(Yes, that was a Joyce Carol Oates reference. Anyone that got it is officially my best bud.)

I recently got to have an awesome talk one of my favorite nail techs about the nail art community and where it was going. This talk is what prompted me to create a little bit of original content in order show off my writing chops and, more importantly, to express how I feel about where the culture of nail art is going. 

It’s important to state that I am not a member of the industry. I’m not a nail tech. I sometimes make designs for fun or to idolize my favorite artists. Mostly what I do at The Holiest of Nails is aggregate content that I find inspiring and would like to promote. Sometimes I’ll talk about color stories I’m interested in. That’s about it. The Holy Nail is about tracking the culture. That’s really important to understand. 

Here’s where I get into my mildly political (or maybe for some of you, mega political) rant. The nail art community is vital to the creative world for a multitude of reasons. For me, the most important reason is that we are a community that is essentially run and operated by women. There are very few art communities that can boast this. As a woman, I’m so proud to say that I can be a part of your world. I remember the first time I saw a Sophy Robson design and decided “I want to be a part of this” or when I first saw Kleur’s nail art and got super excited about tribal prints. So I started the Holy Nail and I had nothing but love and support. I read every message you guys sent me. Sometimes it makes the difference between me giving up on this random side project. You have to understand, my day job is in psychology. I studied English Lit. in college. Nowhere in my life to I get to curate art except for with you guys. That’s why this project is personally so important to me and your support has kept me going.

At the end of the day, we are a sisterhood. I love that all of the people I look up to in this community are women. We need to keep it that way. We need to support each other. It sounds cheesy; believe me, I know, but it’s vital that we remember this. That’s all I wanted to say.

Thank you for everything,

HAIL TO THE NAIL!