My wife introduced me to pedicures about a yr ago and I was instantly addicted. The nail tech was telling me that most men have their toes buffed or put on a clear coat. I wasn't sure whether to belive her or not. I've tried both. The glossiness doesn't bother me...I think it looks cleaner. What do you think? Can men wear a nail color like a sheer nude from Orly?

Written on: 07/10/2008 (04:52pm)

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There is nothing wrong with men wanting to have their feet look presentable. Women know this all too well! Most men have calloused, rough feet with uneven yellow nails, and it is not attractive nor healthy.
A professional pedicure helps keep your nails and feet maintained and groomed so that you don't develop ingrown toenails, fungus and other types of foot issues, including odor.

Finishing a pedicure with either a buff or polish is entirely a personal preference. Some men like the 'finshed' look that polish gives their feet, other just want the clean buffed look. In fact, more men are opting for colored polish because they want more variety, and they know women will notice. Light colors are popular (beige, light pink) as well as some darker colors (black, gray, silver and blue) for men.
The male nail polish trend began in the early 2000s with a number of celebrities wearing their nails painted in various colors (Val Kilmer, Chuck Liddel to name a couple) and even recently, Dean McDermott is seen in LA often wearing gold and dark blue on his toenails.

My wife is a professional nail tech and she reports that she has seen a dramatic increase in the number of both women and men scheduling pedicures, and more men are opting for the polish. She remarked that it was surprising at first, but then she realized that it's all over the beauty trade magazines as the up and coming thing for salon operators to be prepared for. It does require that they stock up on colors of nail polish that may not be typically reaquested by women.

With the increasing popularity of men's sandals, more and more men are realizing that it is essential to take care of their feet. Pedicures and nail polish for men appear to be following close on the heels of the earring trend for men that is now considered commonplace.

Trepidation is expected when considering wearing your nails polished, but the men that are getting noticed are the ones who are being bold enough to be the trend setters.

Written on: 07/12/2008 (06:31am)

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I agree with you completely. I have been getting pedicures regularly but have been hesitant about doing anything more than buffing or clear coat at the salon. I do, however, use the orly colors at home...sheer nude, sheer pink, and sheer ivory. Unfortunately, I just cannot make them look that great. They need to make some kind of all in one polish for men that has the base, color and topcoat.

Written on: 07/12/2008 (06:53am)

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I have been having my fingernails and toenails manicured for close on 15 years. I am a healthy heterosexual male married to the same woman for 38 years. I always wear color on my toes - pinks, reds, corals, blues, whatever suits me at the time. I have had so many woman tell me that they love it and wish their guys would do it also but they know they are not going to. You have to be very secure in your manhood. Interestingly I have not had any guys be nasty or say anything. I think that's because guys for the most part are blind to other guys and frankly sometimes I think they are blind to their own looks.

why should women have all of the fun. Life is short. Live it to the fullest and if you want to paint your toenails. Go ahead and paint them.

Written on: 07/17/2008 (01:40pm)

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I'm a male who gets manicures and pedicures on a regular basis. I keep a french manicure on my fingers and usually wear red on my toes. I get lots of compliments especially from women. I work in a jewerly store so its important that my nails look goood when I showing different items.

Written on: 07/20/2008 (08:50am)

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Yo dudes, it's catching on. My wife was messing with me one evening while she was painting her toenails and she began painting mine when I was watching the tube. She was being a little crazy, but that's also what I like about her!
Anyways, I just kept watching the show and she painted all of them. Not bad I thought. The color was blue. It looked kinda crazy, but not bad. She asked me to keep it on. No, she begged me (hey, I was gonna milk this one for all I could get, you know). So, I did it, I kept it on.
I sorta forgot about it and it was about 3 or 4 days later when I was walking in a mall and this really tight gal noticed them and came up to me to ask if I painted them. Hell, I was about as surprised as she was because I had gotten pretty much used to them! I told her that my wife did it, and she thought that was so sweet. She said they looked very sexy and was going to go home and try it on her guy. Damn, that was not what I expected would happen, but if she thought it was sexy, and my wife liked it, who the hell am I to argue with two lovely women?
So, that was about two years ago, and I still wear them painted when she gets around to it.
Ya gotta try it man. There ain't anything like it to attract the ladies!

