This a true story I am sharing here today!! So you would say I have a guest blogger only I can’t tell you his name or where he is from. We will just call him CJ, he knows who he is 
This guy has a job where wearing nail polish in colors is not a good idea. He wears clear because when he is not working at one job he is a hand model doing all kinds of things hand models do.. He and I got a talking in emails, and he was really having a bad cause of lemming for Vise. BUT he didn’t want to buy because he lives in area that just isn’t really ready for a guy wearing nail polish in colors.
Anyway I asked him if he would be willing to do a hand model job for us wearing Vise.. I bet he just about JUMP out of his skin with delight!! And all photos you see below are his hands wearing Vise. But the story of his day makes really good blog. I had to share!!
Now on to CJ day of wearing Vise.. Enjoy everyone!!
8:30 a.m.: I arrived at my nail tech’s salon as soon as it opened for my appointment. I showed her the Vise bottle, told her it was a nail color for men and that I was going to model it in a photo session. I asked her if she was cool with applying it after she did my manicure and she said she said she’d be happy to adding something to the effect that she always wanted to apply a solid color on my “beautiful nails.” My manicurist is a real perfectionist and is always focused on what’s she’s doing. I don’t think it’s because she knows I do part-time hand-modeling and she doesn’t want to nick a cuticle. Fact is, she’s very quiet even when does women’s hands. So I didn’t dare ask what she thought of the color when she was applying it lest I break her concentration.
This I do know—she did not show any signs of a struggle or frustration—no change in body language—when applying it. It was if she was working with the natural-tinted clear coat she regularly applies to my nails after manicure. So this tells me it was business as usual as far as Vise/B.B Couture goes.
After my nails dried, she examined my hands and said, “Very, very pretty!” I assume she was referring to the color, my hands and her work. There were no other customers in the salon that early—her husband was tinkering around with the cable TV hook-up in the back room—so no other comments on my nails other than hers.
11:30 a.m.—I’m done with the photo session and I just can’t take polish remover to my nails. Vise looked too nice to remove the color after just a few hours. I had to enjoy it a little more. I could have just sat there are stared at my hands. for an hour. But, I did have some errands to run, so I decided to do my shopping in a town several miles away from the one I live in.
Not that I was embarrassed wearing Vise, mind you. It’s just that I know there are lots of narrow-minded people around and I didn’t want them spreading gossip in my town. Anyway, I went to a few stores to pick up some stuff; not to attract attention or solicit opinions on my painted nails…but I knew comments were inevitable.
The first thing I did was go to a drive-through to get a coffee. The woman, in her 30s, who took my money and gave me my coffee—her eyes lit up. “Wow, what a cool color! Who makes it?” I gave her all the info and told her to order it through overallbeauty.com. I also told her it was a men’s polish, but that women are wearing it too. Also told her that I had just modeled the color in a photo session and that I usually just wear clear polish. Her final comments were, “Well, you should wear it “Vise more often. It looks great on you!” So I was off to a good start. 
I went to a CVS and a Walmart after that. As expected, men either didn’t stare my hands.—at least I didn’t hear any insulting remarks. In CVS, a middle-aged female customer approached me as I was selecting a Valentine’s Day card for my wife. She said, “I don’t want to sound forward but your nails are gorgeous in that color!”
From the 20-something female cashier in CVS, “Are you in a band or something?” When I told her I wasn’t she said, “Well, I thought only guys in bands wear nail polish. But you sure look good!”
From the 30-something female cashier at Walmat: “My God, your hands are pretty! Did you pick that color to match your (blue) jacket?” I then gave her the back story, as I gave the coffee drive-through lady. “Well, it does make your hands look as pretty as a woman’s, but I mean that as a compliment.”
Little add on here: CJ finished he email with this ps that I thought would be important to add
P.S.: Wearing Vise didn’t make me feel any “less a man” if there is any legitimacy to such a phrase. It made me feel empowered, as if I had nails of steel. The feeling of rubbing my finger over my nails after being applied with Vise—it’s smooth as compared to the clear polish I wear.
What do you think ladies? How is this for a true story of a guy who wants to be able to wear nail polish in colors, and can’t do to the narrow minded people that live in his town.
What you think of his hands? Did he not do an amazing job?? I just so lucky CJ and got to emailing and talking about nail polish. Any guy who would like to email me and tell me their stories, I am open minded would be very understanding of what you might be going through because you can’t, or do and get lots of issues because of it.
