Long Pinky Nails Symbolize Wealth
Wear long pinky nails to show you’re rich…or want to be. Ancient Chinese people wore long nails as a sign of wealth. Men and women of the upper classes grew their nails long to show that they didn’t have to do manual labor, which would break longer fingernails. In some parts of the world, long pinky nails still symbolize prosperity, even when they aren’t worn by the wealthy upper class. The Chinese philosopher Confucius, often depicted as having long nails, was thought to have said, “Our body, skin, and hair are all received from our parents; we dare not injure them.” Some believe Confucius’s philosophy began the tradition of growing long nails, but it hasn’t been confirmed.
Attract good fortune by growing long pinky nails. In some Asian countries, men grow the nail on their little finger to attract good fortune. Some people believe that having a little finger extending past the ring finger's first knuckle joint is a sign of good fortune, so they grow their nails to extend the length of their little finger.
Long Pinky Nails Are Used as Tools
Use long pinky nails as handy tools when others aren’t available. Some men use a long pinky nail to tighten screws, scrape off labels, or cut through soft items, like plants or mushrooms. However, you risk tearing or breaking your nails when you use them as tools. The American Academy of Dermatology Association also recommends that you avoid using your fingernails as tools to keep them healthy and strong.
Men clean their ears and noses with long pinky nails. Everyone knows you shouldn’t stick anything into your ears or nose, but that doesn’t stop some people from doing it. That is especially true when your ears and nose are dry or itchy. However, a sharp fingernail can damage your nose's lining, leading to bleeding and even an infection. Sticking your fingernail in your ear can scratch the delicate skin in your ear canal or even rupture your eardrum, so it’s not recommended.
A long pinky nail is sometimes used as drug paraphernalia. In the US, a long pinky nail is often referred to as a “coke nail” for its rumored use as a spoon for cocaine. Some rehabilitation centers also consider a long pinky nail as a telltale sign of drug abuse.
Thery’re Useful When Making Art & Music
Grow out your pinky nails and learn to play flamenco guitar. Flamenco guitar players grow long pinky nails to play rasgueado, a technique in flamenco music for strumming the guitar using 4 or 5 fingers in rapid succession. While flamenco guitarists often grow all of their fingernails, the pinky nail is usually longer to compensate for the shorter, weaker pinky finger. The longer pinky nail is usually only on the player’s dominant (or strumming) hand.
Use a long pinky nail to keep your hand off the canvas while painting. When painting, an artist often needs a steady hand for intricate work. Some artists grow their pinky fingernails and brace them against the painting so they don’t have to rest their hand on the paint to steady it. Famous television artist Bob Ross was known to have a long fingernail he used for this purpose. Artists also use a Mahl stick, a wooden stick with a weight on one end, to prevent their palms from touching the painting’s surface. They rest their hand against the Mahl stick instead of growing out a fingernail.
Long Pinky Nails Raise Awareness for Causes
Paint a long pinky nail to help end violence against women and children. The Polished Man and Pinky Promise encourage people to paint a fingernail blue to help raise money and awareness to end violence against women and children. Both are month-long campaigns that focus on supporting survivors of violence and sexual assault. The Polished Man campaign takes place in October and asks participants to paint any nail blue to show support and raise money for prevention and recovery programs. The Pinky Promise campaign takes place in April and asks participants to paint a pinky fingernail blue to support child abuse prevention and sexual assault awareness initiatives.
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