Nubar “Geisha Blaze” Niuton Chavez Felix

We are full spring ahead,  25 days into the season. Time to change that polish again!

Last February I tried my first pink, Butter London’s “Disco Biscuit” and I had a so so experience with that particular polish. You can read it here. So in my quest for that great hot pink nail polish, I looked and searched all over until I found Nubar’s “Geisha Blaze”. 

Definitely my kind of shade! 

I can highly recommend this nail polish line. This was my first experience with it, has a great brush, and at least with this bottle, the nail polish was superb. Not too thin and not too thick, just right for a three coat application. Finish was perfect, Color was super, hot pink with a slight hint of purple hue. This color really jumps at you when the sun hits it. It is absolutely gorgeous. 

Definitely what I was expecting. Perfect for spring and even summer. 

Pair it with a great fuchsia shirt or spring blazer. 

Also looks great on the toes. 

This is a keeper for me, as far as pinks, this one will be hard to top. 

If you are into pinks, give this one a try, you will not regret it. Until next time, happy polishing!

Orly - "Haute Red" Niuton Chavez Felix

First and foremost……

In the spirit of the holiday festivities, I decided on red nail polish for this post.  This is Orly’s “Haute Red” nail polish. It is a classic. Even though it’s not gel based, this cream color base spreads like butter on the nail.

Orly now makes most of it’s color’s on both gel and regular nail polish, so it you like this red and would like it on gel, it is available.

Before I tried this color, I had an old favorite on, “red velvet” by Cherimoya with a couple of accented nails using Orly “Lux”.

There is something about red nail polish that is so cool to look at. Personally it feels empowering. So many reds out there that it is impossible to name them all. I have my own share and the stash keeps growing. 

Just to finalize this post, I would like to make a point on the poll results so far. Close to half of the poll respondents, 46% do not care what people might think. Kudos to all those who live happy and do not live by what others think. But it seems that FEAR is still a big factor on why men don’t wear nail polish. Close to 35% of poll respondents are still afraid of what people might say. Just 18% of respondents don’t want to be labeled as something they are not, which is a valid reason, but still, falls into the “what might others think or say” category. 

I say go for it! and make it a new years resolution to live your life to the fullest and fearlessly. If you fall into that 35% or even that 18% bracket, and would like to wear nail polish, go ahead, you will never look back and I guarantee you will feel empowered.

Happy Polishing!

Sally Hansen 230 "Plum Power" Niuton Chavez Felix

There is something about purple. It spells Royalty, finesse, chicness. There are many shades out there.

I have tried various kinds, one my favorites being Chanel’s “Taboo” with it’s sparkly red and blue shimmer that make it look like a little galaxy. 

I thought that I would never look at another purple that would captivate me like taboo, but low and behold “Plum Power” from Sally Hansen’s Hard as Nails Xtreme wear nail color line. 

This is a magnificent color, it is definitely a keeper. Sally Hansen is a sure bet for quality. Just the right amount of viscosity for a three coat flawless application and perfect coverage.

This is a perfect color to start making the transition from summer to fall. One of the things I just love about this shade is the fact that it is not quite a metallic shade nor is it a creme.

No shimmer or glitter, just pure pearl finish. Just like the fruit when it's maturing, this nail polish tone varies depending on the light and the angle you look at it. I personally think it is a very special tone and finish. 

I just love how this color contrasts with gold. It goes very well with earthly fall season colors. It contrasts wonderfully with green tones and it looks fabulous with gray.

If you like dark jewel tone colors like me, you will absolutely fall in love with this one. Until next time, Happy Polishing!

Nail Designs for men? You Bet!

I have been wanting to get some nail art done for some time now, the only thing that stopped me from doing it is the fact that most nail art designs I saw, were not appealing to me. 

I like subtle yet elegant designs. Something with meaning that at the same time will capture attention but won’t be a distraction. Something that would express my style and personality, and not something that I would just have done just for the sake of following a trend.  

If you are a guy and are new to nail polish or are exploring the idea of painting your nails, think of it this way, If you were contemplating getting a tattoo, would you just pick any design? Of course not!. 

I get that a nail polish design is not permanent, but still, having it done just because I could, was just not me. I like things with meaning. 

