Long nails at work

Makeuptalk.com forums

Help Support Makeuptalk.com forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Oct 24, 2022
Messages
5
Reaction score
3
Location
EU
nails.jpg

It is widely believed among makeup artists that long nails at work are unacceptable.
Let's be honest, I totally disagree with this. Let's analyze the arguments against long nails:

Injury hazard. There is an opinion that long nails are a danger to the client. I, as the owner of long nails, can say that if this is your native length, you get used to it, it becomes part of your hand, as if it had always been. It’s already more difficult with extended nails, at first you don’t feel this length and can really injure the client.

Hygiene. Someone believes that germs accumulate more under long nails. Of course this is not the case, germs are collected at any length in the same way and hands should always be clean. Personally, I don’t touch the client’s face with my bare hands and I don’t advise you, not only because of hygiene, the client may simply not like the tactile sensations, there is no need to violate boundaries.

Fear. Your task is the comfort of the client. To achieve it, you must be able to convince. If the client trusts you as a master of his craft, no nails will repel him. Such an opinion can be drawn in relation to the eyes, which, in principle, do not accept interaction with the mucous membrane. Such eyes will be afraid of even short nails, these are reflexes, but you can also deal with them and make a cool make-up.

I confess that without my long nails I feel as if naked.
And you?)
 
View attachment 70940
It is widely believed among makeup artists that long nails at work are unacceptable.
Let's be honest, I totally disagree with this. Let's analyze the arguments against long nails:

Injury hazard. There is an opinion that long nails are a danger to the client. I, as the owner of long nails, can say that if this is your native length, you get used to it, it becomes part of your hand, as if it had always been. It’s already more difficult with extended nails, at first you don’t feel this length and can really injure the client.

Hygiene. Someone believes that germs accumulate more under long nails. Of course this is not the case, germs are collected at any length in the same way and hands should always be clean. Personally, I don’t touch the client’s face with my bare hands and I don’t advise you, not only because of hygiene, the client may simply not like the tactile sensations, there is no need to violate boundaries.

Fear. Your task is the comfort of the client. To achieve it, you must be able to convince. If the client trusts you as a master of his craft, no nails will repel him. Such an opinion can be drawn in relation to the eyes, which, in principle, do not accept interaction with the mucous membrane. Such eyes will be afraid of even short nails, these are reflexes, but you can also deal with them and make a cool make-up.

I confess that without my long nails I feel as if naked.
And you?)

Interesting take.

Even before Covid, long nails were unacceptable due to the scientific literature we have to adhere to. Even more so now post Covid. So it's the norm for everyone to have short, well maintained nails in the Trailer.

The various film Unions regularly consult with their scientific / health advisors on topics such as this and they suggest guidelines to follow. (Example: Section 21 Covid-19 protocols) Then the Union implements those guidelines and shares that information with the other Unions and Guilds, so that everyone is in the Know.

Especially the Actor's Unions. Actors don't hesitate to call their agents who call the production when H/MU don't follow protocols for their safety. I've seen first-hand actors walk off set, leave the Mkup trailer and people getting replaced for not following health protocols. This is where the Trust factor comes in between Actor and Make-up Artist.

Then there is the mandatory health and hygiene courses we (H/MU) Department Members / Permits have to take through the Union in order to keep working.

Science is always evolving and that's what we follow.
 
In my workplace individuality is encouraged, however, they would not allow long fake nails. We are allowed to paint our nails whatever colour we like, provided that they're not too long. It depends on the job and the environment you work in. If you work in an office for example or the beauty industry then I believe they should be a lot more lenient :)
 
The length of fingernails is also going to factor in massively if one uses a computer keyboard or piano, doesn't it?
 
I happen to have long, all natural nails. Always kept them long - even when I am gardening (I wear gloves then). I have, since I was a teenager, always had long nails. When using the office keyboards, my nails are strong enough that I just hit the keys with my nails. It's very seldom that I break a nail. I do always keep them manicured (I do it myself). Only one time did I have a professional manicure, and IMHO for me it was a total waste of time and money.
 
I happen to have long, all natural nails. Always kept them long - even when I am gardening (I wear gloves then). I have, since I was a teenager, always had long nails.
At what length do you keep them?
 
At what length do you keep them?
Measuring from the cuticle, about .75" to 1 inch long. Measuring just the tips about.25 to .33 inches. Much longer than that and I shorten them. My nails are so strong that I use the nail tips on keyboards, without any breakage or chipping. The self-manicures I do usually last 10 days to 2 weeks, depending on what I have been doing - if I have done a lot of gardening (excessive hand-washing) then a week or so. Old formulations of polish and a manicure would last long enough that I would have to do another one because of nail growth, not chipping or peeling.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top