She wanted to treat herself before the end of maternity leave, and asked if I wanted to join her. My feet have never been smoother. The ladies were very chill at the salon. My daughter loves my blue nails. That was about two weeks ago.

Most people where I’m at haven’t said much of anything. I had a guy at the McDonald’s drive through say “I like the color man.” unprompted. On the practical side, I haven’t had the compulsive urge to bite my nails since.

I’m 6’1, bald, bearded, dad bod, not exactly the through line for painted nails if I’m honest.

I’m sure if I was in a more conservative state it’d gather more of a reaction. Does end up in conversation here and there, but most people I know assume my daughter put me up to it. Frankly I had been thinking about it on and of for a bit. This was a good excuse to do it.

When I was growing up, I was the type of dude to grow my hair long out of spite. This is almost like that in some ways lol. I do wonder with each new interaction, if my nails will come up in conversation or not.

    • Red Wizard 🪄@lemmygrad.mlOP
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      1 year ago

      My favorite color is purple, and I remember having to develop a defense response as a result, which again only hardened my position that purple was my favorite color. I used to tell people that it was the color of royalty because it was a really expensive color to produce.

      But variety in clothing/material expression for men would be nice. Man, I would love a good linen tunic, or kurta, or some harem pants. Tall clothing is hard to come by, and 90% of clothing is designed for wildly unrealistic male body types, and I’d love to just feel comfortable and socially acceptable at the same time.

      Like, yoga pants are wild to me, and I feel like there is no real male equivalent. They’re hella casual, but also professional enough for most work settings. I feel like those two attributes change simply based on how you accessorize them.

    • SovereignState@lemmygrad.mlM
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      1 year ago

      Livin in a blue state for the first time now, and I still compliment dudes rockin’ polish every time I see it. Simple “I like your nails”, usually.

  • GRENADE_MAGNET@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    M/40 -We were going on a cruise and the wife and kid were going to get a mani/pedi so I went and got one too. It was a good experience.

    Doing it right before the cruise turned out to be a bad idea though because they aggressively exfoliate your feet and man were my feet tender at the beach.

    I don’t need a manicure but I think everyone should have their footcare professionally done.

    • Red Wizard 🪄@lemmygrad.mlOP
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      1 year ago

      I spend so much time at work typing that the hand treatment felt awesome. One of those, you don’t know till you know situations.

  • BangersAndMash@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Good for you. I’ve gotta admit I’ve always been tempted - I just imagine it would feel really nice. Can you get it without the nail polish or clear? I’m just a bit of an introvert and don’t like to attract attention!

    • all star [he/him]@lemmygrad.ml
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      1 year ago

      You can definitely get no polish or clear. The foot/calf massage most places give is worth the pedicure for sure. If you end up feeling like a dash of color the nice part about doing toes is they are very easy to have covered in social settings.

  • Gerudo@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    I’ve never had mine painted but I love getting pedicures. The hot wax foot wrap is chefs kiss.

    • Red Wizard 🪄@lemmygrad.mlOP
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      1 year ago

      It was very nice. Seeing the ladies bust out the cheese graters for my lizard feet was amusing, but damn aren’t they effective lol.

  • mysoulishome@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I did this once when my daughter didn’t want to go with my wife. Opted for orange toenails because it’s the color of our cat. Would definitely do again. I have never had the courage to paint my fingernails but should someday…

  • SovereignState@lemmygrad.mlM
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    1 year ago

    I got mani-pedis with my mom on numerous occasions as a teenager! It was always a blast and the workers so kind. I remember conversations about movies we enjoyed, college majors, etc.

    They managed to work around my horribly bitten nails regularly. Never painful, somehow. Don’t regret it for an instant. This post has inspired me to get one again if and when I can afford it!