function even moderatly well. Or do anything with my shrieking mail!!! LOL Pennie
ReplyDeleteYou know, I've never done acrylic nails, but I sure have thought about it. My own nails are of the crack -and-peel variety, but I guess I'm afraid that I'd be too lazy to maintain the acrylics properly. On the other hand, maybe it would be easier? Don't know. So many decisions ! Tina
ReplyDelete