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Your fingernails send messages to others about you 04-01-2006
Anderson Independent-Mail
By Samantha Epps
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As you walk into an office for a job interview or into a restaurant for your first date with a new hottie, you have the perfect dress, great shoes and killer hair.
Head held high, shoulders squared, you’re the picture of confidence.
But you’ve totally forgotten about the one thing that will soon give you away as a nervous worrywart.
There at the ends of your hands are the ragged, torn fingernails, the result of your fretting from the night before.
What do your fingernails say about you? You may be surprised at the answer. Well-groomed nails can be a sign that you pay attention to your health, that you are concerned about your image or that details matter to you.
For men and women, the condition of your fingernails may be sending a message that you don’t mean for others to read about you.
Diane Davis is an Anderson businesswoman who tries to keep a weekly or bi-weekly appointment to get her nails done professionally.
"For me it took me years to be able to grow fingernails, so I like to take care of them," Ms. Davis said. "If you go someplace with broken or dirty nails or with your cuticles looking so bad, to me it’s like your teeth being dirty. A person looks at your teeth, and if you need cleaning or dental work, it’s very obvious. In a meeting where you’re going to sign papers and you pick up a pen, if you’ve been out gardening and they are terrible looking, that’s not good."
Keeping nails looking nice is "another way of showing respect for yourself," Ms. Davis said. "(Not keeping nails groomed) shows you are not taking care of yourself totally," she said.
"I believe nails are part of how a woman presents herself," said Karen Strigle, owner of Nails by Karen in Anderson. "Women in business have to have good presentation, but for all women, it’s just part of our makeup. We should take care of our nails."
Even those who cannot spare the time or the money to have their nails cared for professionally can do more than they might think to put their best hand forward, Ms. Strigle said.
"Women who can’t afford professional nail treatments are every bit as concerned about their nails as those who can afford them," she said. "Women of all economic stations can look good. It has a lot to do with how we feel about ourselves and making ourselves feel better."
If you’re not going to have your nails done professionally, you should keep them filed, one length if possible and polish them when you can, Ms. Strigle said.
"Put a strengthener on them to keep them hard," she said. "Women work hard and work with their hands. The better they look, the better they will be for your health."
Men who think nice nails make them look too feminine may be mistaken.
It could be a sign of greatness.
In some Asian cultures, men also will grow long fingernails, or only the nail on the little finger, to show that they do not do much manual labor, but instead work in an office setting, according to Wikipedia.com.
"Some guitar players, notably classical and fingerstyle players, will purposely grow long nails on one hand. Their longer nails serve as small, easily maneuverable guitar picks," the online encyclopedia said. "Care thereof becomes a daily ritual and a mark of pride. Though this attention may seem effeminate, it is a mark of the dedication that accompanies the serious musician."
The Rev. Horace Alexander, assistant pastor of Royal Baptist Church in Anderson, gives himself a manicure every week to keep his hands and nails looking nice.
"All men should care about how their hands look," said Mr. Alexander, who once owned a salon called The Hair Clinic in the Lakeside Shopping Center. "I think it’s a sign of healthiness and cleanliness. A man who has nice hands and well-groomed nails speaks loudly of his confidence."
That goes for all men from clergy to carpenters, he said.
"There are men who work on cars that have decent hands," Mr. Alexander said. "It’s a natural extension of who we are. When someone extends his hand to you, you look at that and it’s an extension of who he is."
Mr. Alexander uses conditioning oil to massage his cuticles and pushes them back so his nails will grow. He also keeps them at a professional length, he said.
If you’re not going to make your nails look better, at least try not to make them look bad.
Ragged nails, torn apart from nail-biting, can suggest that you are often nervous or upset or that you have emotional problems.
But many people suffer from Chronic Onychophagia, the clinical name for nail biting.
"The most common instigator of the disorder seems to be stress or anxiety," according to www.beautyweb.com. "Nail and cuticle/skin biting may be an outlet for pent-up emotion, reducing tension for the individual," the Web site said.
"Nail-biting is a habit like any other and a person should gain more control over their habits," Mr. Alexander said. "Germs make their way into the mouth more easily when people bite their nails."
Samantha Epps can be reached at (864) 260-1259 or by e-mail at eppssh@IndependentMail.com.
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