Last night was a very exciting night for me I launched my blog. Now as much as I say "I don't care what people think of me" I realized last night how much that way of think is not a true statement. The reality is that we as people( humans) do care what people thinking of us BUT the different is that we should not let what people think of us stop us from being ourselves and doing exactly what it is that we want to do in life. With that being said I was contemplating on who I wanted to reach and how I was going to make this blog different and compete with the great bloggers out there. I was wondering if I was going to do tutorials, post pics, do getaways etc. I realized that I should just be me. It will come naturally the more comfortable I get at blogging. Rome wasn't built in a day. So lets begin shall we.
Back in the late 80's to mid 90's Black pride, Black empowerment, Black consciousness was very prevalent in the black community. People were walking around wearing kente clothes prints, dashikis, Africa shape medallions etc. Music even eluded to these elements and type of thinking around that time.
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My earliest memory of nails came from my elementary school social studies teacher Ms. Glover. That soul sista right there was a true black queen. She carried herself with so much poise, confidence, self awareness of herself. She oozed black pride. Ms. Glover was not average social studies teacher. She was feared by all the student even some of the tough ones. She taught us as much as she could possible teach about who we are as black people. She taught us about the slave trade, slavery, she showed us pictures and read books about the slavery. I cant even count how many times I watched Roots, How the caged Bird Sings and The Color purple during my years in elementary school at Huntington Prep (P.S. 40) LOL. Ms.Glover wore long nails that were always nice and polished orange. I can recall how pretty I thought her hands were as I looked at her writing on the black board or as she made hand gestures as she taught the class.
My second memory of beautiful nails was my aunt Bookie's ( that's a family nickname her name is Debra) I remember how she would meticulously wrap her nails using the silk wrapping method which is a method where a silk fabric is wrapped around the nail to make the nail more durable and nail glue is put all over it to hold it in place before the nails are being filed and painted.
Artificial nails and nail art have always been in the black community. At one point nail art was a fad that was seen by mainstream society as a black women thing and was considered ghetto. I can remember whenever a black women from the hood was portrayed on television during the 90's s to early 2000's in movies, comedy shows etc. they always where "ghetto" they spoke ignorantly, uneducated, wearing weave or long braids, wore long nails, had ten kids, angry or being see as sex objects the list could go on and on but I am here for nails LOL. Y'all know what I'm talking about.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="539"]📷 The visual imagery of how black women have been portrayed in Hollywood over the year.[/caption]
Now I am not say that black women created nail art (even though I personally feel to some degree if not all credit definitely is due) but nails have managed to evolve to be fashionable, trendy, hip, and cool. Nails art is on a whole new level it now mainstream and something that women of all races enjoy and have fun with. Nails and nail art show a person's personality. It gives the wearer a sense of individuality in a world set on repeating trends, fads and so on. I truly like the fact that as a nail tech/manicurist there is a vary of styles that I will perform. On end of the spectrum you will have the clients that wants a simple manicure with clear polish to a client that wants charms, drawings, and 6 inch nail tips.
The art of being a manicurist/nail tech is not what people think. Many people do not know that their is schooling involved in becoming a nail tech/manicurist. Since starting school I have received so many surprised looks when I stated that I am in school to become a nail tech/manicurist. Nail techs/manicurist also have to get licensed for from the state in which they are going to practice.
There is a 600 hours course that must be completed. In that 600 hours you will learn a vary of things from the history of nails, to the importance of cleaning, disinfecting, sterilizing implements and equipment between each client, to the proper way to setup a station for each client, disease and infection identification and prevention, effective communication skills, salon or spa maintenance and management. Other topics covered are how to properly give salon services such as a manicures, pedicures, apply and remove artificial tip and how to apply and remove acrylic, gel, and how to properly polish. As you can see its not just about doing nails it is very detailed and tedious or is suppose to be if done correctly.
You may say well the nail techs/manicurist at the salon I go don't all that well that a HUGE problem. I like to call those type of establishments chop shops LOL. And that is one of the reasons as to why I started this blog. There is so much to know to protect yourself from in chop shop salons, where only one or two nail techs/manicurists in the entire shop are licensed. In my next post I will give you some horror stories of my experience in chop shops, and also explain further how chop shops operate.
Until next time have a Blingtastic Divas!!!
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