Dear Untitled Nails,
Listening to you click together is one of my favorite sounds.
Hearing that smooth rhythm that comes from my friends hands,
as they express their tellings of the latest gossip.
Your drumming in every interaction is a constant comfort.
I love the consistency of your clacking,
as the girl next to me texts.
Keyboards were meant for you with every text square tap.
You give me everyday joy,
from debating my mothers next nail color,
to hearing my friend’s excitement about designs for her next set.
But what makes you truly the one for me,
is that you have given black and feminine-presenting people
a cherished beauty standard,
despite the historical repetitions that the things we love,
Are nothing but ghetto and ratchet.
What we love couldn’t be professional. But not you.
With you the weight of that shared traumatic history doesn’t feel as heavy.
You have become a safe home for us,
from the otherwise cruel claws of society.
In your hands we are safe from their exploitation.
I express myself through my adoration for you.
Your lover always, Chloe
Creative Director/Photographer: Chloe Johnson
Production Assistant: Lydia Behler
Stylist: Paige Perkins
Makeup Artist: Sophia Wall
Clothing: Blue Bones
Nail artist: Deyja