The girls who get it, get it, and nail lovers know there’s nothing more exciting that finding a nail art inspo pic that you can’t wait to take to your nail tech. But post-nail clarity and “girl brain” often leaves us regretting our color and art choices.
It’s a canon event every nail addict can relate to, being so excited for the final result you’ve been envisioning, only to fall flat following further inspections of your new nails—a feeling Chloe Belmar knows all too well.
Belmar knew she immediately had to share her fresh set of French tip nails with a cherry design perfect for the summer seasons and began to film herself in her car. However, the more she looked at her nails, the more she disliked them.
Letting her “girl brain” take over without even realizing it, Belmar began by talking about how much she loved the style before spotting a tiny detail that quickly changed her mind. Belmar, like many women, used the term to describe when her internal monologue takes over, beginning to overthink and question everything, causing herself unnecessary drama.
In the video, she shared how she, “just want to show everyone how cute my nails are. Little cherries. Oh, my gosh. I never get a design because it never turns out good, but I love these.”
The love soon left after taking a better look at the set, triggered by just two fingers, as she continued, “Except the pointer fingers. The cherries are directly stacked on top of each other, which I don’t really like.”
Unfortunately, it wasn’t just the placement of the cherries that put Belmar off her new nails, as the time she spent looking at them just raised more issues with the final result.
Stock image of a girl hiding her face with her hands as her nails are covered in bright nail art. One woman was showing TikTok how “cute” her new set was, until her “girl brain” took over.
Serghei Starus/Getty Images
She continued narrating her thoughts on the nails, and said how “the cherries, all of them, can actually be smaller like the picture I showed her, too,” before coming to a final conclusion many will relate to as she realized: “Wait, I actually hate them.”
Belmar’s experience highlights the importance of good communication between nail technicians and clients—something that award winning nail tech Kirsty Meakin knows too well.
The nail artist, from Stoke-on-Trent, England, told Newsweek how important a consultation is to ensure you get the result you want.
Meakin said, “I’ve been doing nails for 28 years, and a lot of them are bespoke nails which means I have to get it right, but even if a client is coming in for a basic manicure, I do the same process.”
The discussion is important for Meakin to ensure she’s on the same page as her client—something that’s hard to know simply from a inspiration picture. She said, “If they’ve seen a design they want, I’ll ask if they want it the exact same, if there’s anything they want to change, and if they want to have my spin on it added.”
The colors are another element that is often overlooked in the moment, only to become a regret upon further reflection. To stop this happening, don’t rely on bottles of polish alone, and instead ask your nail tech to swatch so you can see what it looks like in real life.
Meakin said: “Swatching the color will make a difference, especially with acrylic services. Sometimes its not the design the client doesn’t like, but the colors they chose.”
What Do the Comments Say?
It seems Belmar isn’t the only one to suffer from “girl brain”, as one user wrote, “The minute I saw you looking at them a little too long I knew exactly where this was going. Why do we do this to ourselves?”
“That’s why I can’t do designs… I’ll look too hard and find a problem,” added another. “It’s never right. Never like the inspo pic.”
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
