I Wonder About Trans People…

…And how this affects us, does it affect us the same way. I know when I do my nails I have to concentrate and pay attention to what I’m doing.

Painting My Nails Kept Me Sane Through College, And Science Backs Me Up On That
Turns out, I’m not alone in using polish as a coping skill of sorts, and there’s a sound psychological basis for doing your nails.
Huffington Post
For Glamour, by Elizabeth Logan.
04/17/2017

I firmly believe it’s weird to pay to hold hands with a stranger for the better part of an hour, which is to say, I don’t like getting manicures. But I do like having my nails painted, so in eighth grade, I set upon the tedious task of teaching myself to do it. At that point, I’d owned two bottles of polish: black and iridescent blue. (So punk.) My mother hated to see me wear the black, and I admit it didn’t look right with my Sailor Moon–style school uniform, so I alternated between blue and black with blue over it.

One day during the fall of freshman year, as I reached to get something from my backpack, I guess my iridescent blue fingernails (still working with two colors at this point) caught the light, because the coolest/most terrifying girl in school we’ll call Karen (name changed, you think I’m gonna commit social suicide?), a sophomore with great style, grabbed my hand and demanded, “Where did you get this color?”

“Walgreens.” I mumbled, starstruck. Karen said I was wearing the “exact” shade Hallie Parker (Lindsay Lohan) wears in The Parent Trap’s infamous poker scene, and she’d been searching for it “forever.” (Bear in mind we were having this conversation circa 2007 and The Parent Trap came out in 1998, but a girl doesn’t forget an iconic nail color.)

I have to admit that there is something about painting your nails that is liberating, picking out “your color” to make that unique statement of who you are.

Turns out, I’m not alone in using polish as a coping skill of sorts, and there’s a sound psychological basis for doing your nails.

“I often recommend that clients include painting their nails as one of many helpful coping skills,” said Greta Angert, a Los Angeles–based licensed psychotherapist specializing in anxiety. “Sitting down to paint your nails is a simple gesture that tells you ‘I’m worth it,’ ‘I deserve this.’” Angert added: “People also talk with their hands, and seeing a pretty color can brighten their mood. Women also compliment each other’s manicures quite frequently, and there’s nothing wrong with a little ego boost during your day.”

According to Angert, people who struggle with minor anxiety often find solace in the repetitive motion of nail painting, and — because it requires concentration — those of us who have racing negative thoughts can get a reprieve.

Right now my color is “Vanilla” it is almost flesh tone and one the weather gets warmer so will my nail color.

There is also something in the fact that now I can wear nail polish and not have to worry if I got it all off in the morning. Also after you have your nails done for a week or so you don’t notice them and then you might be reaching for something or washing dishes and you notice them; it somehow confirms your femininity.