Liking symbols and their meanings, one of the most influential symbols I love is the “fleur de lis”, so I got inspired for blue and gold from a picture I saw that let me to other blue/gold combinations, like a neck tie and a Rolex watch, like I said, capture attention yet not distracting. 

I also like medieval themes, I like medieval clothing, the fabrics and designs with embroidery. Being Easter time, I decided to have this design done to be in sync with the carnival festivities around the globe. 

I used three different nail polish colors to achieve this. Orly “Lux”, L.A. Colors “Blue Lagoon” and OPI “Alpine Snow”. I wanted something that looked modern, medieval, carnival, kind of a harlequin design and elegant at the same time.

I first applied all the colors on their respective nail and went thru all the drills, you know, file, buffer, prime, base, color and top coat and waited till next day. 

To achieve the design, I used some strips with adhesive to form the diamond design and I painted inside each diamond with the respective colors, Orly “lux” and L.A. colors “blue lagoon”. I let it dry and removed the strips, revealing the white under it. I then applied two layers of top coat to seal it and enjoy it for at least two to three weeks. Remember, decision is the power that you have over anyone and is what determines our destiny. I have worn this for the past two weeks and have gotten only compliments. The feeling you get when you look at your painted nails and nail design is pretty difficult to describe, I would just encourage you to try it. Forget about what people think, forget about what people might say, believe me, It is a pretty awesome feeling. Don't miss on it!

What is the identity of a man who wears nail polish?

A couple of months ago, I recieved an email thru this blog from a journalist from Italy. She was doing some research for a future article of a nails magazine. The article in question was to be something related to nail polish and men. So to sum it all up, like any good journalist, she asked a very good question. I think she got more of an answer that she expected. I haven't seen or read the article or even know if what I wrote her made any difference to her article, but I did see that the cover of the magazine was related to men and nail polish in some form.  Since then, I have been recieving more and more emails and coments posted on the blog with questions of how I got started and more than anything, how I got around to actually start wearing nail polish openly. So I thought that posting what I replied to that journalist might help other people understand that wearing nail polish is really no big deal. 

So what was that question? She asked me, What is the identity of a man who wears nail polish?

That is a very simple question with a very complex answer. I can only speak for myself,  though, so the following long answer is what she got from me.

About Me:

I am a 45 year old heterosexual married man with 3 children. I am a Marketing consulting specialist and an Information Technology company owner. I am also a Professional Photographer, I have my own studio and do all kinds of photography, from commercial and fashion to portraits and weddings. You could say I am an entrepreneur, but I only venture into businesses I understand and I can control. I do not consider myself a risk taker. I do not like to depend on others. I say all this not to be pretentious, but so you can have a clear picture of my personality.  

I like to take care of myself, I wear my hair medium length with highlights, as you can clearly see on the self portrait I made. Yes I highlight my hair and color it. I started doing it to cover the grey hairs and then I decided to do some highlights and I liked it so I kept on doing it. I like pampering, I go to have manicures, pedicures, massages and facials every so often. I do not wear full make up (foundation, lipstick, cover makeup) but I do shape my eyebrows and sometimes use eyebrow liner to add definition, I sometimes wear eye shadow to ad a little bit of depth to my eyes, the kind of make up enhancement that goes unnoticed to the naked eye, not like a drag queen. I do not like body hair, so I remove it from my chest, back and legs. I do not like to wear women’s dresses and do not crossdress. Although I do have some women's garments that I like to mix with my male clothes, like some vests, a couple of "boyfriend" shirts, some scarfs and sarongs and even some tunics,  I do this not to pretend I am a woman, but simply because women 's clothing have more options when it comes to colors and textures. I am not trying to look like a woman either. I also do not wear woman's clothing because I have any fetishes.

About my style:

My youngest daughter and me wearing a candy apple red from Sally Hansen

I do not consider myself a slave to fashion, I wear what I like and not what fashion magazines push on people. I also do not consider myself a trend setter, I just try to be myself. 

About Me wearing Nail Polish:

I wear nail polish on my fingernails and toes, color depends on my mood, but I mostly prefer dark or contrasting colors to my skin type. I am fair skinned so I prefer dark colors, I have worn blacks, blues, greens, reds, and browns, I prefer shimmery and metallics.

