Flesh Guitar

BEAUTY TIPS WITH JENNY SLADE

Number one: the nails

Jenny Slade says, ‘You know a lot of women seem to think that in order to get that authentic snarly, slutty, rock chick look, they have to wear their fingernails as long and sharp as talons, and that they should be painted blood red or Goth black, or in some metallic cyber shade. But I’m afraid it’s not that simple.

‘There are two problems here. One, a right-handed guitarist can’t have talons on her left hand at all, because if she does they’ll get in the way of holding down the strings.

‘Secondly, even the strongest non-chip enamel will get trashed by the time you’ve played two hours worth of shred and burn guitar, especially if you do any amount of finger picking. And, despite Courtney Love, most of us still believe that chipped nail varnish is a sin second only to a visible panty line. You could use false nails, I suppose, but in my humble opinion false nails are an abomination against nature.

‘So you see, my advice to young female guitar players is really pretty simple: keep the natural look at your fingertips. Get a good manicure, eat gelatine, keep your nails short and unpainted. Let the authentic snarly, slutty, rock chick persona come from your playing, not just from your cosmetics.’

Reprinted from the Journal of Sladean Studies

Volume 3 Issue 12