Today's New York Times reports on the dubious "trend" of having chipped nails. Apparently, having less-than-flawless nails is not a complete beauty disaster:
“Before, when nail polish was chipped you absolutely had to run and get it fixed,” said Ji Baek, the owner of Rescue Beauty Lounge and a manicure doyenne who has noticed the Olsens and Lindsay Lohan with less-than-impeccable polish. Now, clients like hers are “wearing perfectly-tailored clothes, they have $5,000 bags and equally fabulous shoes, but their nails are chipped and they’re saying, ‘I don’t care.’ They don’t want to be too perfect.”
Of course, Baek adds, there's a catch: “Chipping is cool, but chipping in a schleppy way when you don’t have a $5,000 handbag is not as cool." Oh, so that's all we need! Great.
Joking aside, the story explains that women, particularly the younger generation, don't flip out about having less-than-flawless manicures. While I agree that there are certain occasions (job interviews, your wedding) that require neater nails, I've always felt that life has bigger things to worry about than an imperfect manicure. Are you with me?
Petite Fleur
Elemis
French Sole
If chipping is cool with the $5000 bag, then it's cool without it and I might not even agree on it being cool. Some of us can't afford it, and even if I had more money for a bag, I would more likely still have one cheaper than $5000. What a ridiculous comment from that person.
Anyway, I do like the idea of having a look that isn't too perfect, but I would rather have neat nails, even unpainted most of the time, and have something else about my look that isn't too perfect. I like the idea of a relaxed (but not sloppy) look, especially if it's in a Charlotte Gainsbourg or Clemence Poesy way.
1I agree but I have to say it tends to still irk me especially after just having them done.
2Sorry, I can't stand a less than perfect manicure. If my polish chips and I am too lazy to re-polish, I just take it all off.
3I agree with Francoisehardly!
4This is why I rarely paint my fingernails...I can't STAND chips in my polish. They will always irritate me!
5When I was younger I could not stand having chipped or needed to be filled nails at all. Which made me have to go to the nail salon every week to have them redone. Now it is a different story I so let them chip but nothing to extreme because then it starts to irk me.
6A little chipping isn't too bad but when most of the polish is gone it's time to just start over. I love this woman's comment about how it's only justified as long as you have a cool $5,000 purse to distract from it, wow!
7I agree but it gets embarrassing after a while when you're out at night with you're friends and when you reach for your drink everyone's hands are manicured except yours...
8We've all been the victim of chipped nails and it's perfectly understandable, but I will never support this as a trend (even if only in Hollywood). I hate when I see celebrities that I know spend all day taking care of how they look and then see their nasty nails. Especially on the red carpet. It's just silly. When it starts to chip - remove it!
9I can't stand chipped nails. If they chip I just take the polish off. I think it is too sloppy looking.
10If I'm wearing a pale color and it's not so noticible I can deal with it for a few days. Otherwise it drives me crazy and I have to take it off.
11i'm so weird about it. i hate certain chips, like when the corners of my index fingers get chipped (from buttoning your jeans, i'm sure you know what i mean, this happens to me every time!!). But there are other times where my polish just tends to wear out a bit on the end of my nails, that i actually like how it looks. it makes it look a little bit edgy to me, a little punk rock. it's lame, haha, but i like it!
12I paint my nails with clear strengthener stuff most of the time, and don't mind terribly when that chips or flakes, although I tend to take it off every few days just because it starts getting gross. But when I'm wearing actual colored polish, chips irritate me to no end. It does tend to be at quite formal events though, so the irritation is mainly because of stress/wanting everything to be perfect.
13I like the way chipped polish looks for some reason. Plus, I just can't be bothered to repair mine every time they chip, which ends up being the day after I paint them. I agree with xrockette, in that I feel sort of edgy with it. I am sooo not edgy, so this is probably the closest I will ever come.
14I'm just one of those people that think that if you put colored polish on then you should keep it from getting chipped or fix it right away or don't wear colored polish. I think chipped polish makes it look like you don't care about your appearance, even if you have really expensive clothing on. I guess I'm just obsessive that way!
15for some reason i love chipped nail polish, always have.
16I am not sure I understand why you bother to get them done if you would wear them chipped.
17It's funny that you mention it, just two days ago I got a manicure at this new nail salon that just opened up by my job. I love the color (tropical punch by OPI). Anyway, not even three hours later there were tiny chips at the edges. Then the very next morning, half of the polish on my index finger came right off. I swung by the salon during my lunchbreak, and she repainted the one finger with no charge. Today, it happened to both index fingers. I've decided it's just not worth the money to get manicures if they last for less than a day. Is this normal? Or does anyone think OPI chips easily or maybe the salon uses a cheap top coat? I always assumed that a manicure would last at least 3-4 days
18I can't stand to have chipped nails! I think it looks like you don't care about how you present yourself...just get clear nails.
19I have no problem being a little unkempt - I live in flats so my jeans are usually frayed at the bottom, and my hair is usually a little unruly - but I hate having chipped nail polish. That's why I rarely paint my fingernails, and if I do, it's a very light, shimmery color that won't show imperfections.
20i don't think that chipped nail polish is ever a fashion statement, but it's not necessarily a disater etiher
21I don't like chipped polish. That's probably why I only paint my nails about three times a year.