Dark Blue, Red, Holographic blue

I do  like some bright colors like fuchsia and light blues, but am not into yellow, hot pink, light greens,  or bright oranges. I change my nail polish every two weeks. I like my hands and my nails to be impeccable. I dislike chipped nails on me or any other person for that matter. When people ask why I do it, the answer is very simple, just because I like it. I tell them that I am the one looking at my nails most of the time, I see my hands when driving, writing checks, typing on my computer, preparing meals, taking a shower, etc. So I mostly do it for me, and not to show off or pretend to be something or someone I am not. That is why I like to wear rings and bracelets too, because I am looking at them, I do it for me.

Diamond Black from China Glaze

About other men who wear nail polish:

For what I have seen, men have been wearing nail polish for a long time now, but the problem for most of the men who do it and not wear it openly is FEAR. Which ever angle you might want to look at it, at the end of the day, it is only fear that keeps them from not just wearing nail polish openly, but to do many other things in their lives. Men who have not even tried it, but sometimes think of trying, do not do so out of FEAR.

Purple, Deep Red and Black with my wife's silver toes

FEAR of what other people might say or think. FEAR that others will stereotype you as something you know you are not. FEAR of what reaction it will bring from friends and family. FEAR of what you can become for doing it. FEAR, FEAR, FEAR. Many men wear nail polish on their toes only because they can cover them with their shoes and because they can wear it "SAFELY" (in there minds) privately at home. Some men only wear on their toes because of the kind of work they do, If they do manual labor, the polish does not last much. But this is the same with women. Our parents educate us to follow rules, and societal norms are imposed upon us sometimes with no common sense what so ever, but our education makes us follow those rules. We are educated not to think anymore, not to question, just to follow and do. If you look at children, they do not have any societal rules. It is fun for a child of any gender to play and paint their nails. It is just society and our own mental barriers that we impose upon us that change that over time. Speaking for myself, at my age, I have come to understand that fear is mental and having said that, no one controls my mind but myself. When it comes to the way I present myself, I make my own rules, and being my own rules, I can change them, break them or create new ones. They are after all, MY RULES. I am not breaking any law or offending anyone. If any one finds it offensive to look at my painted nails, they always have the option of not looking at them. As a nail polish wearing PERSON, I like choice. As a nail polish addict, we are always looking for new colors. To me, color has no gender, so I do not like it when cosmetic companies market NAIL POLISH FOR MEN. They tend to offer what many call “safe colors” or “masculine colors”. I strongly disagree with this. I understand that it is a business or marketing strategy, but it only further boxes us men into what we can  or must not do, or wear or do not wear. Personally, I do not like the color selection that some companies like alpha nail, man glaze or evolution man offer “for men”, they are very limited some even boring. Only BB couture has a bit more choice. But when it comes to choice, why limit ourselves? In my personal point of view, nail polish companies should market to an open mixed market, not to a specific gender Market.

China Glaze Magentix "Cling On"

 
Polish selection should not be “for men” of “for women” but rather for what they are “bright colors”, “dark colors”, “metallic”, “holographic”, etc. When you get what nail polish is all about, you understand it is all about choice, you are always looking for a nice new color shade, so it would seem contradictory that you limit yourself to what “male nail polish” colors are available. Last December, I fell in love with a red called “malice” from Chanel, good luck finding something similar in the men’s section. There is also a slew of new independent nail polish makers that are booming with business because of their unique color mixtures.

For what I have read and seen on other blogs, most of the males who wear nail polish openly, are either under the age of 15 or over the age of 40, because of the points I made before. The under 15 boys are fearless naturally, they still have no malice, the over 40 males, have matured enough that they come to dominate their fears to the point that they don't care what people say and think anymore and are just enjoying life. It is the 15 to 40 age range crowd that are still discovering who they are, and that maybe have more trouble accepting themselves, and in that process tend to be more followers of trends or norms.

For what I can read in the analytics of this blog, I can see thousands of visits, The spinning globe on the right sidebar already has passed the 40,000 visit mark, yet only a few followers and very few comments. That straightens even more my theory that only FEAR is what is holding back men from wearing nail polish. I say this, because I know the key words that my blog is anchored on, and I once searched on the subject using the same key words. Some years ago, I started to search for “men who wear nail polish” or “men that paint their nails” or “nail polish for men trend”, only to come to the realization that I was doing it only to “justify my actions”. When I realized this, I just stopped searching and decided that there surely must be other men out there just like me, so I created this blog. The mere fact that society “forgives” male celebrities from wearing nail polish and your average Joe is “forbidden” is beyond any logical explanation. 

