Does the state of someone's manicure...

[ame]

form an opinion about them for you? I was reading an article the other day about how when you have your nails done you look 100x more "professional" and put together. I only have mine done bec I was anticipating my new ring last week, and will be going back to my normal non-manicured, overgrown cuticles, no-white-showing nails this weekend for assembly of an invite job. I normally only bother with nail polish a few times a year, mostly because the growing out stage is something I can't handle. Yet I collect polishes in an alarming quantity...I even got a few based on the long old polish thread that I cannot seem to find on here.

Do you keep your nails up/hands in good shape?

 

[Autumnovember]

form an opinion about them for you? I was reading an article the other day about how when you have your nails done you look 100x more "professional" and put together. I only have mine done bec I was anticipating my new ring last week, and will be going back to my normal non-manicured, overgrown cuticles, no-white-showing nails this weekend for assembly of an invite job. I normally only bother with nail polish a few times a year, mostly because the growing out stage is something I can't handle. Yet I collect polishes in an alarming quantity...I even got a few based on the long old polish thread that I cannot seem to find on here.

Do you keep your nails up/hands in good shape?

It's funny because you and I sound identical. I do exactly what you do. I go through weird phases...sometimes I love having my nails painted and other times they are free of any color and they're just....there.

However, for some strange reason I do collect nail polishes....I have so many!!

I did fall in love with one particular color recently that has made me go nail polish painting crazy. I have been painting my nails with it constantly for the last few months.

a lot of times (before nursing school), I would let my nail polish just grow out (yuck) and gets all chipped and ugly but I didn't care.

Now...I'm not allowed to do that anymore because of school.

Whenever I see someone with nice nails, I always compliment them. I have always wanted to have nice nail beds.

I do like when peoples nails are polished nicely but I don't consider them less professional if they are not. The nails just need to be well kept without dirt underneath them and jagged edges.

There are so many other variable about someone that would make me think of them as being professional/not and nails would be low on my list.

Sometimes I go a while without getting my nails manicured and then when I finally do go get them it reminds me of why I should do it more often because really, your hands do look nicer that way. Speaking of...maybe I should go today......

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Mine look not too good right now. Last few days I've been pulling weeds & doing general yard maintanance w/out any gloves out and YES there was dirt under my nails! lol I did wash them, though...didn't walk around the grocery store like that!

Overall, I wash my hands too often to spend the time painting them...my focus is on my toes. Have a collection of OPI to keep my feet colorful.

 

[kenny]

No.
I see hands, mine or others, as functional tools.

 

[zoebartlett]

Certain looks (paint colors, length, etc.) may not be ones I'd choose for myself but it doesn't matter to me how someone else chooses to do hers. I will say though that I truly don't understand super long nails. I always wonder how a person with nails that long can pick anything up, etc.It seems like those nails would get in the way of so many things.

I love painting my nails and do so often. I don't like getting my nails done, actually. I find that I can do just as good of a job and it's free.

 

[Haven]

I think well-kept nails do make someone look polished, yes. On the flip side, really poorly kept nails will make someone look a bit unkempt to me. I don't know how much I really notice them, though. I think a person's nails would have to be really extreme one way or the other for me to notice, so either a really bold color polish, or really nasty and overgrown.

I keep my cuticles well manicured on my own, and I wear polish occasionally. My husband LOVES it when I wear bright polish colors, so I try to wear it often. It's more difficult during the school year because we still have chalkboards in my college, and the chalk really destroys polish.

 

[HollyS]

Having nails 'done' in a salon opens up all kinds of doors to fungus, MRSA, and other disturbing problems. No, thanks.

Far more people are turned off by phony acrylic/gel nails than you would think. Men, especially, find them dumb.

Cut your nails. File them. Use hand lotion. Keep your hands clean. No one has ever been turned off by clean, neat hands.

 

[ForteKitty]

Yes, i would form an opinion based on these:

 

[Maria D]

I definitely notice the state of people's hands and form opinions! I think unpolished nails are fine but they should be clean and not grotesquely long. Chipped nail polish is ugly. I don't always wear nail polish but if I do, I carry a bottle of the color around with me for emergency touch-ups if necessary. Obvious acrylic nails -- yuck. Now it's not as if I treat anyone differently based on their hands but this is what I'm thinking.

