Trip To The Nail Shop

"If you can give your son or daughter only one gift, let it be enthusiasm."
--Bruce Barton, American author, advertising executive and politician

Today I'm in Hong Kong getting ready for my trip home and nail maintenance was on the long list of things to get accomplished. Much to my delight, this darling little thing pranced into the nail salon with her mom ready to have her very first manicure/pedicure, and although I couldn't get a great shot of her from across the room, she brought such a smile to my face, I had to blip her anyway. According to her mom, she's age four, very grown up by her own estimation, and just about the same age as Maggie (our youngest) when she got her first manicure. Watching her climb up into the chair asking a million questions and fascinated by the whole process, brought me right back to the days when the girls were very little, and I would take them to get manicures and pedicures in China.

Now, this little girl is having her first grown-up manicure in a fairly sophisticated salon in Hong Kong that's about as "Western" as you can get in Asia. Our girls, on the other hand, had their first manicures in various parts of Mainland China in salons vastly different than this one. The salons we would go to were not nearly so organized nor as clean as this one, but they were also not nearly as expensive, and they almost always focused far more on creature comfort, making getting a mani/pedi a unique "grooming experience."

Whereas the chairs here in the Hong Kong salon are basic, comfortable enough and fairly utilitarian, Chinese nail salons have great big huge comfy chairs with overstuffed pillows and large ottomans for stretching out and lounging. You literally lay back in the enormous seat, comfortably resting on your carefully-placed pillows, throw your arms over the wide armrests and allow two girls, one on either side, to take hold of your hands and give you a manicure, hand massage and deep moisturizing treatment that generally lasts about an hour and a half, sometimes longer. A regular manicure always includes a neck massage at the end (just in case you're not relaxed enough already), and the whole "grooming experience" costs less than $10.00 US!

Although I always loved the big cushy chairs and the endless pampering (don't even get me started on the pedicures, which can take most of an afternoon), the best part about a Chinese manicure for the girls was (1) the wide array of wild and exotic colors to choose from, and (2) the endless variety of artwork that could be painted on their fingernails. Now, we're not talking about the occasional white flower or pink heart drawn on a pinky finger; this is artwork like you've never seen before. After far too many years of manicures, I can safely say I've never seen anything that even approaches what these girls can do - neither the Korean girls in NYC nor the Vietnamese women in Washington, DC, nor the Laotians in Corning, none of them even come close -- it's an amazing talent unique to the young women in the salons throughout China.

And the artwork options are endless! The girls could choose to have a Malaysian sunset painted across all five nails on one hand and the American flag painted on the other. Everything from Disney cartoon characters to elaborate hearts, flowers, stars, watermelons, strawberries, every imaginable shape and color, even full landscape scenes are available - all painted by hand with small tubes of paint and intricate brushes. No stencils, no patterns, no molds, no stickers - and all created on the tiny fingernails of my five and eight year olds! It was incredible to watch such an amazing feat of unique artistic expertise!

Chris would tell me this is not so surprising. Some of the most intricate and painstaking work done in Chinese factories is accomplished by young women workers who have a unique ability to handle very detailed, labor intensive tasks, displaying physical dexterity, pin-point accuracy and infinite patience. It makes them an invaluable addition to any manufacturing workforce and, for the girls and me, an essential component to a Chinese nail salon!

On special occasions I would let the girls get little diamonds or jewels glued onto their designs - yet another feat of painstaking patience and accuracy - and they would race home at the end of the day to show Dad their amazing works of art, one finger and one toe at a time. I always took pictures of their nails, so we could remember the intricate designs and beautiful handiwork; unfortunately, as with all little girls, their manicure would last for about five days, at most, and then we'd have to start thinking about what other beautiful artwork we'd like to request on our next trip to the nail shop!