These are may favorite pair of sandals, bought them in South Korea

So what kind of men wear nail polish? I think bold, secure and fearless men do. Men who have a sense of style, men who lead and not follow. Men who make their own rules.  Men who enjoy life and are comfortable with how they present themselves.

I don’t know if this is the kind of answer you were looking for of the kind of answer that may help you, you got here, you tell me. If you have any other questions I will be glad to answer them. You can either post them openly, or as other people have experienced, you can email me directly. I take the time to answer all email.

Men tend not to open up to women and/or treat women equally also out of FEAR. It is so contradictory that humanity educates men to be the strong, independent and fearless yet when it comes to a simple thing like self expression, they restrain from showing their emotions thru simple actions like painting their nails.
Also because of FEAR, they educate us men to restrain or hide deep within us  our emotions and our appreciation for beauty. Self expression thru color and nail polish is an emotionally driven form of expression, and many men restrain from painting their nails out of  fear that it will make them vulnerable. We are beings created from the strongest emotion there is, LOVE, so why should we restrain our emotions because of our gender?

Men are CONDITIONED to restrain emotions, they tell us “men don’t cry” and so on.

An example of the way men restrain emotions out of fear is the following;  If we look at at a pretty woman on the street, we will check her out, appreciate her, enjoy the view and even sometimes express it thru a verbal action, because, it is “accepted”, some women like it, but many don’t and even find it offensive. But if we see a beautiful man, first of all, we automatically cancel the words BEAUTIFUL OR PRETTY when judging a man's beauty, and use the words, HANDSOME, GOOD LOOKING, STRIKING, NICE LOOKING or anything else. Then, we look away. We know and accept the fact that a man has beauty, be it a beautiful face or pretty eyes,  but most men will just cancel the thought of even judging a man's beauty out of fear that people will judge them if they keep looking for more than a split second, or that they might become gay for doing it, which by the way, will not happen. It is all in our minds. FEAR is a negative emotion of a future event, and guess what, the future does not exist! Only the NOW exists. In other words, why would you fear something that might not ever come? 

Now, for the sake of equality, it happens to women also. Some women find it “weird” or “not right” and even “totally wrong” when they express their opinions about men wearing nail polish, I have even heard "If they want to" but "not on my man!". So guess what, the same explanation applies to them. FEAR has no gender.

So be fearless, be bold, look for and find your own style. Make your own rules, enjoy life, stand up to your individual rights. And If you want to wear nail polish or wear a skirt, so be it. Share the blog and spread the word. Men can wear nail polish!

If you liked this read, feel free to express your opinion, that is what it’s all about. If you do not agree, you can also post what ever your opinion is, but be prepared to receive a reply.

"Wine at the Gallery" by Finger Paints

Oh how I love reds. There is something about reds I can't seem to get enough of.  I feel empowered when I am wearing red. I have done some red swatches before. Last year I did a Sally Hansen red and this year back in February I wore Nina Ultra Pro's Burgundy. Since my last post was for holographic colors, I thought of mixing the holo type with my favorite color. This time around I picked up Finger Paints "Wine at the Gallery". Although it is not a holographic color, It sure stands out like if it were.

Back in December, I was awestruck by a swatch of Chanel's "Malice".  It really is a wonderful color, but a bit to hard for me to swallow spending $30 or more on a single bottle of nail polish,  I don't care if it's Chanel or Ives Saint Laurent, which have very nice colors too by the way, but we all have our limits, and the most I have spent on a bottle of nail polish is $12 when I splurge.

Anyway, I saw this bottle from "Finger Paints" and It looked very similar to that "Malice" I fell in love with from Chanel, so I decided to give it a try.

I just have to say WOW! This has to be to date, my favorite red. It shimmers under the sun with some yellow-gold tones that honestly, even though I did my best to capture it on a photograph, the images really don't do it justice.

