Nail Art: You’re the First Person to Hold My Hand
Nail art is growing in popularity as it becomes more and more intricate. Local artist Becki Menzies who previously worked for Greater Govanhill has become renowned for her work. In this, the first of a new series for the magazine, nail artist and client share why they love the intimacy of this art.
By Becki Menzies
“You’re the first person to hold my hand”. This phrase will stay with me forever.
My career in the nail industry started in March 2020, just as the country entered the first lockdown of the pandemic. Lucky me! For a few months, painting nails was my only real escape from the noise of the news and the lack of private space in my flatshare.
When I started working in a salon, we were one of the first and only places to reopen as the lockdown eased in summer 2020. I’d gone from my bubble of four, to seeing five or six different clients a day. That’s when someone told me I was the first person to hold their hand.
For the people I met in those first appointments, I was quite literally the only person allowed to touch them. Their two hours with me was the only time they had to themselves, many coming from crowded flatshares or busy families, while others lived fully alone. I felt privileged to be able to give people a space in which they could be comfortable and safe.
I’ve always found the process of doing someone’s nails an intimate one. The trust that people give me to create a little piece of art on their hands, taking care of their nail health and their openness with me about their lives. What’s said to your nail artist, stays with your nail artist.
Us nail artists don’t just do nails. We’re there for our clients for the big and small life events – relationships, breakups, fallouts, new jobs, new homes, the day-to-day stress, the good news, and the bad. I see some of my clients more than I see my own pals.
I’ve only ever been a nail artist in a crisis. First the pandemic, now the cost of living crisis. I share my clients' worries and anxieties, but we right the wrongs of the world at our appointments. They inspire me, and I look forward to our wee catch ups every month.
That’s not to say it doesn’t take its toll. People often joke about hairdressers and beauticians being therapists, but in many ways we are. Working in the pandemic was hard and taking on people’s anxieties whilst dealing with my own was no easy task. It’s an emotionally and physically demanding job. Burnout is common, and we’re the worst at looking after ourselves – ironically. But I wouldn’t change it.
I didn’t expect to fall in love with being a nail artist the way that I have. I get to wake up and spend the day creating tiny pieces of art, and every day there’s a new story to tell. I’ll forever be grateful to my clients, past and present, for supporting this nail artist in a crisis.
By Helen Stuart
I’m sure that many people think paying to have your nails done once a month is a frivolous and unnecessary expense. Not to sound overdramatic, but I consider it a necessity. When money is tight, I’ll cut out everything superfluous to survive, but my nails don’t fit that category.
I have three young children, with only a 14 month gap between the two youngest. I’ve been on maternity leave back-to-back for two years – during and immediately after a pandemic. One of my children is disabled. For me, getting my nails done constitutes so much more than making them look nice – though I do love having pretty nails --and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.
When I sit in the chair in Becki’s nail studio I feel an instant sense of relief. It is escapism. Her studio is serene; there are no nursery rhymes on the TV or building blocks tripping me up on the floor. I can pause the continual mental to-do list that I internally refer to every 30 seconds.
She gifts me two hours, just for me. That probably sounds inconsequential, but without these little pockets of joy to look forward to, it can be hard to survive the monotonous days, weeks, and months. Sometimes Becki is the only other adult I’ve spoken to for some time. I’m sure that’s obvious to her, since I start offloading every single thought I’ve had in the past month as soon as she reaches for the hand sanitiser.
We talk about everything and anything, from the latest cute achievements of one of my babies to our current sources of existential dread courtesy of the news headlines. Becki is more than just a nail artist – she’s a great listener and friend. And my two-hour holiday to see her is often the reminder I so desperately needed that I am more than just a mum.
I usually stumble out of the door in the mornings, laden with school bags and wriggling children, without even having the time to think about my own appearance. It might have been four days since I last washed my hair and weeks since I’ve worn any mascara, but at least my nails always look lovely. So, I can’t look entirely bedraggled, right?
Maybe it is selfish of me to spend the money on my nails, but it makes me happy, and I need and deserve that.
Follow Becki on Instagram at Hold My Hand.