The Day My Husband Painted His Nails for the First Time

Was it after the New Year when my husband first said, "I want to paint my nails"?

Let me clarify first: my husband isn't particularly fashionable.
He is the type who carefully selects and buys his own clothes, but he doesn't shop very often. He buys maybe three items a season, if that. He wears those select pieces for years. By the way, his appearance is like Winnie the Pooh, just stretched out a little bit vertically.

However, my husband has always had a "good eye" for fashion and beauty.
For example, when one of our female friends wears nail polish in elegant colors like Bordeaux or moss green, he narrows his eyes and says, "Your nails look stylish." The way he says it is so casual, with no hint of creepiness or condescension.

"T-chan (my husband), you really notice everything, don't you?"
"Well, yeah, because it's honestly super stylish. It's great that those kinds of nails suit you so well."

He creates an atmosphere just like a group of girls chatting excitedly about makeup and nails.

Despite having this naturally "feminine" sensibility, I was still surprised when he said, "I want to try painting my nails, so could we go buy some together sometime?" It’s embarrassing to admit, but I’ve never painted my nails once in my 37 years of life. My husband has a much higher aesthetic sense than I do.

When I asked him why he wanted to, he said that in addition to being influenced by our female friends, he also thought his favorite pro-wrestler, El Desperado, looked cool wearing black nail polish. The power of a favorite idol to make people take action is truly amazing.

*

This is a bit of a tangent, but the reason I haven't worn nail polish has a lot to do with my parents.
When I was in high school and asked my parents, "Can I paint my nails?" they stopped me, saying, "Don't, because your nails won't be able to breathe," and I got scared and gave up. The power of a parent's words to cast a spell is quite strong, and even after becoming an adult, I never felt the urge to break that warning. At my age, my parents probably wouldn't say anything anyway.
(For similar reasons, I've made it this far without doing much makeup, and I'm almost always bare-faced.)

However, like my husband, I must have still had some lingering longing for nail polish.
Early last summer, I happened to see a brand of nail polish on Instagram called "ANDIZUMO" that can be removed with warm water. The main ingredient is water. Since no solvents are used, it apparently doesn't have that sharp, pungent smell typical of nail polish.

"Oh, I might be able to wear this."
I remember my heart feeling light and lifted at the time.

The color lineup was also calm and stylish. The ethical concept of using materials from near Izumo and manufacturing with safety and peace of mind in mind was also wonderful.
I kept it in the back of my mind, thinking I would go see the real thing someday.

So, when I heard from my husband that he wanted to paint his nails, ANDIZUMO immediately came to mind.

He can't go to work with painted nails, but a water-based polish that can be removed with warm water is perfect for enjoying on weekends! Plus, there seem to be many blue-toned colors that would suit my husband's fashion! (And if I'm lucky, I'll get to use them too...!)

When I told my husband about ANDIZUMO, he was very enthusiastic, saying, "That's great!! I want to go see it sometime!!"
And finally, the other day, we went to see ANDIZUMO together.

*

ANDIZUMO was in a corner of a shop that handles organic cosmetics at the Hanshin Department Store Umeda Main Store.

As soon as my husband saw it, he said, "Ohhh," with joy and started comparing the color charts, clattering them around. I chimed in, thinking, "It's great that he's having fun," saying things like, "This color is nice too!" and "This one is chic and cool!"

Then, a young shop clerk who noticed us spoke to us.

"Those products are water-based nail polishes."

I thought to myself, "Oh, here it comes."
She was talking to me, and it seemed like she assumed I was the one who would be using them. If she found out they were for my husband, she might look at us strangely. If that happened, my husband might get hurt. What should I do?

But I felt that if I pretended I was buying them for myself, I would hurt my husband even more. I felt that was the one thing I absolutely must not do.

Whether he knew how I was feeling or not, my husband held a color chart up to his own nails and said quite naturally, "I'm looking for something in the blue family..."

The clerk paused for a moment, perhaps wondering, but she seemed to catch on. She picked out some blues and began explaining the colors to my husband.
Encouraged by seeing my husband choose so seriously, I also chimed in, suggesting, "I'm sure this color would look great on you."

"I've decided. I'll take these two!"

My husband chose two colors named "Thin Sky" and "Wave." Proudly and happily.
I gave my husband (and myself) our first-ever nail polish as a slightly early Valentine's Day gift.

*

"Whoa, this is hard!"

On the morning of a holiday, one week after we bought the polish, I was washing my face in the bathroom when I heard my husband shout from the living room.

I rushed over, asking what was wrong, and found he had been painting his left thumb. The blue had bled a little outside the nail, and the surface was bumpy.

He said he had watched a video to learn the tricks, but it was still difficult. He kept shouting, "Man, this is hard! So hard!" But he sounded strangely happy.

"Ugh, that's frustrating. I'm going to try again."

Perhaps the appeal of water-based nail polish is that you can try again immediately if you fail. My husband ran his nails under warm water and scrubbed them with a sponge to reset them.

Thinking I'd let him do his thing, I went to hang the laundry, but then he came over saying, "Hey, look, look, look!!" He was making quite a scene.

On the five fingers of his left hand, which he showed me with a beaming smile, was a milky blue that looked like winter sky and clouds whipped together with a whisk. It was much smoother and more plumply colored than before.

"Oh, that's cute!! You're so good at this!! You learned so fast!!"
"I did two coats! I think I've made friends with the brush now."

Made friends with the brush. I was impressed by what a truly adorable person he is.
When I suggested we take a picture and send it to our friends, he held out his left hand, looking a little shy. Honestly, he's hundreds of times cuter than I am.

In response to the photo I sent to our group LINE, two of my female friends replied with things like, "So stylish!" and "It really suits you!"
I was sure it would be fine, but no one said anything like, "But you're a man, why are you wearing nail polish?" There wasn't even a hint of that atmosphere. I was so relieved, as I had been feeling just a little nervous, by my friends' heartfelt "likes!"

Above all, seeing my husband stare at his beautifully painted nails over and over and laugh happily, saying "It's so cute," I was moved by the realization that anyone can try to be beautiful, regardless of gender. And that when you try to be beautiful for your own sake, your feelings naturally become more positive.

The world is definitely changing. We are in an era where everyone can pursue their own kind of beauty. I feel like my husband is striding at the forefront toward that era.

Because he is walking ahead, he will likely be stared at or looked at with curiosity sometimes.
In fact, when he went to the supermarket with his nails painted, the clerk at the register let out a silent "Oh" and gave him a quick glance.

When I asked him, "Doesn't it hurt to be reacted to like that?" he answered flatly, "No, not at all. I know that kind of thing happens, so it doesn't hurt me."

"Ah, I want to be more beautiful."

I feel proud of my husband as he says this while looking at his nails.
He is a very beautiful person, even if he is my husband.