Hand Photo models
I’ve been thinking about something that I need to get off my chest. I
touched on the subject in my post here,
but as I read some of the comments that people have made there, I just knew
that I had to make another post about it.
When I browse some of the Facebook groups I’m in, I can see that some
girls are really harsh to each other.
It’s been a while since there was a “clean up or die”-campaign – thank
god that stopped pretty fast, because
that was really way off base! I mean – so what
if there are girls who don’t clean up their cuticles perfectly? If you don’t
like the way they look, then you don’t actually have to visit that blog! Probably
no one will notice you’re not there. And I can also see that it isn’t as
“popular” to have short nails as it is to have them long. I don’t understand
that! Short or long, it doesn’t really matter, as long as you’re happy with
them yourself. It makes me sad to see some girls putting themselves down
because they can’t grow long nails. Learn to love what you have – because that
shows!
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| Some of my beloved Color Clubs |
And here’s another thing! It’s as if the hysteria from the beauty magazines has
spread to the nail world. We aren’t allowed to have a hang nail, a broken edge
of a nail, ridges where we bend our fingers, lines, wrinkles or spots. It seems
that we’re striving for the impossibly perfect nails and hands here, but what the
hell for? To prove you don’t actually have a life outside of painting your
nails?
Vanity is one thing, sure - but the other thing is: It apparently makes you more popular if your fingers and hands look as if they’re taken out of a Photoshop-heaven fashion magazine. So – blogging isn’t just for fun and for sharing a fantastic hobby anymore, all of a sudden it’s also a competition between bloggers: Who gets the most followers, the most comments, the most hits per day? What a load.
Vanity is one thing, sure - but the other thing is: It apparently makes you more popular if your fingers and hands look as if they’re taken out of a Photoshop-heaven fashion magazine. So – blogging isn’t just for fun and for sharing a fantastic hobby anymore, all of a sudden it’s also a competition between bloggers: Who gets the most followers, the most comments, the most hits per day? What a load.
I follow quite a lot of nail blogs. I have favourites, of course I do –
I guess we all have. The girls I follow have very different hands and nails.
Their age is between teenager and almost pensioner. They have long nails, short
nails, small nails, wide nails, dry cuticles, and some of them don’t clean up around the fingernails. What? OMG!
For Shame! Such inferior women! Some of them have hangnails and some of them
have only just started practising doing nail art. Do you remember what it was
like the first time you did nail art? If so, then you know what I mean.
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| Some of my beloved China Glazes |
I follow all these different girls, and I do that for these reasons
only: They all share the love for pretty polishes, and they all have a heart.
If we forget the heart, then none of all this matters. Then it becomes just something
we do automatically to stroke our own ego and (perhaps) achieve a brief and
shallow popularity because of the way our fingers look, probably achieved with
photoshop anyway. I mean – get real! Nice-looking is fantastic, but if it’s a
case of ‘pretty cover, nothing of interest inside’, what’s the point? Know what
I mean? It is silly, really!
I absolutely agree with you. I myself have wanted to write similar post on blog about things in nail blogging. I just don't understand that whole mania about cleaning the cuticles perfectly. Ok, I do agree that neat nails look great, but design is first thing that I see. I don't have so much time in my life to waste on looking in someone's cuticles, judging and writing mean comments. That's the first thing. And the second, when I am doing nail art I do it for fun, but it takes a lot of time to simply do it, clean cuticles, take photos, post it on blog. I always try to do the best I can, but I also have other important things to do, and then just someone come and write how my cuticles are not perfect or how she doesn't like the design. So what, I don't force anyone to follow my blog, if they don't like it, they can go, there are plenty of places on the internet for everyone. But it is really interesting what kind of people you can meet on the internet. They would rather waste time on writing mean comments, than do something. What's more, it is interesting how you can see negative comments on your post from people who actually don't follow your blog at all, accept when they can say something harshly.
ReplyDeleteI was taught that if you haven't got anything nice to say, then you shouldn't say anything at all. The problem is, that most people don't know how to say things constructively - it all comes out so harsh. And whose norms are we following, exactly?
DeleteFor all I know, there are girls who are perfectly happy with polish on their cuticles!
