I keep my nails super short and stubby nowadays, but back in the day I had me some eagle talons! ??
I’ve been thinking about Wolverine-like nails lately because I started watching this show on Hulu called Claws…
It’s about a group of ride-or-die Florida friends with criminal ties who work in a nail salon. There’s fierce female bonding, salon gossip and — oh, yeah: murder, money laundering, booty shaking and betrayal! (Of course.)
I mostly watch it for the nail closeups (well, it’s also pretty amusing)…
The characters wear elaborate, intricate nail designs on what literally look like claws.
The nail art is amaze-balls, but there’s absolutely no way I could have nails that long at this point in my life. I might have been able to swing it back in college or in my early 20s. That’s when my claws were at their longest, which was between half an inch and an inch beyond my fingertips. They were my natural nails, too, and pretty strong. And they grew fast.
I think something changed when I hit my 40s because my nails don’t grow anywhere near as fast now, and the sides split, which never used to happen.
So now I keep ’em short and sweet.
Anywho, what’s the longest your nails have ever been?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Maybe 1/4″ beyond the ends of my fingers. I’ve always had to work with my hands, and I have problems keeping nails from breaking or getting bent backwards when they are any length to speak of. Even if I didn’t have to work with my hands, I don’t think I’d ever be comfortable with long fingernails.
Hi CL,
At this point in my life I don’t think I’ll ever be comfortable with them long ever again. I can’t even type when they’re a smidge too long now, LOL!
I have always had them short. At first because they would break easily, then because I had to for work and now because I can´t see myself with anything longer than my fingertips.
Oh, for sure. I also find short nails helpful for work (for me, it’s typing).
Mine grow really fast but I’ve always kept them pretty short. How fast they grow is kind of inconvenient because I feel like I’m always cutting my nails! I think longer nails can be really pretty but it’s not me.
I had a boss at a restaurant I work with who had talons maybe an inch or more past her fingertips. It was someone I’d known since I was a kid and she’d always had those nails.
Mine just to grow fast, le sigh. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Your boss had some serious talons! I worked with a gal once who’s nails, kid you not, were like three inches long from her fingertips. I have no idea how she was able to type.
P.S. What kind of restaurant did you work at? I’m asking because it’s lunch time and I’m hungry and I still don’t know what to eat. LOL
Oh god it wasn’t a good restaurant. It was a one off buffet restaurant in my hometown. The desserts and bread were okay, breakfast was fine, everything else was a bit sketch. I was a hostess so I sat people, ran the gift shop, and was the keeper of the money.
Haha, I think every town has one of those! For some reason Filipinos (at least the ones I know) looooove buffets like that. They stress me out though… Too many options!
Wow, those nail close ups are amazing! Looks cool for TV, but I don’t think I could manage those in daily life.
The longest mine have been is probably 1/4″ beyond the tips of my fingers. I prefer having longer nails, but they tend to break easily. Recently I had a couple of gel manicures in a row and even though I got the polish professional removed, my nails are still recovering. They are pretty short now.
There is a new salon in my area that offers gel extensions. I guess they are supposed to be better for your nails than acrylics. I’ve never heard of them before, but I may try them for a special occasion.
Aren’t they, though? And that’s just a smidgen of the designs. I swear the nails are the real stars of the show!
The gel nail removal process is brutal and it took my fingers months to get back to normal. What made you decide to get them? Did you go on a trip?
I used to bite my nails so I got tips for my wedding & they were 1/4” past my fingertips. I couldn’t take out my contacts! The tech refused to cut them down saying short nails didn’t look good for weddings until I got the salon manager over. Now I have a gel mani on short nails – barely at the tips
Oh, now that I think about it, I can’t believe I actually used to take out my contacts with my talon nails (I remember it being pretty hard, though).
When did you get married? My hubs and I got married in 2006, but it seems like it was yesterday.
My nails were longest when I used to get acrylics in college. maybe 1/4 inch past my fingertips, and always white tips! Ugh, I cringe now. Now I like them short and painted.
I cringe when I think of some of the stuff I used to wear back in the day. My college makeup? OMG! Terrible.
I am a lot older than you ladies so I remember silk and linen wraps in NY & most women had their nails acrylic and very long. Mine were longer than I have them now, but I still get them done and maybe 1/2 inch. I love CLAWS though, haven’t seen it in a while. I like Niecy Nash but really love Polly’s character the older Southern Belle.
I had no idea that the show was on until like a week ago, LOL! Apparently they’re on season three?! It’s quirky and weird, and every time someone says “Uncle Daddy” I crack up.
Ugh, I absolutely cannot. I’m a reformed nail biter (getting manicures and not wanting to ruin them helped me break the childhood habit) but I CANNOT deal with long nails. Even right now after a week’s growth and it’s just a bit beyond the end of my fingers, it drives me crazy and I start picking at my cuticles!
I used to have my own nails at about 1/2”- 3/4”. The for some crazy reason I got gel nails. They looked nice but I got tired of being a slave to my nails. Plus, I was a nurse manager. I let them grow out. Ugly, but saved my nails. Now I like them short and nicely groomed. I usually wear polish. Nothing fancy.
Oh, I have feeeelings about gel nails. How long did it take yours to recover?
I think probably 1/4″ past my fingertips. I actually had to break out the ruler to make that estimate. HAHA! Like you, mine were always natural – I remember being at a beauty show and having to remove polish because people didn’t believe me. It was weird, come to think of it. Who would lie about having artificial nails? Apparently, people at beauty shows? 🙂 These days, the longest they get is about 1/16″ of lunula. I don’t miss the clickity-click on the keyboard or the fuss of them breaking.