Jezebel: manicures

Nailed

Sadie — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:40:00 EST

Not shockingly, the recession has gotten in the way of some women's regular manicures. Good news for us nail-biters and Sally Hansen, less so for salon owners, many of whom are in trouble. [NYT]

There are so many things to worry about as...

Jennifer — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:40:00 EDT

There are so many things to worry about as a woman prepares herself for childbirth: Will my baby be born healthy? Will my body recover fully? Will my vadge look perfectly hairless when it comes time to push a child out of it? Yes, increasing numbers of New York women are scheduling everything from hair appointments to manicure appointments to waxing appointments just before going into labor. And in one case, a woman got a mani/pedi the morning before she gave birth — despite the fact that she was already having contractions. After all, as one new mom puts it, "At least when I look back at the pictures of me holding my baby, I can say - other than how beautiful my son is - 'Oh, what a damn good manicure that is!'" Priorities, people. Priorities. [NYPost]

Why Let A Girl Play When She Can Be Made Over Like JonBenet?

Jennifer — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:00:00 EST

I had my first-ever manicure at age 19, using a gift certificate given to me by the woman I had been interning for that summer as a thank you for my work. The whole process made me feel nervous and uncomfortable: some stranger pouring over my hands, studying them, holding them, painting them. I had made it all the way through high school and my first year of college with no deeper knowledge about "beauty" than whatever I was able to discern by reading what came with the giveaways I got with my Clinique face soap and toner. (I had a lot of that bronze lipstick, suffice it to say.) And I think I was lucky: Cosmetics companies and spas are making greater and greater efforts, reports the NY Times, to convince young children and their parents that they cannot live their lives without regular manicures, pedicures, cosmetics and, sometimes, full-out makeovers. Six to nine-year olds are, apparently, the latest demographic that the beauty industry is trying to entrap.

What to do with your 3-year old for her birthday? Take her and 10 of her closest friends for pedicures and virgin daiquiris. Or better yet: Pack the kiddies all up and ship them off to Club Libby Lu for a makeover party, where make-up tips are dispensed and wigs can be donned so that your still-developing child can see herself as she might someday (ought?) to be. And yet, as the Times observes, if a toddler is having a "makeover," what exactly is there to makeover? These children aren't even old enough to read: Are they old enough to realize that their current "look" is no good and needs major, professional help?

Says Queen Bees & Wannabes author Rosalind Wiseman:

Mothers and fathers do really crazy things with the best of intentions. I don't care how it's couched, if you're permitting this with your daughter, you are hyper-sexualizing her. It's one thing to have them play around with makeup at home within the bubble of the family. But once it shifts to another context, you are taking away the play and creating a consumer, and frankly, you run the risk of having one more person who feels she's not good enough if she's not buying the stuff.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Never Too Young for That First Pedicure [NYT]

Your Nails Look Great, But They're Killing Your Manicurist

Dodai — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 12:30:00 EDT

According to an article in the New York Times, a study by researchers at the University of Toronto found that children who, while in the womb, were exposed to the chemicals nail salon workers use performed worse on tests for cognitive function, language and behavior — and the intensity of exposure for salon workers is 1200 times that of the average American. Toluene (a colorless liquid used as a solvent), formaldehyde and dibutyl phthalate (which makes nail polish flexible) are all in regular use at nail salons, and all are on the government's list of chemicals that cause cancer or birth defects.

Thankfully, some action is being taken: Popular polish company OPI announced in March that it would begin removing toluene from its products. Last year, the company said it was removing dibutyl phthalate. In Springfield, MA, a community group received a $100,000 grant from the EPA to build a salon with a high-quality ventilation system — after six Vietnamese salon workers suffered miscarriages in that town. (Other manicurists suffered rashes, fungal infections and asthma.)

The International Herald Tribune reports that salon employees often work 60 hours a week without overtime pay or lunch breaks. And in a survey of nail salon employees in New York City, 37% of them said they had skin problems, 37% had eye irritation and 66% had neck or back discomfort. While it's great that the EPA has stepped in and one company is overhauling its formula, this is, of course, just another way that women suffer in the quest for beauty. We're now convinced that whatever we're tipping these women to deal with our nasty-ass hands and feet isn't nearly enough.
Studies Highlight Hazards of Manicurists' Chemicals [NY Times]
With Competition, An Ugly Side Of The Salon Business Emerges [International Herald Tribune]

Chipped nails are out. Bashed nails are in.

eurotrash — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 13:41:31 EST

Lindsay Lohan may have thought she was hot stuff when she got a "chipped manicure" to give her a rocker-girl chic look, but Sienna Miller is taking this season's black nail trend to a new level. The Factory Girl actress was spotted with a bashed black thumb at New York's JFK airport when she was yapping in the customs area (where cell phones are banned) about her bleeding thumb. Could the trendsetting Brit manage to bring back self-mutilation?

http://www.nypost.com/seven/12052006/gossip/pagesix/sienna_flies_by_her_own_rules_pagesix_.htm