As for the nail art - I love to see all sorts of nail art: From a simple dot or line to a nicely painted picture. They're all great!
Thanks for your comment! <3
Well said! We are blogging because we love nail polish and not because we are perfect.
ReplyDeleteExactly! It all becomes boring if it turns into a competition :)
DeleteSuch a great blog post! I agree with you, it's the person behind the blog that's interesting aswell. We all come together for our love for nail polish! <3
ReplyDeleteThank you - and yes we do! It's not about perfection, it's about love to a hobby that happens to contain pretty polish :)
DeleteGreat post!!! Nothing to add ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks sweetie, I'm glad you like it! :)
DeleteGreat post, thank you for writing it.
ReplyDeleteThank you, it was a pleasure :)
DeleteWell spoken my friend!
ReplyDeleteI agree - the trend is like that, and it makes me think of the young girls who do not think they are good enough unless they are sickly skinny like the models in the magazines.
I think it is a downside of the internet, we seek information and some forget that a lot of it is found on personal blogs, and that the blog owner is a real person LOL
But once again - a great post!! (said the almost pensioner ;)
That's so true - we tend to forget that we actually communicate with people made of flesh and blood - I also think that's why some girls are so rude. It's so easy to be rude when you can't see the other person's reactions.
DeleteAnd thank you so much for that comment, I appreciate it <3
DeleteWell said ! Thanks <3
ReplyDeleteWonderful blog post! You gained another follower. <3 We are all here because we love nails. I am not a tech, I have been doing nail art for less than a year, but I would not have continued without the love support and inspiration I gain from other online nail artists. When we are kind to one another, our nails shine brighter, look prettier and we all feel happier about ourselves. Thank you for shining a beautiful light in the nail community. <3
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your reply and your kind words, I appreciate it <3
DeleteI've seen too many girls put themselves down over a rude comment, and I don't think it's right. I think it's such a good statement you've got about shining brighter when we're feeling happy about ourselves. Thank you! :)
I totally agree! Some folks seem to think that keeping a blog means you view your nail art as perfect examples of what can be done. For me, that's not the case at all: My finished looks are far from perfect and I keep a blog as a method of documenting my successes and failures as I improve my skills. You can see mess, failures, and *GASP* messy cuticles on my blog, but I hope that you can also see an improvement as time passes!
ReplyDeleteI also think it's fun to look back and see the improvement. I also use it to remember that we all start somewhere and it's a fantastic hobby full of colours, creativity and prettiness.
DeleteOMG, messy cuticles! :D
Great post! I totally agree with you! Being a perfectionist, I try to clean my cuticles and stamp perfectly... Sometimes I achieve the look, sometimes I don't. I don't have the perfect skintone, or the nails or the cuticles. But I enjoy wearing nailpolish and I try to do my best... So, my friend, you are stuck with my horrid pictures... LOL <3 Love you!
ReplyDeleteI don't find your pictures horrid - I find them pretty. Like I said: We do share a very beautiful hobby - and you've got a very beautiful heart, my friend. Love you too! <3
DeleteI love your post. I will never understand why some people feel the need to criticize other peoples stuff. I know for myself, no matter how much time I spend cleaning up, the camera will find something. I don't have the time or interest to become a retouch specialist with photoshop.
ReplyDeleteMy camera can also pick up things that I can't see in real life, no matter how hard I look, it's so weird.
DeleteTo me it's like this: I love polishing way more than I love cleaning up. And yes, I sometimes stick my hand in leftover stamping polish and don't notice it till after the pictures are taken - and so what? :) I still love my manis! :)
I absolutely love your post! you are so right! thanks for being awesome!
ReplyDeleteI certainly know my pictures are far from perfect, my hands are shaky, my clean ups are messy....but! I LOVE NAIL POLISH! and that is the reason i created my blog and is the reason why i keep at it even if my nails and pictures don't translate to what my head really wants to see.
Great post, once again! :) <3
Aww thank you so much <3
Delete"I love nail polish" sums it pretty much up for me too! I hate that some girls sees it as a competition in who has the prettiest nails, the crispest cleanup, the sharpest pictures... Let's share the love instead! <3