Under ambient lighting, the color looks dark, kind of like the Nina Ultra Pro Burgundy I had back in February. But step outside under the sun and the color comes alive with sparkles that give it a special shimmery shine.

This is my left hand holding the steering wheel showing my thumb, see how the sun reflects from the thumb nail bed. My right foot toes and my left hand resting on my thigh also reflect the sun very nicely.


So If you liked that Chanel "Malice" color like me, and like me, you don't like to overspend, this is a nice substitute. I would not call it a "dupe" but it sure is a very nice alternative.

LA Girl METAL line, "Obsidian"

There are few colors I like to repeat often, this is one of them, It's called "Obsidian", It is a metallic black that shimmers. I like black very much, and as with the other color I really like, the Burgundy Red of the last post, you can dress it up or dress it down. Since I wear color on my nails all the time, I try to pick out colors that will match my everyday clothing. Black is great to wear with a tuxedo dressing it up, or with a short sleeve cotton shirt dressing it down, It goes well with almost everything.

Nina Ultra Pro Burgundy

Keeping the tradition, still winter, so this week I felt like going back to reds. I found this burgundy red at Sally's, it is a deep burgundy, very elegant, you can dress it up or dress it down. Very thick, though easy to apply with it's wide application brush. These are 3 coats over the primer and base coat, to finish it of, it has a Seche Vite fast drying top coat.

Hand holding the bottle has direct sunlight, 3 fingers and toes have ambient light on them.

Gelish vs Polish

Hi there, I just want to see what all the polish lovers out there think about this topic.

I for one, am for regular polish over gelish. I have found out that if applied on a propperly prepped nail, regular polish can last for weeks. Gelish is harder to remove than regular polish. You don’t need the special light and it is cheaper to change every other week. Here are 7 steps to perfect colored nails.

1.- Make sure you remove with acetone all the nail polish you might have.

2.- Use a buffer block to smooth out all the ridges on your nails.

3.- Once you smooth out the ridges, do another acetone pass to remove all the white residue from the smooth buffing

4.- Apply one coat of nail primer

5.- Apply one coat of you favorite base coat

6.- Apply 2 or 3 coats of your favorite nail color, depending on how thin of thick the polish might be, you may need up to 3 coats, metalics usually are thiner.

7.- Apply a Fast drying top coat

There, that will give you 15 or more days of perfect, non chipped colored nails. It might even give you more, but since your nails will grow, you need to repeat so the growth won’t show. Even if you go to a nail tech to change your polish, make sure to tell them these 7 steps because not all techs use primer or base coat.

Live Happy!

men that paint their nails it are “fruits-fruits”, as in their sexuality is of the gay persuasion

Men can wear nail polish if they are BOLD and have a fashion sense. It does not make them gay, transgender, cross-dressers or any other of those things. It also does not put men on a path to any of the before mentioned. Men now a days color their hair, wear piercings, wax their eye brows, wax their body, have manicures and pedicures, have facials done and wear make up, and I am not talking about eyeliner, i am talking about concealer to hide those dark circles under the eyes and lipgloss. I do not agree that doing any of those things makes you less manly, it certainly will make you less macho but not less manly. One thing is certain, NOT ALL MEN CAN WEAR ANY, ALL, OR SOME AT ONE GIVEN TIME AND LOOK GOOD. It is a matter of style, grooming and personality. As a man, you have to have a very secure and strong personality. It should also not be limited to weekends. Women dress up for the workplace also, and that includes nails, why should men not be able to? A man can have beautiful looking hands and also not loose his masculine look even if the fingernails are painted. Masculine looking hands are defined by various things, including and not limited to size, body hair, and nail length and form. If men wear nail polish on fingernails, the color they wear also defines how masculine of feminine the look is. Not all mens fingers look good with nail polish, it depends on the shape of the nails also. if they have extremely short nails due to bitting or extremely round nails, it does not look as good as well taken care of nails there are kind of square, and this applies to both men and women. So yes, men should polish their nails if they so desire, but not all men will pull it off in a style sense. Not all people will agree or like it even if it looks good, but who are they to tell you how to dress or style?

Wearing nail polish will lead you to a path where you might end up wearing women’s clothing and maybe you will turn into a transvestite or cross-dresser.