Such so you know, CJ is a very happily married man with a beautiful wife.
OH right everyone! I can’t wait to hear what you think either way.. leave us a comment.. I look forward to hearing from you all!!
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Technorati rocks!
He certainly rocks it!
Yeah he sure does! I am thinking of getting into his hands another color..
Wow! His hands look fantastic! The color is gorgeous too
It’s soooo not fair. I’ve been on vacation for a few days and now have to take color off my hands before going back to work. Something about male prison guards wearing nail polish…
Hi hands look better than most women hehehehe
Yeah I know, can’t wait to see his hands in other colors we offer for men.
Looks great “CJ”. I have worn colored polish on my nails at the office a few times as well, and aside from the odd looks from a couple of guys, the ladies have been quite complimentary. Love to see em with Man-Go.
Hi Kevin! We just got Man-Go in as of yesterday! I would love to see it on your nails! hint hint lol
Was looking for it on your site, but can’t find it.
Oh, there it is.
Yeah I bet you found it under Man Stuff..
Kim, thank you for the a great blog! I have ‘met’ CJ before and he is really pretty cool. Yeah, he does rock the polish, which I know many men cannot. But, I guess if you have the hands for it, why not?
I can’t tell you how many nail spas I have been in and when I ask if they have any male clients who request polish (colored), they enthusiastically reply that they do! They tell me that most wear it on their toenails, and the reason why they are enthusiastic about it is because they see this as a whole new style for men, opening up a different type of clientelle for them to serve – and that means more business. Besides, men apparently are good tippers too!
Kim, please keep up with the great exposure of this emerging style for guys so that others will figure out how fun and enjoyable it really is, once they get past the common stereotype of it not being for men.
Kim
I just tried the Intake Valve on my toes at my last pedi(my first time to get color) my nail tech though that would be a good color to start with as it does not just jump out at you later that day I went over to my daughters house to help her and my son in law set up a pool for the kids and they never even noticed, later on I was talking to my daughter and she asked me if I was still getting pedicures. My wife passed away in March and that use to be our once a month saturday deal. I told yes that I enjoy it and I also told her that women had kept this a secret way to long and my daughter to me that she wished she could get my son in law to go kind of hinting at me to talk to him. At that point I held up one foot and then she saw my nails and she was oh wow then she she told me that she relly liked how it looked. So at my next pedi I am going to try Vise as I have it and 45. cal also but I really like vise. thanks for the blog.
I am a very manly man, with a long beard, who is 6 ft 1 and full of muscles. But I also wear nail polish, on my fingers and toes, and I have been for almost two years now. I also go barefoot everywhere, so it is very visible. I used to wear only dark greens, blues, black, brown, and such, but since I met my new fiance my color palette has expanded and right now I have on a very bold lime green and I love it. It looks great on me, and I never have any problems, despite living in St. louis in the outskirts of the inner city. But I always do it myself, never having somebody else do it.
Thanks M. Bold for stopping by and leaving your thoughts. I have guys that come back to see what other comments are left. I love hearing from the guys!
His hands is already beautiful to look at plus the fact that his fingers are long and big like that of women, that the nail polish and the color blue suits him perfectly. Love it
I love to wear nail polish and wear it every day. I wear color on my toes and very light red on my fingers, sometime I use metal fleck on my fingers.I really like the models nails and would like to wear a bold color some day
If I saw those photos without the explanation, I would have thought they were women’s hands. I’d die for hands like that! Anyway, the color looks great. I only hope it looks as good on my nails as it does on his!
I’m a 36 year old married man with one kid. I am also a frequent business traveler. For some reason (it’s a long story so maybe I’ll get asked to do a guest column here) I adore nails. When I travel, it’s usually for weeks at a time, and I get pedicures, with color. If it were socially acceptable (and I mean more than just a little bit) I would wear acrylics or gels, sometimes french and sometimes color.
For my nail salon experiences I use a different persona of a single traveling man (hey, I’m not trying to pick up chicks) who just loves to wear color.
My wife and baby have been out of town for a few weeks so I took a chance on a pedicure on the other side of the city and found a WONDERFUL woman who has a nail spa in a building of rental spa units. She takes late appointments, she’s sweet, and she gives a one hour pedicure, including hot stone massage and a very deep leg massage. For only $25! The place is immaculate and I actually watched her disinfect the spa before and after my experience. I need to slip one more in before my wife comes back!