I am guilty of being a nail extremist.
If you have the same affliction as me, you will agree that hands and nails are nothing to joke about and need to be taken as seriously as hair is by the hair-obsessives in this world. I am not one of those, thankfully. If you do not have this condition you might find the following a little disconcerting.
Since I was sixteen I have been doing my nails myself in all matter of ways, with my speciality back then being french mani. French mani is now not acceptable. I am sure we will see its resurrection at some point, but for the time being it means years in fashion jail, so let's not talk about it.
I grew up being so OCD about how nails should be done that I could no longer face saying, "Ah - that's great!", to a lady at a nail salon that had practically had a seizure with the nail brush on my hand. Even worse; trying to explain what a 'half-moon' is and why I want one nail on each hand a different colour than the others. I became an annoyance to them and their vacuous expressions an annoyance to me. This had to end.
As a result of these symptoms, I have taken to either doing my own nails, or sharing them with a very select circle of nail virtuosos, who can do their magic on them.
The 'Lucky Stripe' started with Art Deco in my head and a 'V' shape up the nail, which then morphed into a straight stripe up the nail, to keep things more 2013/minimal. So anyways, if you guys want to join in with the stripes go on Instagram, follow --> marinalondon and #luckystripe. Hands show the first signs of ageing and are one of your expressive tools when talking, so let's keep them healthy and jazzy you guys.