From March 15-30, 2025, Hard As Nails is inviting men in the UK to paint their nails and take part in a research study on masculinity, confidence, and social norms.
After painting his nails for his daughter's birthday trip to see Harry Styles, Sam Conniff teamed up with Daniele Fiandaca to run an initial study with 15 men. And they found real impact—men reported increased empathy, confidence, and openness, along with mental health benefits. As one participant put it:
“It gave me a chance to challenge myself in a way I never expected—and I felt stronger for it.”
Another noted the unexpected simplicity of the experience:
“It’s hard to do toxic masculinity when wearing nail polish.”
Now they're looking to broaden their research to a more diverse group of men.
If you're interested, visit hard-as-nails.com to learn more or sign up.
The initial results of the Pilot were shared in a zoom call recently. The slide deck is available at https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1mN_pWPbuShDUmM2Q4FhI_6Q0i9kJlcinX6BIWyMWfCU/edit?slide=id.g361488063a1_0_99#slide=id.g361488063a1_0_99
The headlines:
“80% of men discussed stepping out of the “man box”.
4 out of 5 respondents described changing behaviours or reflection on masculinity.
75% engaged in meaningful conversations / 3–4 out of 5 reporting new or deeper conversations.
Men consistently cited increased openness, new conversations, and deeper interpersonal reflection."
@David yes, I’m sure you would have been filtered out by their screener survey. It’ll be interesting to see how it all goes—sounds like it’s now underway.
I would have loved to join in the experiment but I wear nail art all the time already! Changed every 4 weeks.
We’ve compiled a robust and totally serious taxonomy of alternative names for “skirt” that will allow you to wear one without technically admitting to it.
We’ve compiled a robust and totally serious taxonomy of alternative names for “skirt” that will allow you to wear one without technically admitting to it.
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3 Kommentare
The initial results of the Pilot were shared in a zoom call recently. The slide deck is available at https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1mN_pWPbuShDUmM2Q4FhI_6Q0i9kJlcinX6BIWyMWfCU/edit?slide=id.g361488063a1_0_99#slide=id.g361488063a1_0_99
The headlines:
“80% of men discussed stepping out of the “man box”.
4 out of 5 respondents described changing behaviours or reflection on masculinity.
75% engaged in meaningful conversations / 3–4 out of 5 reporting new or deeper conversations.
Men consistently cited increased openness, new conversations, and deeper interpersonal reflection."
@David yes, I’m sure you would have been filtered out by their screener survey. It’ll be interesting to see how it all goes—sounds like it’s now underway.
I would have loved to join in the experiment but I wear nail art all the time already! Changed every 4 weeks.