Arinda Storm Weaver has always loved looking after her nails – growing them as long as was feasible for day-to-day life.
But when she started a blog about her journey with breast cancer, it launched a new career for her as she realised some people would pay to see her talons.
She’s always concentrated on her fingernails but seeing the appetite for nail content, she decided to let her toenails grow too, which she says is rarer.
Now she keeps her toenails a few inches long, and they sit in curls at the front of her feet.
The 58-year-old, from Columbus, Ohio, worked as an account specialist at a manufacturing company but she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006.
She started posting on MySpace and realised she was getting lots of comments from people about her nails.
She discovered the world of nail fetishists, something that she had never heard about before then.
Eventually, in 2008, she quit her job and committed to selling videos of her hands, and then realise that her feet could be useful too.
She tells Metro.co.uk: ‘I opted to start growing them for the toenail guys. I had already been in the nail community and I discovered I could make money from having long toenails. So, I just let them grow.’
Now Arinda runs an Instagram account and sells fetish videos of herself doing different things with her nails. She identifies as a LNB – a long nail beauty.
She says: ‘My toenails are rarer thus making them more popular than the fingernails.
‘The long toenail community is a very distinct section of the foot community.’
Videos include Arinda using her toenails to pop bubble wrap or tapping them on the ground outside.
A 10-minute-long clip costs $14.39 (£11.50) and she has many fans right across the world.
Some also ask for custom videos and she does one-to-one video calls, focusing on her nails.
She’s stopped measuring nails but tries not to trim them unless she really needs to. Although they seem very long to most, she says that there is a point where she feels she needs to trim the ends.
To give them some extra strength, she regularly applies a layer of acrylic but she likes to change the colour often for her videos.
If one does break, she tries to find the toenail to reattach it but if that’s not possible, she has to trim them all.
Having such long toenails does mean some restrictions for Arinda though.
She explains: ‘Wearing closed-toed shoes is not possible with my toenails. I also cannot wear heels any longer.
‘They tend to make me walk slower and I also cannot run with them.’
Outside her work, her nails also attract a lot of attention, and it’s her toenails that people find particularly shocking.
She adds: ‘Usually people notice my fingernails first. I have a standard little talk I give then I point down to my feet. That is when they say, ” Oh my God”.’
But despite the reaction, Arinda loves her long nails – both on her fingers and toes – and says she wouldn’t be without them.
What's the deal with Feet Week?
Feet Week is a week dedicated entirely to feet... as the name probably gives away.
We figured we could all do with something to occupy our minds during the pandemic - and what better topic than feet?
From 4 May to 10 May you can find articles on everything feet, from what it actually takes to be a foot model to what it's like to be a pro toe wrestler.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/05/08/what-like-live-long-toenails-12653595/
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