I also can't stand roots showing! I was on an interview panel where the best candidate had 3/4" of gray roots and it was hard for me to choose her because of that.

Either polish or don't, no chips. Either go gray or not, no roots!

 

[ame]

More than anything, that last one Kitty posted is SUPER gross.

As far as Holly's comment about fungus, etc. many salons here require that you have them use your own tools, either buy a set from there, or bring them. I bought a set of my own from a beauty supply store and usually bring those with me. And most of the time with polish I bring that too because then I can touch it up when I ruin it in an hour.

 

[ame]

I also can't stand roots showing! I was on an interview panel where the best candidate had 3/4" of gray roots and it was hard for me to choose her because of that.

Either polish or don't, no chips. Either go gray or not, no roots!

I do my roots every 10-14 days. I rarely, if ever, allow my roots to go any longer. I cannot STAND roots, at least not on me.

 

[Lottie]

I'm not keen on acrylic nails at all so I would rather see slightly unkempt nails than full on Barbie hands. Personally I like mine fairly short and buffed with no cuticles - its the best I can commit to maintenance wise with two children. My personal pet hate is long nails on men.

And roots - hate them, especially now that I am starting to go a bit grey

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I like painted nails and cannot remember the last time my nails were bare. I used to paint my nails once a week so they always looked perfect. After having a kid my ritual has become a little loose. Luckily light/nude color polish doesn't show chips easily.

 

[Jennifer W]

I like my nails to be short and filed, but I dislike nail varnish . I sometimes get a manicure is when I visit NYC, because there are some really nice salons there, or I'll occasionally put some neutral polish on if I get a new ring and want to take photos.

Basically though, my manicure is restricted to filed, clean and free of stuff.

eta I tend not to notice anyone else's, unless it's in your face gross!

 

[Mayk]

I just went through the pain of growing mine out after years of wearing overlays.... so my nails are natural and I keep them pretty short with polish.. they are really still healing (wow the things fake nails/overlays do to your nail beds).... so right now.. I am a regular at the salon.. they love me.... weekly.... mostly neutral colors and occasionally a red...

 

[NewEnglandLady]

I tend to look at women's hands (because I'm looking for jewelry) and I do think that unpolished nails look better than chipped nails.

For myself, I am odd about getting a manicure. I don't like to get one unless my nails in are decent shape, which is stupid. I've been meaning to get a manicure for about a month now, but haven't because it seems I always have one broken nail.

I'm the same way about facials--I don't like to get one if I'm broken out. Apparently I'm too embarrassed by bad skin or bad nails for a professional to see me...even if it could help!

 

[ame]

I'm not keen on acrylic nails at all so I would rather see slightly unkempt nails than full on Barbie hands. Personally I like mine fairly short and buffed with no cuticles - its the best I can commit to maintenance wise with two children. My personal pet hate is long nails on men.

And roots - hate them, especially now that I am starting to go a bit grey

Yea Im not a big fan of acrylics, but I have seen some REALLY nice gel nails that you'd never know were fake. My real nails grow freakishly fast so I cut them like 2x a week, and like now, I've had this Axxium on for a week and they're DAGGERS to me lol (aka there's white showing!)

 

[ame]

I just went through the pain of growing mine out after years of wearing overlays.... so my nails are natural and I keep them pretty short with polish.. they are really still healing (wow the things fake nails/overlays do to your nail beds).... so right now.. I am a regular at the salon.. they love me.... weekly.... mostly neutral colors and occasionally a red...

That is definitely a mess. I did gels for a long time, and I recall needing to put thick polish on for a while til it grew. This axxium would be good til they grow out. It's like thick polish.

 

[jaysonsmom]

I like clean, neat and natural nails. If one has nail polish, and has the means to keep it immaculate (not having to cook, clean etc), more power to them, but I prefer the au natural look.

If you don't have the means to keep your manicure nice, then please don't do anything at all. Nothing looks worse than chipped polish, or acrylics that have grown out a lot an not filled.

 

[princesss]

I love having my nails done, but there's just no point. I rock climb, and the climbing chalk absolutely wrecks my hands/nails, and having them long hinders my climbing, so they're always unpolished and super short. When I have an event or an interview I'll get them done, but other than that there just doesn't seem to be a point. They're clean and clipped (not bitten), so hopefully they just don't draw attention to themselves.

