Hard As Nails Goes Live! Now We Need You
I got my nails done for my daughters birthday trip to Harry Styles, which led to an unexpected social experiment that's now a draft research paper launching today.
Today, we launch www.Hard-As-Nails.com, bringing together a year of exploration and conversations into the potential impact of men getting their nails done.
As improbable as it sounds, the research suggests that men painting their nails—a small, bold act of stepping out of the "man box"—could profoundly open up conversations about masculinity and mental health.
In the spirit of collaboration and inclusion that underpins this investigation, we’ve published the research as an open Google Doc for comment and contribution to help make the final stage of research as strong as possible.
Under the banner of Hard As Nails, we groups of men into nail bars from, consultants to council workers, who documented their experiences in diaries and focus groups overseen by researchers and specialists in the masculinity space.
Here’s what we learned:
Breaking Masculinity Norms: 80% of participants discussed stepping out of the "man box," challenging rigid ideas like emotional suppression or fear of judgment.
More Confident Conversations: 75% of participants had meaningful conversations about topics they’d typically avoid—like mental health, allyship, and gender norms.
Mental Health Impact: 80% reported feeling more connected, and 65% described moments of emotional release and joy just by stepping outside traditional expectations.
One participant put it beautifully: "It made me realize how much I avoid feeling exposed. But once I leaned into it, it was freeing."
Way back when, after those first unexpected conversations with cabbies and mortgage advisors, I turned to you—this wonderful community of readers and your overwhelming response was clear: Take it further. So I did.
Then, inclusion expert Daniele Fiandaca picked up the baton. He tested the idea for himself, he recruited and ran the groups, and challenged my initial assumptions.
I’d thought this was all about challenging the rise of toxic masculinity and encouraging allyship by instigating conversations through the controversial but creative act of men getting their nails done.
I was wrong.
Daniele helped me understand how blurred and blunt many narratives have become, how alientated many men feel, and how counter intuitively much of the conversation around masculinity can add to the mental health crisis men are experiencing.
Daniele suggested, if it were possible to increase empathy and openness (he expressed as vulnerability) and give men confidence step out of the ‘man box’, then mental health outcomes and actual allyship are likely outcomes, but shouldn’t be intentions.
He was right. As founder of Token Man Consulting, Daniele knows his sh*t, and the work he does, and research he publishes is well worth a look.
So, the two of us are partnering up, to increase our chances of this thing reaching it’s potential, so what’s next?
There are two big next steps, and we need your help:
We’re recruiting men to take part in the next phase of research.
The first sample provided rich and deep insight, but has several limitations, before rushing to the Movember-style campaign we keep hearing this could or should be, we want to run a representative research group, with events in nail bars across the UK, with additional wuant and qual research around it. Would you—or a man you know—be willing to get your nails painted, step out of the box, record their experience and help us dig deeper into what this could mean?
IT’s worth sharing 80% of the participants shared how reactions from friends, family, or strangers were more supportive and curious than anticipated. And as above, 80% of the participants felt an increased sense of connection.We’re publishing the initial research findings as an open Google Doc.
We want to be as collaborative and inclusive as possible, inviting feedback, criticism, and contributions. Whilst we’ve had expert input, Daniele and I are not researchers by trade, and we know this is a busy space, with a range of experience and insight on offer, and other potential projects to partner with, or learn from. So the research so far, and the design for the second stage is all there, open for comment and contribution to help make it broader and stronger before we run it again in Feb/March next year.
We don’t have all the answers yet, but we do have some very promising results so far. And, we can all see the impact of recent events, elections and influencers adding to what can be a crowded and confusing conversaiotn that ironally, many men turn away from, when they’re constructive, reative involvement, ownership and input to the conversation might be just waht’s needed.
With your help, we can see how far this idea can go.
So, here’s the ask:
Volunteer. Be part of the next round of research, or nominate a man you know.
Comment or contribute. To the draft research, or the plan for the next round.
Share and circulate. Help us get this into networks, platforms and projects where it could reach more men.
All the information, the story so far, the research report and how to sign up, is all here, as of today: www.hard-as-nails.com.