Red has a history of being the only approved color nail polish throughout the early 1900s. That being said go back to the 1800s and yeah sex workers were the only women wearing nail polish in the western world.
My father always encouraged me and my sister to paint our nails in red or very strong or bright colors. Because he always thought that represented an opportunity for be free of any kind of stereotypes. When my sister paint her nails in nude colors he always asks why she didn't choose a strong color or a bright one.
Maybe this is just me but red seems too loud on my skin tone. This coming from someone who loves to experiment with all sorts of shades. It just goes to show that it comes down to personal preference, and we should let go of these ancient notions of what's elegant and what's not.
I had 5 surgeries in March and my “tacky” Holo Taco nails were the focus of many conversations. The ladies in the recovery ward started coming by to check my nails even if I wasn’t their patient, they went crazy over Party Punch topped with Everything Taco!! I’m 42 and give zero fricks about being elegant, I survived cancer and want to have tacky fun nails!
I always have fun colored hair -currently green- and my main surgeon always comments on how he was curious what color my hair was going to be this time. Usually the ladies at the surgery center/hospital are the ones to notice and comment on the nail sparkles. Almost 40 and almost always in too much pain to care what people think of my "wild" hair or nails. The fun colors and sparkles make me happy and that's what matters.
Thank you all so much for the kind words and well wishes! I’m officially in remission and feeling much better, adjusting to my new life of not working but the pool is nice for staying active. Hope you’re doing well Rachel, feel free to check in ❤️
Considering "elegant" seems to often equate to "looking expensive", I'd think long nails with intricate nail art would be the holy grail. "Don't paint your nails a shade you wouldn't wear a lipstick." Bold of you to assume I wouldn't wear sparkly or neon lipstick.
Yeah, long nails were considered wealthy and elegant for a very long time, because growing your nails super long was an indicator that you didn't need to use your hands, which meant you were very very rich
Yeah I’ve had the discussion with my mangers about how I can’t wear glitter nail polish while working at Disney World because it’s “not professional and is tacky”. Like WHAT?! Princesses are covered in glitter
I mean, I would understand it if you were working at an old-school bank where they would ask for a strict wear code... But Disney World?! Children and the specific category of adults going at Disney World by themselves aren't going to check your nails _while in the maelstrom of satin and glitter of Disney World!_
@@z...03 This isn't about trends.. like at all. This is about "elegance". An idea of beauty that has gone unchanged for long enough, that the first name people think of when they think of elegance has been dead since before I was born. It is the opposite of a trend. It is considered "timeless".
It’s funny there’s a lot of discourse about how the concepts of “tacky” and bright colors not being “elegant” are rooted in racism and classism. Vibrant, creative, and authentic expression will always be more important than elegance. In my opinion.
What confuses me is that bright and vibrant colors used to be regarded as elegant because they were so expensive to achieve, but now they're "tacky" and "unattractive".
I may be overstepping in my comparison, but do you think it also involves (some level of) ableism in addition to the absolutely whackadoodle eurocentrism and classism. Neurodivergent and low vision people often prefer brighter colors, is why I'm saying this. And I know it's usually used as a casual adjective, but even just the description of "crazy nails" for brighter or more patterned nails is kinda rude, I feel
Yeah especially in the summer my mom can't keep nail polish on. She has quite short nails so capping the edge is more difficult. I've asked if she's done base coat and top coat as they can make a manicure last longer, and she says "why bother, nail polish doesn't last on me." 🤦♀️
@@katstorm13 I mean honestly nail polish doesn't last on my natural nails even with a base and top AND gel just peels off in under a week. Not everyone's nail chemistry is the same.
@@veanell yep she's had the same thing when my sister tried to give her a gel manicure, sounded like she might as well have been wearing a peely base. She doesn't always wear gardening gloves and I don't think I've ever seen her wear cleaning gloves so hands in dishwater etc don't help. It doesn't really bother her.
I have a theory that anything that implies manual labor is unattractive. Chipped nails is a sign that you are not a white collar worker because blue collar workers use their hands too much to maintain a manicure they also can't afford to maintain professional manicure. (in theory) It's similar to how being fair skinned was attractive during Medieval Times because it meant you didn't have to work the fields, you owned the land and paid laborers. Where as, being tan is now attractive because it means you can afford vacations to tropical beaches.
