Nails for Males

Nails for Males

What's the latest men's fashion? Believe it or not, nail polish. While women have been slicking on lacquer for decades, men can now indulge in the fanciful pleasure of polishing the tips of their digits. At least, that is what a few forward-thinking cosmetic companies are hoping.

Urban Decay, OPI and Hard Candy are just some of the make-up companies that are betting the other half of the population will take a shine to dark and metallic fingernail shades. To be sure, men probably won't slick on a coat of Ruby Red, and while the concept may be a bit androgynous, the names for the polish are not. Take, for instance, Hard Candy's male line called Candy Man. These "manly" nail colors sport names like Super Man, Testosterone and Dog.

Dineh Mohajer, owner of Hard Candy cosmetics, says that she was inspired to create the Candy Man line when she saw guys goop on the polish she created for girls. Already her more masculine colors have been spotted on the nails of such stars as Dennis Rodman, Quentin Tarantino and Antonio Banderas.

"But this is not about make-up. This is about fashion. It's about fun!" said Mohajer on PBS's Newshour Online. That's how Michael McCreary feels. A manager at Boston's Urban Outfitters, an apparel store that sells Urban Decay's male line, McCreary admits to slicking on a shade or two on occasion. "It's a curiosity thing," he says. "I just see a fingernail polish and wonder what my hands would look like in that color."

According to McCreary, nail painting will probably never be fully integrated into the male-grooming ritual. "It's something to do before a punk or goth concert, but I don't sit there and think, what color fingernail polish am I going to wear with my outfit tonight, like a girl does."

In addition McCreary doesn't feel as if he needs to don a strictly male shade, either. The male nail colors at the store, he says, are mostly bought by women. Speaking for himself, he says, "I usually will pick up a traditional nail polish or just borrow a bottle from a friend. I don't know if I can be convinced that a nail shade is 'Just for Men.'"