This article came to my attention tonight on Twitter.
It seems to be written by a professional Nail Technician with a serious disregard for us 'short rounded' nail bloggers. It seems to be saying we're ruining her noble and thankless industry by deflecting attention away from acrylics and the geniuses that apply them. It seems to be a poorly written rush job, purely posted to incite extreme comments and draw traffic.
Much has been said about bloggers versus professionals, be it food, fashion, finance,beauty, nails, rainbow cakes. Basically it seems some professionals have a huge chip on their shoulder at anyone who appears to be as good or better at their own game, without all the hours spent chained to health and safety lectures and the tedious IT lessons.
"I feel like the real industry is getting
overshadowed and everyone’s telling me that
no one does acrylic anymore, while I spend
every day covered in acrylic dust"
So the author is still getting the work then? Enough to keep her covered in dust?
What exactly is the problem? No I mean really, what is she saying?
Maybe she had a deadline and nothing backed up.
I can see no other reason for her 'hatin' on a bunch of people who may or may not be professionals, and as far as I can see have done nothing but breathe life into an industry that was becoming a cliche?
We (nail bloggers) are not killing the profession any more than a food blogger is killing the food industry.
It is only in the comments section that the author clarifies her intention in response to some very angry feedback
My point-- and it is made in the post*-- is that natural nails and polish/art have not, as yet, dominated to the extent of representing the entirety of professional nail services being done in salons. And I'm a little irritated (but not exactly hateful) that my own industry resources have been so quick to forget that many of us are still doing "fake nails" on a regular basis... making a living doing them, in fact.
*no it isn't
So what she's really saying is her own industry's publications are selling its members down the river by favouring the decorated, natural nails rather than show artificial nails?
Is that what she's saying?
Because I don't see L'Oreal and Chanel calling up nail bloggers consistently to do manicures for their collections. If anything, the industry is as nepotistic and elitist as it ever was.
What we do, and I speak for all bloggers whatever the field of interest, pro or noob, is employ ourselves as curators or counsellors of passion.
We might break things down so readers and fellow enthusiasts can try something they never thought they could do.
We might tell you the truth about something that has a misleading but unstoppable marketing campaign behind it.
We might be up all night editing photos and text and re-doing things until they're reader worthy.
We might do it for an audience of 5 or 5 million.
We are here to stay, and if forward projections are to be believed, the majority of the human race will have a blog one day. I see value and importance in everyone's private lives and thoughts, not just professionals who already reap the rewards of their craft daily.
We're also pretty good at forming a sentence or two, something the author might want to look into. You know, when she's bored with annoying a sizable and vocal section of the internet.
I think all different techniques and styles have their own place. Some ladies cannot grow any natural nail they are comfortable with without enhancements. It's just genetics. Others like the look of clearly artificial, blinged-out nails. Most high-fashion nails are very short, often in natural colors. Nail art in runway shows tends to be of the type shown on nail blogs - done with polish, not geegaws affixed to acrylics. That may be a function of time and money, but it's also a style choice. Personally, I prefer natural-looking, fairly short nails, as do many professional women. It's a matter of practicality. I have to work, type, handle objects, and interface with the public. I will wear unusual colors, but that is the extent of it. I simply can't show up at work with 3D cupcakes on my nails. I see some professional women wearing what appear to be obvious artificials, but they are mostly pink/white with no more than 4mm free edge. Again, to each her/his own. I like to look at all kinds of nail images, natural and artificial. There are just a lot fewer nail blogs out there where artificials are highlighted. The nail blogging world is oriented toward women to view nails as a hobby and stress relief, so they want to do their nails on their own. Some learn to do artificials themselves incredibly well, but they are in the minority. Nothing wrong with that and no need for pros to take pot shots at amateurs and vice versa. If you read industry magazines, ladies doing their own nails is a huge trend that is recognized my product manufacturers and it is unlikely to change soon as non-pro products increase in ease of use and quality. But the rising tide will probably lift all ships and as the economy improves increased interest in nail care generally will help salon services as women get hooked and wish to explore techniques they read about but don't feel comfortable doing themselves. Note that many nail bloggers and their readers are fairly young. Not necessarily the ladies that can afford salon services just yet. Here is an interesting article that recently came out about nail product consumers. http://www.gcimagazine.com/marketstrends/segments/cosmetics/Young-Women-Moms-Behind-Nail-Care-Rise-189022591.html?utm_source=Related+Items&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=Related+Items
ReplyDeleteThank you for replying. I too have a distaste for long squared nails, on me, but I admire them on other people, and they really display nail art and bling very well, if that's your thing. They are a dying trend though, the migration of high fashion to the mainstream was the start of the demise of the square half inch extension, and I definitely see a shift towards a healthier nail look rather than just length.I trained in acrylics, and can do them to a point. I am hoping to go pro later this year actually, and while I dream of painting all day and getting paid, I know right now that my bread and butter will be squoval french tips or an overlay. So I will always be sitting here painting my short rounded nails. I love that younger women are just doing it and putting it out there, and find the industry's reaction to be as irrelevant as my opinion is to them. The author of the post needs to get over herself, it's hardly coal mining.
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