This is so ridiculous, but I’ve heard it before. How can painting your nails turn you into a transvestite or cross-dresser? It’s ridiculous really, but I had to put it here because sometimes peoples ignorance supersedes them. Sometimes I think people believe that nail polish is prepared with some fairy dust or something. In my humble experience in life, the more people bash, critique or are against something is because they are more scared or are afraid that other people find out about their true selves. As an example, some homophobic’s are homosexuals themselves, but are closet homosexuals. They tend to have high profile jobs and are afraid to “come out” because of fear so they do the opposite to “blend”. One thing is certain though, the more you understand these issues, the more you tend to loose your fears. 

Wearing nail polish is just for girls, so men who wear it are gay

So in this line of thinking (things that are typically associated to women), I will have to assume that:

Scotts who wear kilts (mens skirts) are gay

Ancient Romans who wore sarongs and dresses were gay

Japanese Samurai Warriors who wore armored skirts were gay

Mexican Aztec Warriors who wore skirts and painted their faces were gay

Ancient Egyptian men were gay because they also wore skirts and painted their nails and also wore eyeliner

All male actors and anchor newsmen  who wear make up are gay

Chinese kings and upper class who painted their nails were gay

All Men who use chap stick are gay

Hawaii, Samoan and all South Pacific native men who wear skirts are gay

All men with earrings are gay

And I can go on and on....... When I finish the list, I guess only 1% of men WILL NOT BE GAY! 

But seriously, not that being gay is good or bad, being gay is a sexual preference, not a sense of style or fashion. Many people are so confused that they don't even know the difference between the two.

Men who wear nail polish loose their manliness, or wearing nail polish is not manly.

Many people tend to confuse what being manly is. They confuse manly, with macho, and masculinity with butch. Masculinity has evolved over time. Constructs of masculinity vary across historical and cultural contexts. The dandy man, for instance, was regarded as an ideal of masculinity in the 19th century, but is considered effeminate by modern standards. But, who sets those standards? Do we really need to “behave”, “dress” and choose our appearance by what others consider to be the norm? I personally think that as long as we don't brake any law, verbally offend someone or attempt against others, we can choose by ourselves if we want to look different and dress or style ourselves as we wish. I think nail polish on men is like a tattoo on women. If the personality suits the person, and the individual wears it well, so be it. So no, wearing paint on your nails, will not make you loose your manliness, in fact, Totally opposite to that, having the guts, character and personality to wear nail polish openly in public, make you more of a man than many other men who would like to but are “afraid” of what people might think or say. Wearing nail polish will definitely not make you look macho, so If you want to look like a man that is very macho, don’t wax, don’t shave, don’t wear nail polish, don’t wear open toe sandals, and definitely don’t wear any clothing with pink, purple or flowers. Oh, and don’t forget to spit. To me, a typical macho man = uneducated, retrograde man, but again it is just M.H.O.

Real MEN do not wear nail polish.

First of all, let’s define what a real man is. A real MAN, has to be at least 21, otherwise, he is still a boy. And even then, some men mature more slowly than others, thus, acting like boys instead of men. What makes a real man? Character and responsibility are the first two things that come to my mind. A real man is respectful of others, a real man stands for and fights for what he believes in. A real man takes care of his family. A real man is responsible, will pay and help for his offsprings education. A real man will guide and help those in need. A real man will extend a helping hand expecting nothing in return. A real man will stand up to anything that puts his family in harms way and prevail. So with that said, if you check all of the above and would like to wear nail polish, than to those who say that real men do not wear nail polish, well, you can prove them wrong. Of course, many women can also claim the same, so I guess the gender lines are blurring, but not because of nail polish, but because men and women are so alike in so many ways. 

Nail Polish on Men it totally wrong. Niuton Chavez Felix

I think it all a matter of personality and style. It is not wrong for men to use/wear nail polish as it is not wrong for women to use men's razors to remove hair from their legs. Another example would be, women who like to wear big men’s watches, or women who like to accessorize with men’s dog tags. Do those make them less of a woman? No! The only thing is that society in general tends to be more forgiving to women than to men on these issues. But the point here is, what is wrong? Child molesting, murder, stealing, spouse abuse, animal  cruelty, and I can go on and on, but men wearing nail polish? I don’t think so. Again, the way you wear it has a lot to do with how it is perceived. 

