First of all a disclaimer: by ‘men’ we mean the average punter, not the exceptional gentlemen who work in the beauty industry, male nail bloggers or males living with a manicurist or nail blogger.
Now the shocking news! Last month we conducted a research asking males just one question: “What manicures/nail art you don’t like the most?”. We even supplied with examples, like leopard print manicure, neon nails, black nails, etc. Of course, we didn’t expect the guys to know about nail trends so we wanted to make their job easy. But guess what? Only 15% gave us some kind of response, while the 85% said they didn’t care about nails or haven’t responded at all. In the 15% that responded, the two of the most common answers were “I prefer natural beauty” and “Red nails are ok.” Now savour it, one person asked “Leopard print manicure?! Does such thing really exist?”…
Conversely, when we were researching fashion trends that men dislike the most. There was passion in the answers. But nails, – no. They just don’t care.
It’s actually liberating to know that we can do whatever the heck we want with our nails. Bring on the glitter, studs and striping tape! Nail art is something you do for yourself and yourself only. For your own satisfaction and joy. The guy sitting in front of you at the dinner table won’t even notice. But on the other hand… really? That’s a piece of art work on my nails and he doesn’t even notice. Sigh…
So, do you care that the guys don’t care?
– Maria, xx
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Pamela says
Interesting that you did a survey about this. I can tell you that in my experience, when I have done a bold nail art, I seem to get more compliments from men than women. In fact, while I was working, I had a quite a few men who would check my nails each time they came shopping (I was a cashier), to see what I had on my nails that day.
Maria @SoNailicious says
I agree, when I have something bright and nice on my nails, guys want to have a closer look and many give compliments. But the answers that we got during the research were quite different. I guess we somehow need to educate guys about nail art. But then, who knows what if they jump in?! lol
Carla A. says
I don’t care if sb else dislikes it or ignores it…It is about your taste, so what really matters is to do it with passion :)
Maria @SoNailicious says
Exactly, that’s the beauty of it!
Anita@StyleThoseNails says
This is sad but really don’t matter to me. I do it for myself
Maria @SoNailicious says
Same here, it just was so surprising to find out so many men have no idea about nail art or manicures, in general. It’s such a big industry yet still like some kind of secret society to many who are not into nail art.
Elina says
Hehe, my husband just 10 minutes ago send me a message and asked – when did you have these beautiful dark blue nails with crowns? He was checking my blog on his way and saw the latest post – http://nailscope.blogspot.com/2014/11/essence-sparkle-sand-top-coat.html
He was a little bit disappointed that he didn’t see them in real life. So I promised that I will make something like that again. :)
But your survey is shocking! I even didn’t know that these 85% of men exist! :D
Ok, if your girl/wife don’t wear nail art, then you don’t care about it. This I understand. But if she loves it… then it is really strange.
Maria @SoNailicious says
Same here, unless I ask my nails go unnoticed. BUT I see some positive changes! Now my husband occasionally shows me some interesting nails he’s seen in a magazine or on TV. He works in the TV industry so he shows me a lot of celebrity nail art ;)
Janice Song says
To be honest, I get quite a few compliments from guys when i have nail art on, and sometimes when its just a bright or attractive color. Bravo to those men, i say. :D
Maria @SoNailicious says
Yes, me too. I often get compliments from guys in the most random places, where no one knows me or what I do. For instance, when in a coffee shop or local post office. It was partially the reason why we decided to do this research. But the results are right here and to me, it’s shocking to find out how many guys have no idea about such a huge industry.
Bella says
I’ve trained my man these past 5 years to naturally notice my nails and he compliments them all the time! He even knows the lingo (gradient, half moon) lol. He’s even painted my nails before and did a really great job. Working in retail I would always get lots of compliments from men – they were really impressed with the detail! I think surveys like these don’t really apply well because everyone is different and have different circumstances!
Maria @SoNailicious says
Agree 100% and that’s why we made a disclaimer right at the beginning of the post ;)
Zara TracesOfPolish says
I would say this lies in line with my experience with one exception. The length of the nails! As long as the nails sporting the nail art in question is of short/medium lenght the interest is minimal. If They get long the response is negative in my experience!
Christine Chipman says
This really doesn’t surprise me, but I’ve been blessed by the most wonderful husband in the world, and he is really proud of the work I do on my nails and tells me so. He supported me through my cancer treatment earlier this year, and when I discovered nail art while researching ways to fix my utterly destroyed nails (from the chemotherapy), he encouraged me, and has even bought me nail polish for my stash. He jokingly says “Surely you’ve got enough nail polish by now!”, and then goes and asks me which nail polish gift pack I’d like from our local pharmacy for Christmas. I feel so blessed, and wish others were as lucky as me. We have been married for 33 years now, and been through some really terrible health scares between us, but our marriage is just as strong as it has ever been. God brought us together, and ONLY God will separate us!