I have a confession: I resisted Barbie nails for longer than I should have. My brain kept filing them under “fun for a party, impractical for a Tuesday.” Then my friend Maya talked me into a hot pink chrome set before a wedding, and I spent the entire reception staring at my hands like a…
I’ve been to more graduation parties than I can count on two hands. My family is big, my friend group is scattered across three time zones, and I’ve been the broke friend, the sentimental friend, and the friend who waited until the week before and panic-bought a candle. So when I say I know what…
I used to treat New Year’s nails like a costume: silver glitter, a little rhinestone situation, something that looked great in a 11:58 p.m. photo and terrible by January 2nd. Then I spent three weeks of January 2025 staring at chipped chrome tips and realized the problem wasn’t the design — it was that I…
I still remember the first graduation dress I bought for myself. It was white, it was on sale for $34, and it was completely see-through in direct sunlight. I found out during the ceremony, not before, because I tried it on in my dorm bathroom with the fluorescent light on and zero natural light. My…
I have a distinct memory of sitting in a salon chair in 2008, watching a nail tech paint a thick white stripe across my nails and thinking, this is the height of sophistication. Reader, it was not. The French tip has survived every trend cycle since the 1970s for a reason—it flatters every hand and…
I have a confession: I avoided aura nails for almost a year because I thought they’d look like a bruise. This was after a disastrous attempt in 2023 where I tried to DIY a “soft lavender glow” and ended up with something that looked like I’d slammed my hand in a car door. My friend…
I have a confession: I spent $65 on a salon pop art manicure last spring, walked out feeling like a walking Roy Lichtenstein painting, and then watched two of the outlines chip by Tuesday. That’s not the salon’s fault — that’s what happens when you put black linework on a curved surface and then use…
I have a very distinct memory of sitting in a nail salon in 2019, looking at a swatch of “neon pink” that looked less like a fun pop of color and more like the inside of a Stabilo highlighter. I politely asked for something else and ended up with a muddy coral that I hated…
I have a confession: I spent $180 on a graduation dress I wore for exactly forty-five minutes. It was a structured white midi with a corset back that looked incredible in the dressing room mirror and absolutely terrible under a polyester gown that made me look like a graduated trash bag with legs. The photos…
I have what my nail tech gently calls “stubby nail beds.” It’s not a compliment. I spent years watching long almond nails on Instagram and thinking short summer nails just weren’t for me — like the whole category existed for people with naturally elegant fingers and unlimited time. Then my friend Dani got a micro-French…