Nail Polish for Men is contributing to the blurring the gender lines.

This is a very controversial topic. First and foremost, let's remember we live in the 21st century. The roles of men and women have evolved considerably, as well as their points of view. As a Man, I am all for equality between men and women. If a Woman want’s to pay for dinner, I will gladly accept!. But seriously, the gender lines ARE being blurred, but not because of nail polish or other attitudes or fashion trends, but because of other things that I touch on in the Real MEN do not wear nail polish argument among others. The evolution, industrialization and education toward the respect and understanding of women is what is blurring the gender lines. The fact that many men are being raised by single mothers is also a big contributor to this, most of all because women, as single mothers are the example of a strong person to their children. The other thing that is contributing to the blurring of gender lines, is our ever expanding understanding of what gender is, which is not necessarily tied to sexuality, sex or sexual identity. 

Nail Polish will make you gay

For those who say this, let me say this. Paint, will not change your sexual preference. If you are heterosexual and have your sexual preference well defined, it will not change. I don’t fully understand how gay minds think, but I do know something. I have gay friends and family members that will not wear nail polish. Some women  don’t even like it, and don’t wear it. I personally think wearing nail polish is more of a statement, a fashion style, or an individuality differentiator. Of course there are men, gay or straight that would like to look like a woman for various reasons and wear nail polish as a part of their dress up, but that does not mean that a straight man can’t wear nail polish and NOT LOOK LIKE A WOMAN OR LOOK FEMININE. It all depends on HOW YOU WEAR IT.

MEN CAN WEAR NAIL POLISH

Welcome to my blog. First of all I would like to give you a little background of myself. My Name is Gustavo, I am a 49 y/o heterosexual man and a proud father of 3. I have a 21 year old daughter from my first marriage, a 10 year old boy and a 7 year old princess from my current spouse. I am college educated, self employed and work in the IT Industry, giving tech support and doing websites, but I also work in Marketing and Photography, I have my own studio. Why do I give so much background? simply because when I used to search for this topic I always found myself asking “who are these people”? Are they people like me? are they married with children like me? Where do they work? are they office type guys? or self employed like me?

If you came across this blog, is because you probably were searching the web, like I did some time ago, for the topic “MEN WHO WEAR NAIL POLISH” or “MEN WEARING NAIL POLISH” or “NAIL POLISH FOR MEN TREND” , or “IS IT OK FOR MEN WHO WEAR NAIL POLISH?” who knows, my point is, you were probably searching for some excuse or strong evidence that either men should, can, or do wear nail polish. I decided to do this blog because I thought it would help others to live their life to the fullest by maybe helping them  take off their blinders. I would like to point out that these are my personal views on various controversial points surrounding this specific topic, which is “MEN CAN WEAR NAIL POLISH”.  I have done some posts on other websites as replies to other posts and I thought I had done so many, and that I have had such experiences, that I had enough material to post a blog of my own. You are very welcome to post and reply or create some buzz around this, but be warned, there are many things this hot topic can stir up, from politics, to religion, to sexuality and education. So be strong.

I will try to provide answers that are mostly using “common sense and logic” as the main driving force to provide answers.

I will also share my interest in nail polish with who ever wants to receive it. Not like a pro or fanatic, but as I do wear it myself, I like to share my thoughts to the world over the internet and hopefully this will help clear up some questions or give some answers to other people.

How did I start wearing nail polish and why? Niuton Chavez Felix

I have always liked pampering. I absolutely love a deep massage, I like having facials done and I like having manicures and pedicures done.  The last two, I have been doing for the past 10 years regularly. Some people like to call a man who likes these things a metrosexual, I personally do not like labels. When I first started doing pedicures, I did not wear nail polish. I have been wearing nail polish for the past 5 years and colored nail polish for the past 4. So here is how it all started for me. One day, when I was having a pedicure done, the nail tech asked me If I wanted clear nail “protector” and I said yes. Ah, the word “protector” suckered me in. Like all males, I was programed by society that “polish is for girls”, so most probably if the nail tech had asked me if I wanted “clear nail polish” most surely I would have answered NO immediately.  My feet looked so good clean and shiny, that from that day forward, I always had clear polish applied to my toes. I liked the way my nails were shiny, like any new shiny thing would look. Then, one day talking to a female friend of mine, I saw her nails with a french style manicure and I asked her what was that color called, which she responded “nude with clear topcoat and a white tip”. I liked the way her nails looked, so clean and defined that I thought to myself, “I think I will give that a try”. So the next time I went to have my manicure and pedicure, I told the nail tech to please give me a french manicure and pedicure minus the white tips. So she applied a “baby pink” color to my nails with a clear top coat. From that point forward, I was officially hooked to nail polish. 

