The age of nail bars and parlours is upon us, and it's booming, big time

Have you noticed the many nail parlours and bars in small and big towns?

Growing up, nails were kept short and clean; a razor blade did the job. I recall the Nacet brand with nostalgia. 

My dad one day came home with a nail cutter. It was one of my earliest encounters with the use of levers, long before I studied physics. The cutter rarely “cuts” like the razor. 

The other use of the razor was shaving our heads clean to keep off lice. Maybe hygiene has improved; lice are now rare.

Shaving our heads clean was popular long before Jordan! We found our grandmothers with clean-shaven heads. It’s amazing how we can adopt what was originally ours. This demonstrates the power of the media and celebrities. 

It’s not clear how traditionally nails were cut, because they must have grown long. How about hair? Anyone with legacy nail or hair cutters?   

Why has nail making become so popular? We even have nail bars! One, we have more disposable income than the generation before us.

You can’t make your nails if you have no food to eat. Two, we are too conscious of our image. Beyond your face, your hands are a focal point.

Nails supplement our image, espoused by your smile, hair, clothes, shoes, lipstick, among others. What defines men’s beauty? Let us get an answer from women only.  

Nails are also a status symbol. Clean and elongated, often artificially, indicate you have “class.”  

You do not expect a farmer to have long nails. I have nothing against farmers. My feeling is that they never get enough attention and respect, yet they keep us alive. A mason or carpenter can’t have long nails. We could simply say long nails are incompatible with hustling (not the original one). 

Does our fear of ageing and losing the exuberance of youth take us to beauty parlours, including nail bars? We can argue that nails are part of a bigger beauty industry, which is very profitable. 

When we talk of addiction, we often forget beauty addiction. Even in the depths of Covid-19, hairs were done, so were nails, and other beauty-enhancing activities. Going for haircuts, nails, and pedicures is almost a ritual, an addiction? No wonder governments have tried taxing them. 

The media has driven the industry, too, with nails and other beauty products using influencers for adverts. Even men have not been left behind! We now have perfumes for men. Have they got into nails? Interestingly, lots of men make lady nails. 

Do you own a nail parlour or bar? How is the business? Does it matter if the economy is booming or not? Share your experience; I could be your next customer.