Have you ever seen Meme from Tiffany Pollard, alias “New York”, on a section of “Bad Girls Club”, and said “Someone lied to her – several times.” Well, even if you don’t have it, you should know that I understand it a lot. It reasoned deeply with me because someone lied to me several times. Ever since I was a little girl, the nail salon has been sold to me as a special treatment. If I was good, if I got good grades, or if there was a special event, I could get my nails made. And in a way it is a special treatment – being able to get my nails done is really a privilege, and I have the greatest respect for nail techniques who work their magic on someone that I can barely cut their own nails. But in a much bigger way it is not a treatment at all, it is a trouble – and I know that I am not the only one who thinks so.
When I was little and I didn’t know things like iPhones, Tiktok and Texting, I was cool to just sit in the nail salon and be entertained by my own thoughts. Now, as an adult who has too many intrusive thoughts and things on their to-do list, is the last thing I want to do alone, just me and my brain, for two plus hours. It is not lost on me that I am extremely lucky to be able to go to the nail salon in the first place, but it does not help the fact that the process feels like a job.
If I’m at the nail salon for just a pedicure, I can have an ok time – I can use my hands, turn on the massage chair and browse social media to zone out. It’s still a busy place – it’s busy, with lots of people and talk – but I can make decay. Getting my nails done is a completely different story. I wish I could let go of my hands at the salon and then come and pick them up later. While I get my nails done, I am famous by a nail technician for at least two hours. I usually get Construction gelWhich is not a short and simple process. It is about a lot of filing, haircut, trimming, painting and curing and process takes forever. During that time, both my hands are completely useless, so I just have to sit there and mentally go through every single embarrassing I have ever done in my entire life – because what is there more to think about?
I already know that people will suggest that I listen to a podcast, but they are not really my thing. I would love to sit there and snap on the phone for two hours, but it is rude and annoying for the other people around me. So instead I sit.
Some salons will play TV sets, which is nice, but in all honesty I have zero interest in looking at another section of “The Great British Baking Show” or “Master Manager Junior.”
Listen – I am the first person to admit that there are warnings. If I go to the nail salon with one of my girlfriends, and we can lose all the time, count me in. But let’s be real – we are all adults with lively life, boyfriends or children (I have none of these things but I am available if someone is interested), so it can be difficult to match schedules.
While the end result is fantastic and certainly something I could never do myself, I just don’t think it’s relaxing. It’s just another thing to add to the list of beauty treatments that I need to do, right below Brazilian wax And tone the eyebrows.
Just let me finish my mini -Rant by saying one last thing: I know some people will think I sound out of contact and say this is a champagne problem, and trust me, I am well aware. There are much more important things in the world, so I’m just here, control my privilege and delay my trip to the nail salon for as long as possible.
Renee Rodriguez (She/her) is a staff writer and social producer for PS. She writes all verticals, but her main areas of expertise focus on fashion and beauty content with emphasis on reviews and editor experiments. She also produces social content for PS TikTok and Instagram accounts.
