Nail Polish for the Elder Goth

I love having my nails done, give me a mani-pedi any day, there is something so wickedly indulgent about having it done.

For my pedi’s health sake I have it done once a month, and the place I go to the staff makes sure everything is totally sanitary; during the winter I have the pedi’s done but without nail polish, I want to wear my socks and keep the feet warm, but when things start warming up, then the polish goes on, from March to November, as long as it’s warm.

I do not like flip-flops, or thronged sandals they are very painful to the skin between the toes, why anyone wants to torture themselves that way must be a masochist.

But one thing I’ve noticed is the dark, dark nail polish, the brighter reds don’t seem to be all that good, but the extreme darks like black, blue, green even deep purple just seem out of place for an Elder Goth, it’s like we’re playing dress up or are extremely eccentric, if you are an elder Goth doing business you have to chose your nail polish carefully.

How your hands and nails look can cause the other person to subconsciously judge you without them realizing it.

You don’t want that.

I’ve found that the deep “Hollywood Reds” from the 40’s and 50’s (I sometimes call them Revlon Reds because that’s the only company that seems to continue to make them) as deep and dark as they can be without them appearing too silly seems to work, but my Elder Goth Darklings, you have to remember how your aged hands appear as well. These same reds also work for those ladies in the Corporate Goth mode.

If you wash dishes, do gardening or house cleaning always wear gloves, as a matter of fact if you go outside at all to shop or run errands always wear gloves, especially during the coldest of weathers.

All of that takes a toll on the skin, which as one gets older becomes more fragile, and can bruise easily. Always use hand lotions to keep the skin soft and supple, but eventually you can no longer use the Dark, Dark nail colors, that is when your hands cannot hide the wrinkles, the knottiness of the joints, and the age spots and subsurface bruising.

When that happens, continue to use your hand lotions and wear gloves but switch to the light colors, you can have fun with the OPI colors such as “Nomad’s Dream” or “Oh So Glam!” There are web sites that offer these colors if you can’t find them in your favorite drug store or beauty supply house.

You can also provide your nail polish color from home when you have your mani-pedi especially if the salon no longer carries it.

The idea behind going towards the lighter colors is to lessen the aged look of your hands and provide a more elegant longer looking hand without drawing attention to its deficits.

The minute you think that your favorite dark, dark color doesn’t look good on your hands is the time to switch to the lighter colors, they don’t have to be pink, and remember as one ages so do the ridge lines on your nails appear, so you’ll want to avoid designs and add on’s, and no acrylic nails or silk wraps, you’ll be inviting a nail fungus which is not appealing at all.

One item of jewelry that is always appealing for Elder Goths, is a ring, I’m not talking about a silver thumb ring or with skulls or a cross but one piece of expensive jewelry in yellow gold or white gold, I have several in 14kt gold; one is a large piece of cabochon coral, another is a 7 carat weight brown topaz, another is lavender jade, another is a very large oval of black jet, one holds a 5 dollar gold piece and my final piece in yellow gold in a large piece that is just in a banded design.

These are in yellow gold; you can do the same with white gold and avoid the silver route entirely because there is nothing like a valuable piece of jewelry on one’s finger to set things off nicely. And only wear just one and not on the thumb, wearing a ring on the thumb is so tacky.

Eventually you will settle on one that will become a signature piece.

Part of the problem with wearing a ring or rings and gloves is that it’s impossible to wear both, what do you do? Well if you are outside, continue to wear gloves, but if it’s an evening function or you’re indoors then wear the rings.

Now I have seen black lace fingerless gloves which are very nice and that can be paired with rings, but remember as an Elder or Elderly Goth don’t go overboard, being understated without being plain is ideal.