Anonymous wrote:Tacky, unhealthy, unhygienic, expensive, supports bad labor practices.

Anonymous wrote:I recently had my nails done for a wedding (just gel, and short), and it was fun. I'd like to get them done more often, but I'm not very feminine or in tune to beauty standards, and I worry it's...trashy? Sorry to use an overused word on DCUM, but I don't know how else to put it. Could use advice.

Why are all you basic boring ass women on this site so bothered about being trashy and what other people think? Did you like having your nails done? Then keep doing it, that's all the measurement you need.

I think gel is bad for your nails (or rather the removal process for gel is bad for your nails). I just do my own nails with regular nail polish. I like the Olive & June quick dry because it is smooth but dries quickly. I think Essie also has a good quick dry polish.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the moms around me get their nails done. I've gone with friends occasionally and honestly it makes me feel so sad. The women all seem miserable, don't speak English, and the pimp character walking around supervising...ugh. I would pay three times as much for a normal experience but I haven't found it. It's strange that hairdresser is a normal, ok-paying career for an american-born person but manicurist is not.

You can find manicurists who aren't foreign and victimized - you're just going to pay more. I like to go to full-service salons to get my nails done for this reason. They usually have one person who does nails, and the facilities are much cleaner and more pleasant.

NP.
I also don’t go for the reason stated by the PP. I’m sure places with normal at-will employees who are here legally and file W2s exist, but I haven’t found them.

I feel gross for having some poor woman scrub my feet for $30, of which she probably sees $5 if she’s lucky.

I go to a reputable place and the woman who does my nails is Vietnamese (most are). However, we talk about her two sons in college and other middle-class stuff. I do not think she is a victim of human trafficking or wage theft.

Anonymous wrote:All the moms around me get their nails done. I've gone with friends occasionally and honestly it makes me feel so sad. The women all seem miserable, don't speak English, and the pimp character walking around supervising...ugh. I would pay three times as much for a normal experience but I haven't found it. It's strange that hairdresser is a normal, ok-paying career for an american-born person but manicurist is not.

Azalea in Takoma Park is very ethical. Only salon I've been too that doesn't reek of chemicals.

Tacky, unhealthy, unhygienic, expensive, supports bad labor practices.

I'm a WASP. Normally, I have short natural colored nails. Last month, for the first time in my life, my daughter convinced me to get dark purple, very dark. I liked it, but at 50 it seemed too young for me. I'm back to clear on my hands, burgundy on my feet. My teen daughter and her friends, also very waspy, are much more experimental.

why is it not ok?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Varies wildly. What did you have done?

Gel, natural nails. Very short. Some glitter (I wouldn't do that for daily wear, obviously).

Don't get glitter - microplastics. Please.

Anonymous wrote:My nails are so dry and brittle with gel all the time. Do you take a break or just keep redoing gel back to back?

I got gel once on my fingernails and hated how it made them feel after I got it taken off. I just use regular polish now. Most of the time my fingernails don't have polish but I do think I look better when my nails are clipped and filed by someone other than myself. So I get manicures pretty regularly now. I get pedicures every 2-3 weeks (I live in a hot climate so am wearing sandals for most of the year). I feel and look better that way. I used to be really ashamed of my feet - and they hurt from ingrown toenails - but the pedicures have made a world of difference.

I used to go to a place staffed by American nail techs, so I didn't worry at all about the human rights issues. They shut down and now I go to a place with mostly immigrants - the woman I see is from Bulgaria and I see no indication that anyone at this place is there under duress. Maybe I wouldn't know, but it really doesn't seem that way. It's not a hole in the wall place that has a sketchy vibe, anyway.

In short, why would getting your nails done not be ok?

My nails are so dry and brittle with gel all the time. Do you take a break or just keep redoing gel back to back?

I don’t think it’s tacky but I think the chemicals are not healthy.

True, gel does last. i dont like the damage it does to my nails.
i keep it short and neutral, no time or patience for anything else.
In this town, overly long is not considered professional in many circles. Your culture may differ.

NP. Can someone tell me definitively whether having acrylics is bad for your natural nails? My 20 yr. old daughter has been getting them regularly this past year and I worry about her actual nails. TIA.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the moms around me get their nails done. I've gone with friends occasionally and honestly it makes me feel so sad. The women all seem miserable, don't speak English, and the pimp character walking around supervising...ugh. I would pay three times as much for a normal experience but I haven't found it. It's strange that hairdresser is a normal, ok-paying career for an american-born person but manicurist is not.

You can find manicurists who aren't foreign and victimized - you're just going to pay more. I like to go to full-service salons to get my nails done for this reason. They usually have one person who does nails, and the facilities are much cleaner and more pleasant.

NP.
I also don’t go for the reason stated by the PP. I’m sure places with normal at-will employees who are here legally and file W2s exist, but I haven’t found them.

I feel gross for having some poor woman scrub my feet for $30, of which she probably sees $5 if she’s lucky.