From Lara Matossian-Roberts…

Last month I wrote about the compulsive need some of us – including me, of course – feel for getting our nails done.   This month I share with you some more thoughts revolving around a similar issue.

A few weeks ago I picked up a leaflet at the counter of one of the first spas that established itself as a leading name in Dubai before there were any other spas.

One side of the leaflet says: Just for girls, the other, yes, you’ve guessed it: Just for boys.

On the girls’ side of the leaflet it says, “Grab a friend and unwind for a moment.  Forget about the pressures of being a teenager,” – FORGET ABOUT THE PRESSURES OF BEING A TEENAGER?! – with the following treatments on offer:

“It’s about ME, Manicure & Pedicure – Express yourself with the color or colors of your choice.

Pretty Young Thing Facial – This is a brilliant introduction for the basics of skin care, ideal for skin brightening and blemish blasting…that leaves the skin sparkling and glowing.

De-stress Back Massage – School, friends, exams, oh the stresses of teenage life!  This back massage is awesome treatment to relieve the tension associated with your busy social and school schedule.

 “BFF” Best Friends Forever – Friendship isn’t a big thing – it’s a million little things.  Enjoy this treatment with a friend.  Spend time relaxing together.”

And, my absolute favorite: “Sweet As Candy Wrap –Stressed?  Answer: CHOCOLATE.  Be exfoliated from head to toe, then smothered in chocolate mud, delivering the sweetest results for your skin.”

I’m sorry, but the first words that sprung to my mind were, “Are you kidding me!”  I don’t know if I am wrong reacting like that.  I am not, in any way, belittling the issues teenagers face in their day-to-day lives.   I am sure these are as important to them as are the adults’ equivalents, but – are you kidding me!

Surely, there are more wholesome ways of resolving issues than sending a teenager packing to the spa!I can visualize it as a birthday, or even graduation treat, but seriously, “It’s about ME, Manicure & Pedicure”? – for teenagers – why?

I am neither anti-spas nor mani/pedis, but when I came across that leaflet, I just thought, ‘Hang on a second; that just doesn’t feel right.’  At the risk of sounding like a non-modern, “old” person, I’m going to say it, “What sort of children are we raising?”  Isn’t it our job to educate our children so they don’t fall for this kind of spin doctoring that attempts to entrap them with this reasoning?  ‘Oh, I had a fight with my best friend.  Can I go to the spa and get a massage to relieve all that tension?’

Of course, the boys’ side of the leaflet does not have as many treatments on offer; an “Urban Facial” and an “Athletic Back Massage” that is “specifically designed for teenage guys.”  Observe the terminology, “athletic” – anything to trick them into coming.  Honestly, I just can’t see a teenage boy going for a massage; I can’t see one staying still enough for the duration of it!

Everything inside my head screams, “This is wrong.”

But that might just be me.  I might be wrong.

From Lara Matossian-Roberts…

At the moment, I have nails painted ‘Really Red’.

I remember a time when nail polish was something on your mother’s dressing table you just kinda played with.  It didn’t have a name.  It was just a color.  Red.  Pink.  Or an iridescent glossy one.

Now we have ten million shades of red, brown and – BEIGE – lined in rows on some shelf in a ‘Nail Salon’ around the corner from where you live.  Fishnet stockings.  Garnet.  Ballet Slippers.  Madame Godiva.  Marshmallow.  After Sex.

Yes, ‘Nail Salons’ – not your traditional beauty salon – no, no no!  The main attraction here is your nails.  Everything else is an add-on.

When did this happen?  How did it happen?  Why did it happen?

Growing up with my humble family here in the UAE, the only ‘maintenance’ my mother paid for was a hair trim every few months at the hairdresser’s.  She dyed her own hair.  She filed her own nails – and cuticles were not even a known part of the human anatomy!

What a phenomenon – nail salons!  It’s not just here in the UAE though; I’ve seen them during my recent travels in Asia and Europe.  I’m not sure if they’re as ubiquitous as they are here in the UAE, but they are most certainly there! 

It’s worth a wonder.  For the longest time there was no such thing, and it seems like, all of a sudden, there’s one in every neighborhood!  Forget that; there are ‘Little Princess’ treatments for little girls – I mean KIDS!  Little four and five year-old girls!

I don’t mean to be either judgmental or ungrateful; after all, I do use the services offered by those very same nail salons, but I blame it all on that summer I turned 13 when I decided to take a nail clipper to my cuticles and hack away!  I have absolutely no idea what got into my adolescent head, but suffice it to say, my cuticles have never been the same since.  And still for the longest time as a young adult, I did not even contemplate going for a ‘mani and pedi’.

What happened?

Now at 32, when a couple of months whizz by and I dare to glance at my ‘unmaintained’ nails, I think, ‘Yikes!’ and I find myself booking myself a ‘much needed’ appointment ‘to get my nails done’.

I have a confession to make: it doesn’t feel too good though.  It just doesn’t.  I don’t want to come across as self-righteous or anything of the sort, but when I’m actually there, in the ‘nail salon’ getting my ‘much needed maintenance’ or ‘pampering’ or whatever category if falls under, all I can think of, while I’m there, is how miserable those women who are hunched over my nails probably are.  They are quite literally hunched over – doing nails – at least 10 hours a day, no joke or exaggeration, for a pittance.  Of course, the argument is: at least they have a job and they can send money to their families, and it’s their choice.

I can’t get convinced though.

Yet, this is true for a great number of the people who make up the lower strata of the work force here.  They are here because they have a job and they can send money –however little – to their families back home.  It doesn’t mean that they have favorable work conditions or that they make nearly enough.

I am sure that this is also true elsewhere, not just here; but this is where I live and I can’t help feeling the way I do.

But, hey, who cares?  My nails are gorgeous!

Right??