Men and nail painting: how to paint your nails and still look manly and cool
We said goodbye to the notion that fashion and personal style must be governed by gender norms a few years ago and welcomed skirts or ball gowns on the men's red carpet. As well as the trend of painted men's nails.
But this phenomenon is nothing new. It was around in the seventies and no doubt bold and unorthodox men have experimented with it before. But for a long time, it was considered the prerogative of the most daring and radical, perhaps also something you do in the privacy of your boudoir among friends (or girlfriends) who won't judge you. But times have changed considerably.
Complementing men's style
Many consider nail painting to be a purely feminine affair. Completely wrong. Nail polish is a universally available means for everyone to express their style. Just like your hairstyle, shoes or jewellery. And just like other fashion and style accessories, it can be very subtle and typically feminine, but you can also make it a masculine affair.
Painting your nails is also a perfect way to experiment with your style. It's cheap, easy, accessible and you can also remove it again quickly.
Punk black and why to avoid it
When it comes to masculine nail polish, some people think the only colour allowed is black. Punk or metallic black, ideally still peeled. As long as it's not "too pretty", because, after all, manicured, pretty nails are reserved for women.
That's nonsense, of course. Even men can have nice and perfect nails. And they don't necessarily need to have polish on them either, just a meticulously maintained manicure will have a huge effect in refining your style. And it doesn't matter if you do it yourself at home or entrust yourself to the care of a professional at a salon.
A peeling black polish is more likely to show that you haven't addressed your appearance or that you've made teenage attempts and now you can't fix it. It looks like a joke that you tried, it didn't go so well, so you're letting it kind of fizzle out.
Especially the short ones.
On first thought, it seems that the main factor that decides between masculine and feminine looking polish is the colour. But that's secondary. The length of the nails plays the biggest role in this respect. It's the ladies who charm with long nails of different colours. Long nails visually lengthen and narrow the fingers and give the hands a softer look. If you want to look masculine, then go for short nails.
But that doesn't mean you have to cut them down to the flesh. A thin strip of fingernail growth is perfectly adequate. Once you've painted the extra nail, no one will see the ingrown part. So you can do a little "trick" and use this to give all your nails the same symmetrical shape.
No glitter, no metallic.
But of course colour is important too. The shade you choose is up to you, but muted and actually "non-coloured" colours will look masculine. And also dark. Blue, grey, green, brown... these are the stalwarts of men's style. But pure white also looks very good, although it's a bolder choice.
The most feminine tones are, unsurprisingly, pink, red, orange. If you want to play it safe, avoid them. Somewhere on the borderline are pastel colours - for example, light blue will look good on both men and women.
Zdroj: GiphyNail art, matte and other embellishments
Glitter doesn't belong in an 'orthodox masculine' manicure either, but that doesn't mean you have to stick to the monochrome glossy standard. There are plenty of ways to spice up your nails. For example, if you don't like glossy polish and consider high gloss to be a feminine thing, try matte polishes (or matte topcoats, which are clear and can be used on all colours). Once dry, they are like chalk and give your nails a highly sophisticated look. Similar to how cool matte polish is on a car.
Another "car effect" that can be done on nails is metallic. Nail polishes with fine metallic powder or other pigments will make your nails look extremely attractive, such as steel grey. The best ones are also magnetically reactive, and by using special magnets that are attached to the nail with wet polish, unprecedented effects can be created.
The biggest favourite is nail art, which hides all the more complicated nail decoration. From geometric patterns, to gluing rhinestones, freehand painting and even three-dimensional applications. There are a million possibilities and the choice is yours. But the surest way for men's hands is to ignore all these complications and just stick to one precisely applied colour.
Perfection speaks for itself
For a clear guide on how to paint your nails yourself at home, even if you're a complete beginner, check out our article on why you shouldn't be painting your nails. It's extra packed with arguments you can tell those when they'd like to mock your manicure.
In general, though, perfect nails look best. Or at least close to perfect. That's not to say you should put on a pair of gloves every time you find a minor flaw, but we are saying you should take care. After all, you love yourself and want to look your best, don't you?