This is Sally Hansen's "Unbreakable Heart"

I had been wearing french style nails minus the white tips for some time when I came across a very cool color that I liked from china glaze called “diamond black”, when I saw it, without thinking about it much I reached for it and bought it. Then I applied it to the nails of one of my toes just to see how it looked. I was amazed at how cool my toenails looked in color and how cool my feet looked with colored nails. Then I removed it, and applied the usual baby pink. Not being a regular color wearing person up to that point, It was hard for me to have my nails done by myself, so I though, If they looked so good after being done by me (all out of line) how would they look if a professional nail tech did them?. So my next trip to the salon was with my bottle of nail polish at hand. When the nail tech asked me If I wanted the regular french I immediately pulled out the dark nail polish and she gave me a weird look. She said, are you sure you want this color applied on your toes? So I said YES IT'S NO JOKE! . She went on and applied it on my toes, when she finished, she looked up at me and said “you know something? Your feet look really cool, that color suits you very well”.  That day, I had french applied to my hands, so I wore color on my toes only. When I got home and my wife looked at my feet, she was very upset. She was ok with me wearing clear or french, but somehow, she was not ok with me wearing darks. She even told me,  “you look like an EMO boy and you are 45 years old” “next thing I will see is you wearing it on your hands too” which I immediately responded “NO, THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN”. Yeah right, as the saying goes, “never say never”. 

A few days later, I had forgotten that my toenails were colored, and I stepped out in sandals to the local supermarket. When I got back, my wife told me, “did you go out in sandals?”, that’s when it hit me that I had my colored toes exposed for everyone to see and ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAPPENED. No comments, no weird looks from people and no good  compliments either. It was as if I had them with no polish whatsoever. And that's when it hit me, It was not the fact that a man wears nail polish, it is all about how you wear it, how confident you are wearing it, how bold you are and how secure of a person you are. 

Why do I do it? This is the simplest of answers, JUST BECAUSE I LIKE IT. I like the way my hands and feet look when my nails are colored. If you think about it, we all look at our hands and toes much more than we are conscious of, like 95% of the time we spend doing things, we look at ourselves, our bodies, be it our legs, knees, face, hands, feet, etc. heck, I guess the only body part we don’t look at frequently is our backside. Let me give you examples; Driving? We look constantly at our hands. Taking a shower? We look at our feet and hands. Walking? We look at our feet (if you wear sandals of course). Writing checks? Hands, Sunbathing? Feet. Cooking? Hands. I think you get the picture right? So as a personal preference, I like the way my hands and feet look much more with colored nails than with plain unpolished nails. 

A couple of months later, I went to the salon and had the nail tech apply the same color on both my feet and hands. That gave me a sense of empowerment when I did it. Suddenly, I felt different from all the other men around me. I felt sexy in a way, because I discovered Women were paying more attention to me than the other guys around me. Of course not all women, but certainly more than before. And this was not the “attention for the wrong reasons” kind either, It was that feel good, honest and here’s a little boost to your ego attention. I started to receive positive comments like “good for you, I wish my man had the guts to do that”, or “what a really nice color, I wish my feet were as good looking as yours”. I have also received comments like “I like your sense of individuality” and “You pull it off nicely”. Of course, there is the other side of the spectrum too, bad comments will also come from ignorant people, like “are you gay”? or the most stupid of all comments, “you look like a girl” or “nail polish is only for ladies”. What my personal experience has shown me is that it is a 50-50 thing. 50% of people will NOT like it, 50% of people will NOT comment. 50% of people will give you a compliment and 50% of people will bash you or give you “the look”. 50% will consider it NOT NORMAL, and 50% will tell you WHAT EVER FLOATS YOUR BOAT. But, the most important thing for me at least, is that I do it for me, not to please others, but to please myself.