I’ll have a gel manicure with French tips, please

By Erin Deborah Waks

I read Lena Dunham’s article in Vogue last week on her nail journey as she experimented with different types of manicures. As she puts it, ‘I love each expression precisely because of how different it can make me feel, taking me from a beacon of old-school femininity (with a twist) to something more practical but equally delicate. If the short nail is Audrey Hepburn, the long one is Sophia Loren.’

When I was younger, I experimented with the long acrylics often fawned over by teenagers, my leafy suburb of North London certainly not excluded. Most of the time I’d go for pink, mid-length talons with little in the way of embellishment or decoration - after all, I still wanted them to work with all my outfits. 

I don’t think I’ll ever go for those long, impractical, glittery, bejeweled false nails all over TikTok right now, the ones my 16-year-old cousins adore and can even sometimes stick on themselves in the bathroom, sipping vodka in preparation for a chaotic night out. That just doesn’t really seem like me.

Nor do I think I’m a fan of the naked nail. When I don’t have at least a coat of nude nail varnish on, I don’t feel put-together, my outfit seems incomplete. 

Call me boring, but I like a simple dark red gel manicure. Or, even better, one with French tips. Whatever that says about me.