I watch quite a few creators that I would describe as “elegant” though certainly not at all in the same way this person probably would: Jessica Kellgren-Fozard, Bernadette Banner, Gunnar Deatherage, CurrieGoat, just to name a few. All of whom have broken most of if not all of these “nail rules” and remained both “elegant” and creative as heck while doing so. I think elegance can absolutely invoke a specific feeling but I honestly can not imagine what the point of it is if you’re not having fun and being creative with it!
i also believe that what makes them elegant is their absolute freedom to dress and present how the hell they want, instead of blindly following rules rooted in racism and classism. Jessica helped me become the best, most free and proud version of myself and that's the most elegant thing a person can do
@@vikloriot truly their elegance is rooted in self-acceptance and compassion for others. If you’re constantly focusing on attaining this predefined “image” instead of refining who you already are you’re getting yourself nowhere. Sad how this woman is constantly saying that “oh elegance is about manners, making people feel comfortable, being gracious” and then proceeding to shit on everything and everyone that doesn’t conform 🙃
Her official YT description says "Anna Bey is an internationally renowned thought leader and instructor in the feminine self-worth, modern elegance and aspirational lifestyle space." What a pretentious word salad. I'm gonna take a hard pass on anything she has to say, thanks. I get the feeling she's a big ole fake anyway.
I follow feminine "high value" groups but she is a laughing stock in those communities as well. She doesnt practice what she preaches at all and is only wealthy because she sells courses to learn to be wealthy.
@@caliwies1389 Sounds about right. And shooting her videos in her closet with her "designer" items in the background is way tackier than holo nail polish.
I went to a bar recently and when the waiter came up to me, i saw his tattoos and said they looked cool, he asked if i had any, i said that i get too bored with the same color on nails that i have for too long, god forbid a picture that's there for the rest of my life, after which he looked at my long black matte claws and said they looked awesome, even asked to look at them a bit closer. That was the hottest thing he could do, omg
Listening to this woman talk about her watchers becoming "fine young ladies" had me flashing back to my stepford wife training. These "rules of elegance" are 100% white, old money etiquette rules that don't apply normal people. The whole lecture has that finishing school aesthetic of teaching the daughters of wealthy people to fit into "society living", but specifically the ones who are lower level wealthy (with "only" one mansion and 2 yachts or something ridiculous like that) who have to focus on keeping up appearances in a strict social hierarchy. As opposed to those "affluent" ladies who will get whatever kind of nails make them happy cause they're the richest among thier peers and don't have to play by the rules anymore.
But that's the whole point of the channel, though: to teach (I guess) women about rich people etiquette à la fake it til you make it. I must say that I've watched some of videos (albeit with a big grain of salt), and yes it is absolutely to help women to "level up" - to what, I don't know. Does she look "old money?" Also no.
Can't french manicures technically be considered nail art? Because they're literally having to paint on a design in order to imitate the natural nail. Lol
Do you know those "professional" pick up artist that try to teach men how to be "real men" online? The woman in the vid legit makes me feel like she's a version of that for women.
I think her channel was called ‘school of affluence’ or something like that; then she changed it to her name, and it’s definitely the ‘lady’ version of the ‘alpha male’ coaches.
hah same! I can't have my nails done bc of my job. there aren't any rules against it, its just that it would be impractical. but i still love watching Cristine!
Mhm most medical professionals cannot! Makes me sad when I cant get my nails done for a date, but if they judge me for it then they’re not the right person.
But what is "natural?" My eyes are blue. That's naturally occurring. Many flowers are yellow, purple, etc. Plants are green and brown. All of those are naturally occurring. Heck, Nemo the fish is orange. He's a clownfish. Fish are naturally occurring also. That lady is insane 😂
I’m glad someone in your live comments pointed out that this is rooted in white supremacy, I’d like to also add that fascism is also a factor. Kristen Leo has a whole video on how the push of a minimalist aesthetic is erasure of the very varied maximalist aesthetic of many POC cultures. I’m Mexican and my culture for example is written off as tacky because it’s louder than the homegoods ikea Pinterest aesthetic.