 

[cookies]

I apply hand lotion several times a day. I think my hands well deserve it. My nails are allergic to the nail polish, so I usually don't mess with any manicure products, and only wear nail polish to weddings.

I don't associate polished nails with professionalism. However, I do tend to think those ladies with well-polished fingernails and toenails must live a very good life, since they have the time and money to get it done, and keep it perfect for several days. I would probably ruin it when I am doing my daily housework.

 

[Lew Lew]

Sometimes I see a woman or girl with manicured nails, but the rest of her is unkempt, and I wonder - why did you even bother getting your nails done?

Cut your nails. File them. Use hand lotion. Keep your hands clean. No one has ever been turned off by clean, neat hands.

Agreed. I like the look of strong, healthy, clean nails, which have not necessarily been "manicured".

 

[somethingshiny]

The only thing that says something to me is chipped polish. I find it disgusting. I can't help but think of where all the chips have landed. It's not like it's hard, time consuming, or expensive to remove damaged polish so just do it! I don't prefer crazy nail designs, but they don't particularly say anything to me, just not my taste.
I usually keep my nails a filed mid-length with no polish. I try to keep a bit of length to make my hands appear more feminine since they're so large.

 

[Amber St. Clare]

As long as someone's nails are trim and clean, I have no judgement based on whether they are polished or not. Having said that I look at some of the polishes and think "What was she thinking???" because I prefer pale colors and shorter nails on me.

But I am TOTALLY GROSSED OUT by nail biters. OMG, just NO.

ETA: I was told by a doctor that someone who bites their nails ingests as much bacteria/germs/general nastiness as if he/she LICKED THE TOILET SEAT!!!!

 

[sweet_pea]

If the nails are neat and clean they look fine, even if they aren't polished. People with chipped polish, bitten fingernails, and cheap looking nails do kind of say something to me though. I like a neutral pinkish color on my own nails.

 

[Mayk]

I just went through the pain of growing mine out after years of wearing overlays.... so my nails are natural and I keep them pretty short with polish.. they are really still healing (wow the things fake nails/overlays do to your nail beds).... so right now.. I am a regular at the salon.. they love me.... weekly.... mostly neutral colors and occasionally a red...

That is definitely a mess. I did gels for a long time, and I recall needing to put thick polish on for a while til it grew. This axxium would be good til they grow out. It's like thick polish.

I did the axxium I didn't like how they had to remove it.. I found soaking in the remover dried my cuticles and then when she sanded it.. it wasn't comfortable.. I did it for a few months as my "initial transition" versus going cold turkey and while I didn't love it.. it did help ease me back into natural nails... it will also thin your nails if you use it on a regular basis...

 

[ame]

Wait...they sanded? They don't need to sand. I have never had mine sanded for Axxium polish. The gel nail version that's like actual "acrylic" style gel, yes. But this no. I just soak for 10 and they scrape it right off.

 

[ksinger]

Beyond not being reasonably clean and neat? No negative opinion.

HOWEVER....(and I'm certain I'm in the minority here), I tend to have a snap reaction if someone's hands show too much attention. I really find it a bit of a secret eye-roller to see women with hands and nails that look like they've never done a lick of work, or made a single thing, or took a single risk in their whole lives. I tend to think they have too much time, and/or are helpless, frivolous people. I'd rather see a woman with hands that look like they've actually worked, or dug in the dirt. So remember, if too-dirty, ragged hands imply something, so can over-precious-looking ones.

I know I always seem to be doing something that ends up tearing my nails all to heck, with all the tools I work with these days. It just doesn't make any sense to get all bent about it. I keep them short because I must, and clean because that's hygenic.

Hands are tools, not display pieces.

 

[yennyfire]

I'm with the majority. As long as the person's hands are grotesque in some way (see some of those scary photos posted earlier), I don't tend to notice. I keep my own nails short and mostly unpolished. If I polish them, I stick with light, neutral colors so if they chip a bit, it's not too noticable.

 

[Porridge]

I don't take too much notice, but I generally don't really like long nails, dirty nails, fake nails, or chipped nail polish. I do think neat hands contribute to an overall polished and together look.

Mine are usually fairly short, and either bare or with a light/nude polish. They grow ridiculously fast (compared to my hair, which grows painfully slowly), but I'm lucky that they're strong and rarely break or chip. I love handcream!