Women Prefer Men Who Get Manicures

June 18, 2011, By Jack Heffron 3 comments

Jack Heffron

A few years ago a buddy of mine told me he was heading out to get a manicure.  I said, “Seriously?”

He took offense, but he tends to be that way. He moonlights as a bartender and feels his hands need to look their best. “You should try it,” he told me.

I didn’t—and have no regrets. To me, a man getting a manicure sounds vain and unnecessary and, well, stupid. But lately I hear more and more guys say they get them. They’re usually in some type of sales job that requires extra attention to personal grooming. Probably hand models and, yes, bartenders need them too. Or if you land the role of Thing in a community theater production of “The Addams Family.” Otherwise—a manicure? Seriously?

But hoping to broaden my old-school view, I figured I’d investigate. If you’ve been tossing around the idea—or rejecting it as, well, stupid—please join me.

Making a Case

I found this blog post by author Brett Blumenthal that makes an informed case for manicures, saying women find them sexy and that the procedure softens your hands, giving you a gentler touch that your wife or girlfriend will enjoy. There also is the health/hygiene factor, making your fingernails cleaner and freer from bacteria.

But I remained unconvinced, maybe because Blumenthal also advocates pedicures, which, for me, conjures the scene in “Dumb and Dumber” when Jim Carrey’s character, Lloyd Christmas, requires the pedicurist to break out a welding mask and power sander to battle his velociraptor-like toenails. Not that my feet would require heavy machinery, but something about Lloyd’s rictus of pain makes me think I don’t want to go there.   

Instead, I went to certified image consultant Shauna Mackenzie, who owns Mackenzie Image Consulting in Charleston, South Carolina, to find out if this so-called trend lives up to the billing.

“I definitely hear about it more and more,” she says. “And these days it doesn’t stop people in their tracks. If you’re working in an industry where appearance is important, it’s very common. I advise clients to get them if they’re interacting with their clients a lot.”

She also believes that a manicure could help your romantic life.

“That’s definitely something women will notice,” she says. “A guy with dirty fingernails is not attractive. It always stands for something else, like does he have good hygiene? If he can’t take the time to clean his fingernails, what else doesn’t he take time to do?”

She tops off her advice with, “And manicures just feel good. It’s a hand massage. It’s really become mainstream. There should be no weirdness associated with it at all.”