Girl... Royal White people back then literally spend their money on colors and paintings and engravings and shit. All that maximalist stuff. Every single detail is spent wisely. This has nothing to do with racism. It's just that going minimal is a trend right now. That's it. Because if this was all because of racism, then white royals back then would have been boring as fuck with their arts and expensive stuff. Do you think people wake up one day and say "hmmm, colorful stuff are now tacky because POC's culture is colorful and vibrant." Trends. Come. And. Go.
@@z...03 rich self-important white people have some of the most excessively overdone maximalist style you can find, even now. Like… French design, hello?! Ain’t nothing minimalistic about about that, and I’m not speaking from some sort of position of trying to… discriminate against and suppress the French… it’s just not my thing. I personally have a fairly “minimalist” style because I kind of picked it up via osmosis when I lived in Japan. Are we saying the fundamentals of Japanese aesthetic that have existed for millennia is now also white supremacy? Like, man I’m very open to legitimate discourse here but these sorts of hot takes are why conservatives call us snowflakes….
It can also be due to poor mental health days/weeks/months. Might be doing ok for awhile and keep up with my nails, then run out of steam and end up with chips that last a while.
Funny how red and pink are considered classic nail colours, they're just as bright as any other colours! Personally I never like red or pink manicures on myself because if I mess up it looks like I cut my cuticle or something. Greens, blacks and blues are my favourite!
I'm yt and the first thing I noticed about her example of "tacky" was it's clearly a POC. I don't want to make her a bad guy if she isn't, but her whole vibe felt incredibly elitist and eurocentric. Icky icky
There are a lot of black RU-vidrs who make the exact same content as Anna, even right down to the same “elegant” nails. Would you feel attacked watching them? Are they racist?
@@Barbie25150 because it's still rooted in racism. just how women also can be mysoginists, lgbtqia+ people can be homophobic etc. it's internalized and doesn't mean it's ok
The one commenter had a really good point about Anna's video being very narrowly white-Eurocentric regarding the standard of "elegance" vs "tacky" -a lot of the examples of "tacky" art seemed to be on darker-skinned nail artists too, which is Big Yikes
Yeah like pushing one standard of beauty as being the “one true standard” like she’s doing here is super problematic. If you yourself want short, nude colored elegant nails becuase you like how they look on you personally, go for it. But acting like this Eurocentric viewpoint is the “correct” standard for ALL women is just awful.
Chipped nails is a "serious issue" because it signifies that you're "lazy." Lady, pretty much nothing involving nails aside from a medical issue is a "serious issue."
I really only have one hard and fast “nail elegance” rule. Do not use sharpies or white out to color your nails. Please use safe for your body products!
I honestly just feel sad for people like Anna Bey. They obviously gave up on authenticity a long time ago and are following arbitrary rules to appear """respectable"""
What an absolute load of old tripe. I was immediately suspicious about the amount of bland beige on that woman’s perfectly arranged accessory shelves. Simply nails forever!!!!!
I wonder if you’d think the videos of other black RU-vidrs who make almost the EXACT same content as Anna and promote the same kind of elegance, right down to the same kind of nails, would also give you borderline racism?
@@bibianaguadalupeislasherre9880 you’re pretty sure she hates other women who aren’t like her? That’s a pretty bold claim to make about someone you don’t know. How did you come to that conclusion?
She was actually criticised before for being misogynistic. I remember it was because she called women "cheap" while being very condescending because of certain clothes they wore.
Ha, my mother used to tell me that red shades on nails are vulgar and only for cheap and available women. I guess everyone understands “elegant” differently
I genuinely have such beef with those channels and how they absolutely refuse to acknowledge the systemic racism and classism that they are glorifying and perpetuating, rip dawg
Chanel Le Vernis “Jade” was a massive craze when it came out in 2009, and was super popular among wealthy women. I guess this lady thinks they were all tacky and juvenile?