Written on: 07/23/2008 (08:05pm)

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It is catching on ! Manicures and pedicures are no longer just for the girls :-) I started going a little over a year ago, then last April the nail started talking to me color polish and men starting to wear polish, and not just clear. So I decided to be brave that day and selected a blue metal. BTW, my wife was like WOW ! With that big smile of approval on her face. It took a few months to be even braver and wear it day in day out with flip flops or my Chaco's . I'm having allot of fun with it and see no reason to stop.

Written on: 08/04/2008 (07:07am)

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You are correct, there is no doubt that men wearing colored polish on their toes is catching on! Check out this link for just one example: http://www.celebrity-babies.com/2008/05/tori-spelling-7.html

I think it may have been on the heels of women getting disgusted with seeing men's feet in sandals, and his nails and feetlooking rough and, well, gross. Just the fact that a guy would be considerate enough to get his feet 'cleaned up' via a pedicure is probably a substantial step in the right direction. I think jdmaw77's experience with surprising his wife with the metallic blue pedicure is a great example of how a guy can do something that used to be considered off-limits for men, but is now openly accepted and even desired by some women!

Honestly, how many guys really want to be considered "everyday" by women? To help you get the full impact of this question, let's turn it around and ask how many guys notice women who are "everyday"? Makes you think, huh?
Personally, I like being a bit expressive and fun. I want others to know that I am not afraid to be 'me' and try new and fun things. My guess is that many of you are also feeling like that is a better way to live than to fit into a 'norm'.

Kudos to you guys and gals who have gotten past this artificial barrier and have been bold enough to express your great open-minded attitudes!

Written on: 08/13/2008 (11:36am)

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If my man wants to have a pedicure good - I can't stand rough feet but I'm not going for the coloured polish on his toes. Yes he should have a mani and pedi but no colour. Just my personal preference and my man. I don't have to worry because he ne's the colour anyway.

Written on: 08/19/2008 (09:33am)

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Hey, I know that nail polish is not something that most men would think they would like and most women would not want their man caught dead wearing! I get that. But I have to say that based on my own personal experience, I can only say that it is surprising how many men and women change their minds once they experience it.

A few qualifiers though:
1) It has to be preceded by a professional pedicure. We've all seen rough, wavy and broken-off nails with polish on them (on women too). And they look terrible and unattractive. Most men's nails typically look this way, and thus the requirement for the pedicure.
2) The polish has to be applied in a neat and professional manner. it cannot be uneven and gooped onto the cuticles. That does not look good on anyone. And it needs to be followed with a clearcoat so that it looks consistent and will not chip.
3) The color should be 'tastefully' chosen for a male. Black, gray, silver and even some blues and greens (usually dark) can look very good on men's feet.
4) The wearer has to like it. If he is self-conscious about it, others will be too and it will not work for him.
5) His girlfriend or wife has to like it. If not, he will be criticized, if even by the way she looks at him.

Okay, that being said, I know that you can find many, many articles and examples online of men wearing nail polish (it's even in Wikipedia). Celebrities do it, survival show participants do it, sports figures do it, and a lot of other straight men, secure in their masculinity also do it. It's not that odd anymore because more men are realizing (or they've been coached by their better half) that it's better to take care of their feet and keep them looking presentable as wearing sandals is becoming a more common style for men these days.

And no, it's not 'gay'. Geez, who makes this stuff up anyway? Find a guy who's gay and ask him if you don't beleive me. It is for anyone (men or women) who want their feet to look better than just plain, that's all.

Give it a try!

Written on: 08/29/2008 (03:08pm)

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