22This is proof that we are desperate for new trends, and sdesperate to follow them however stupid they may be. No offense to anyone who likes this look I just think its kind of a dumb concept.That being said I won't die if my nails are chipped, but I don't love the look either.
23When I was younger, if I had a chip in my polish then I had to re-do them! I gave myself a manicure every three days, no matter what! These days, with two kids and a busy life, I don't tend to care as much. I have chipped polish on right now, but it's Angel by Hard Candy, a light glittery pink and you can't really tell. However, if I was wearing a dark color and it chipped, I'd still take the polish off immediately! It does look awfully sloppy to have chipped dark polish.
24Chippin' is not for me. I like my nails to look nice and am constantly reapplying nail polish. I find it calming to do my nails.
I guess this most have been a hot story as it was in my Google Reader in 5 different blogs. LOL
25My mom FREAKS out if i have chipped nail polish. She almost has a seizure. I don't mind chipped polish, but it depends on how severe it is... I can handle a few chips on the end, but once you can see 50% of the nail... you need to take it off and start over....
26i remember when mary kate did the chipped red nail polish look....and i thought it was cool! seriously!
27Ew. Since I've gotten more into nail polish, I can't STAND to see chipped nail polish. It makes you look so unkept. I used to let my np chip but I was in middle school when I didn't care.
28chipped nails don't bother me at all.
29there are more important issues.
but i do change my nail colour alot
or i have to remove it cause of work
I'm sorry, but i think chipped polish looks trashy! especially if it is a bold color, with nude colors, its kind of hard to tell... Just change your polish!!
30That's so funny, I just left a comment on UK fab saying this was a bad habit of mine, I have partially painted pink nails as we speak.
The thing is, I love bright nails, but just never get around to re-painting them, hence the shabby look. I have been secretly passing this off in my mind as 'grunge chic' for years though, so I am glad the NY Times agrees!
Do you think Kate Moss has perfectly painted nails?
31"Shift in attitude" is what I would call it - not a "Trend". There are so many more important things to worry about and to do and we each have our own lists of concerns.
During the 80's into the 90's there was a stronger sense of the Me-First, label conscious, consumerist attitude. That's gotten us, as a society, into a huge bit of a mess. I think we, as a culture, realize this and are personally growing out of it - each in our own way. Afterall, nothing says "Perfectly Pampered Pet" like perfectly lacquered claws.
[EOD]
32for now
Not a fan of the chipped polish look. I usually either don't wear polish or wear a very light shade so it's harder to see chips.
33i think sometimes chipped nail polish can look cute especially if you're wearing the kind of pink nailpolish that a 5 year old would choose -- but if you've chosen a darker or bolder color it does look messy... and there's only so much chipping before it starts making you feel dirty
but i certainly agree that there are more serious matters in life than stressing about chipped nail polish!
34I totally agree. However when you are wearing darker nail polish and it chips it looks so much more noticable. A lighter sheer colr that has chipped ... not such a big deal. I am just noticing mine are chipped today
35Not a trend I'll be on board with...
36I personally hate when my nails chip, but I don't flip out about it. I would though if i had the time and money to fix every chip so I don't understand why the Lindsay Lohans of Hollywood wouldn't try to at least maintain an clean appearance when we really know that the only work they do starts at 11 pm and ends at 4 in the morning.
37I like the pampering more than the actual nail polish when it comes to a manicure. I could care less about the nail polish. I just like having someone massage my hands while I sit back and relax.
38Chipped polish doesn't bother me at all..unless I am going to a big event or something. I do my nails once a week & I love color most of the time, so after about 4 days or so they are chipped. I don't like doing them more often than once a week, so I just let them be until I feel like doing them again! Really, I don't think much about it once they've chipped!
39I usually end up with chipped nail polish like 2 days after I paint my nails, it tends to annoy me, so I usually repaint them. If I don't I start to pick at the nail polish and make more come off.
40i cant stand chipped nails, i think it makes me look totally careless (and not in a good way). I choose to not wear any polish, because i dont want to give off a bad impression.
41Maybe its because I live in the south...but I was somewhat horrified by this article when I read it yesterday!
Here in Dallas this would not fly!
42i agree with CalliopePoppi. when i'm wearing a young color (hot pink or something), then i'm less likely to care if my nails are chipped. but if i'm wearing a dark, "sophisticated" color, i take it off as soon as it chips.
43"During the 80's into the 90's there was a stronger sense of the Me-First, label conscious, consumerist attitude. That's gotten us, as a society, into a huge bit of a mess. I think we, as a culture, realize this and are personally growing out of it - each in our own way. Afterall, nothing says "Perfectly Pampered Pet" like perfectly lacquered claws."
Good point.
44This Ji Baek sounds like an idiot.
45Honestly, I don't care how trendy this gets. When my polish chips, I always touch it up or remove it. Just looks really gross otherwise....
46trend or no trend, i just
47love my nice no-chipped
polish, especially when
I'm using dark bold colors
A little polish chipping isn't a huge deal because from far away, you can't even see it. It does bother me a tad when i have bareley no nail polish on my nails anymore. Then i take it off, even if its the cutest color everr.
48I am horrified. This is not a trend, this is just some lazy woman writing an article while looking down at her gnarly hands with chipped polish and wanting everyone to believe that she's "in the now."
49more proof that the things that I do that no one likes at first always become trends a month later.
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