Yeah, that woman definitely pushes her own view of "elegance" in her vids (I mean "I get it, like, Catherine Hepburn or Grace Kelly might have worn tacky nails, but that's no reason to think it's acceptable!" does sound awfully biased)
Dont mind me, just making a list of comments as I go. "Chipped nail polish is seen as lazy" no. Maybe it can give an impression that you dont "care" but if anything it shows that you actually do stuff instead of sitting around. That's why rich people were able to dress so outlandish and impractically in history. Because they could afford for others to do things for them, so they didnt have to worry about ruining anything. Nail polish colors. Personally, French manicures tend to look tacky and cheap ironically. And doesnt a french manicure count as nail art? While red and burgundy are inherently "elegant" I'd argue that pink is more childish, and it's hard to find a good nude color. It feels ironic that she says colors that look artificial (ah yes, because burgundy nails are naturally occurring) aren't elegant, meanwhile, again according to history, bright vibrant colors were regarded as the fanciest and most elegant because they were more difficult and expensive to achieve. The more outlandish the color, the better. Especially greens, blues, and purples. I mean people loved green so much they used deadly chemicals to achieve it. Nail length. Ah yes so all the historical records of long nails being highly regarded dont count, once again. Again it was because it showed that you had enough money to not have to do things yourself. Not to mention the fancy nail finger claw rings, that were usually gold by the way. Those are still held in high regards as elegant, by the way. Elegance and beauty standards are garbage. Defy standards. Destroy them. The most elegant thing you can do is take part in anarchy. Destroy governments. Make your own standards for beauty.
I know I am late commenting but I need to say. I absolutely love the creativity and independence of young people these days who figure our their own style and how best to express themselves. I think it's fabulous. I just turned 62 and am proud to have friends of all ages. It's great to see how younger people who are accepting of others and themselves and figuring out how they want the world to be. Please don't lose that as you get older. Also if you see someone out and about and you think they look great tell them. Everyone loves a compliment out of the blue it's one of the most uplifting things you can do for a stranger.
The _elegant_ woman sounds like the kind of person that would look at my usual behavior like I look at my dog when I find him eating from the bathroom garbage
@@erikperhs_ I heard she wears bright colors so that it would be easier for her subjects to spot her in a crowd. She still looks elegant in them despite them not being muted earth tones.
@@Call-me-Al maybe it also has to do with tradition. Originally, bright colors were very hard to produce, specially red and purple. Poor people would use the fabric as they come, usually beige or brown. Purple was so rare and expensive that they wouldn't even use it in country flags, because they wouldn't be able to afford producing more flags with that color later.
I'm going to confess, I love Cristine and her content but I don't love holo for me. I don't like sparkling on me, I don't even like diamonds. I like a "boring" nude color because it's more difficult to see chipping. But of course, I have no problems with others having fun with holo.
Not going to unpack all of the layers of BS here, but I can't help but laugh at "don't wear a nail polish shade that you wouldn't wear as a lipstick". As someone who loves dark and bold lipstick colours, such as black or green: joke is on them 😂
it's interesting how chipped nails make you appear "lazy" when in reality my nails become chipped because I'm working hard every day,, so really if you think about it, if your nails AREN'T chipped, you likely haven't been doing much hands on work and therefore ARE lazy???🤔🤔
My disabled ass with the same nail polish on in perfect condition for 2-3weeks (not gel polish, just regular polish).... Wow I'm being super elegant and not at all lazy! (Ignore the colours, all my polishes are fun colours).
I love how her examples of short and mid lemgth nails are the same. And then she said that nails shouldn't be too long that they look unnatural when there are so many women whose natural nails are grown out like Cristine's
Okay but elegant is different for everyone, it's all personal taste and opinions. Like I don't get how this lady can call some of these nail looks not elegant
Especially the "All right, these ladies everyone knows about and considers elegant _may_ be wearing what I classify as tacky nails... But trust me, with my 1.2M subs (basically standard), I know better!" Lady, if Rihanna is wearing gold-plated nails and fishnets at a high-class restaurant and no one bats a lid, that is elegance in its own way, don't try to put women back in the "taupe-toned papier mâché to not upset the males' sensibility" category. BTW, that guy who commented "I'm so glad you help us understand that wonderful female that is... the woman" nearly made me puke. As a man. That's like top tier machism in the wrongest way.
Things like this make me very glad I'm too old and/or antisocial to care what someone else thinks about my choice of nail polish. My left hand has five different neons topped with scattered holo and kawaii faces stamped on them. And they're long nails, so that lady would have a heart attack looking at my hand. (My right hand might be more acceptable to her since the nails are short and all one color with no nail art, but that color is Orange Drink, so... lol) Wear what makes you happy, kids! Nail polish isn't permanent. It really doesn't matter that much. And screw the idea that classist/Eurocentric beauty standards are the ones that everyone needs to care about.
@@Silver_wind_1987_ Heck yeah, good for her! :D My mother-in-law has started getting into polish (thanks to me, hehe) and she loves adding scattered holo on everything! She texts me pictures of her sparkly, colorful nails and gets compliments from her coworkers all the time. Fun nails have no age limit!
@@nocturnalizzie recently she did a beautiful blue with daisy's on them. She saves like 60 dollars Canadian doing false nails herself and enjoys doing it as she is an artist and it makes her happy.
Exactly...and she has follower s....🤦🏻♀️She and her channel are as superficial and tacky as it can get! She talks about elegance but has no clue what it actually is! Her entire channel and "teachings/preachings" could be summed up as "how to become superficially 'expensive looking' gold diggers"! The reason she teaches all that so women can be more desirable to a certain man, there's is nothing good about it, she's encouraging people to be superficial, to act, to please...if you're going to take care of yourself you just do it at all times and for yourself, regardless of who you are & who is around you, it should be a norm & not an exception or form of dominance! People to this day fall for this bs - if you love yourself - you take care of yourself! I don't remember her once mentioning being well spoken, having good nature, being educated, reading, generally being well rounded, having any sign of character! She teaches materialism! People are not objects you may fall for good looks but your character might not follow up! Empty headedness isn't attractive! 🤦🏻♀️
I am a lawyer in Brasil, and the only place that I can be a little less traditional are in my nails. That's why I use black nails or very different color's of nails.
I don't know why, the "Hello elegant ladies!" made me think of Trixxie Mattel and Katya (the drag queens) saying "Hi, Gay!" in unison. In all the best ways.
Ah yes French tips aka light tan and white are natural on everyone wow wow ok Thank you amazing Holo Squad for pointing out the underhanded racism because yikes I'm gonna keep painting my nails bright purple and wear blue lipstick in spite now thank you
Her videos are not about you or people in general, they’re specific to her audience which is mostly made of women wanting to fit into high society. Being that she got into high society even though she was just a normal person before, she’s trying to help these women out. French nails can look great on anyone by the way you don’t have to be white.
I sometimes watch her... some things are interesting she says, other things I just think we are back in the times where men chained women up in chastity belts...
@@kniddelliz7512 exactly! Like why does she always say along the lines of "in order to attract a man"🥲 just help people make them look better if they have the desire to for themselves not to marry...
Lol, I had subscribed to her 😅 Then when Ukraine was invaded, she made a 20min video on how "picking sides is not elegant" with Ukraine and Russia flags as thumbnails 😬Would delete any non-positive comment in seconds... well, I haven't been elegant since 😄
That's so appalling. I live in a big city in Poland, my great grandmother was from Ukraine and I'm a volunteer, i take care of Ukrainian kids, i see how crushed those people are, so for any public figure to make any content implementing that we can't take sides is disgusting.
I am a bit on both sides. I don't wear flashy coloured looking nails, because they just don't suit me to be honest. I have learned my colour palette is like dark fall colours. I however think nothing looks more high class than longer almond shape nails 👌 Really want to try get my hands on that holo polish one day tho, at least to try, or save for days I am feeling flashy myself.
We weren't even allowed to wear clear nail polish. If they thought you were wearing polish they'd send you up to the chemistry lab where the lab tech would hand you the bottle of acetone to take it off.
No! can the world please not be going back in this direction? Gen Z, save us! Also, I’m glad someone brought up the Eurocentrism. . I was starting to boil.
When I was 13 my aunt’s husband looked at my bright pink nails 💅🏻 and said in the most condescending way that he hated bright colours. Man I forgot all about that! This video triggered that memory. While I’m not into long nails (probably because I have a long nail bed and my nails break almost immediately when they grow). I do love strange colours, holo, and nail art.
Them: don’t wear a color on your nails that you wouldn’t wear as lipstick Me (remembering that I own lipsticks in green, purple, and black): challenge accepted! I will comply by only wearing my black and green glitter fades when I want my lips to match. I’m going to be the most elegant goth babe ever with that level of coordination.
i looked up the RU-vid channel of the woman in the video and they're all about how to look more feminine, how to appear old money, cheap things to avoid wearing, what men consider turn offs 😭😭 and more things like that, every video title i saw was like 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩
