Join thousands of men painting their nails to break the rules that hold men back

A social experiment challenging negative stereotypes, proven to help men show up better for the people they care about most.

100% of men said it was a positive experience, 93% said they'd do it again, 83% had conversations they'd never normally have. (2025 Hard As Nails Research, 406 participants)

Takes 5 minutes to join. One week of your choosing, 9 to 26 November.

Free to join. No fundraising, no sponsorship, nobody asks you for money. It's a national study, not a charity drive.

Photo: nine men in a salon, painted nails held up

What this actually is

A week with painted nails.

Men paint their nails, in a group, via a partner, at a salon, however suits. Change nothing else about your ordinary life. We take an anonymous pre and post measure of attitudes and behaviours, and you nominate a couple of people in your life.

A robust national experiment.

Academic oversight from leading researchers into masculinity and mental health. The largest study of its kind, aiming to engage half a million men.

Increased understanding of healthy masculinity, and a fairer, safer society.

If the pilot outcomes hold at scale, we'd expect measurable shifts linked to male suicide and violence against women and girls.

What the FAQ

The things you're thinking.

Are you serious? This sounds nuts.

Nuts, performative, daft, we've been called all three. But Hard As Nails is built on academic insight, robust measures and hundreds of men in the pilot. More importantly, on a persistent question from men across the country who want to do something about the issues driving male suicide, mental health and violence against women, the topics that feel like a minefield. 83% had conversations they'd never have had.

Isn't this just having a go at men?

The opposite. We're as done with the blame game as you are. Built on the belief that most men are good, and that the noise around the worst of us has left the best of us gone quiet. The nails are permission to speak up again. Nobody gets lectured.

Isn't it a faff? And a cost?

Easiest brave thing you'll do all year. There's a nail bar within a mile of you and we've a 10% code at nearly every salon in the country. Or go free, half the men had theirs done by a partner, daughter or colleague. One short survey before, one after. As fun and simple as science gets.

Hang on, is this even legit?

Completely. A registered Community Interest Company. Academic oversight from Leeds Beckett University. Partners include CALM. The nails are silly. The science isn't.

Weathered hands with deep oxblood painted nails, flat on a table

Join the experiment.

Anonymous. All data treated anonymously, under ethical guidelines and GDPR.
The commitment. Painted nails for one week in mid-November.
The survey. 5 to 10 minutes depending how much you say. Withdraw yourself or your data at any point.
Then what. Discount codes to book a salon near you, plus other ways to get involved.

From the men who did it

What it actually did.

"It's cracked me open a little more. Vulnerability isn't weakness; it's a strength."

2024 pilot participant

"I thought this was going to be about bravery and confronting others' prejudice. I didn't realise it was going to be about anxiety and confronting my own limits."

2024 pilot participant

"Why did we all assume this would be harder? That says a lot."

2025 pilot, participants' group chat

A man in glasses, hands crossed showing chrome painted nails and silver rings, in front of a wall of polish

A man in an Arsenal shirt in a pub garden, red painted nails

A thumbs up from a tattooed arm, one nail painted red

Old, weathered hands with black and white painted nails

"A best-in-class example of a grassroots, community-led programme with the potential to have real-world impact."

Tom EllisDirector of Global Health Promotions Initiative, Movember

"Construction has some of the starkest men's health statistics of any industry, and posters and policies alone won't shift that. What convinced us about Hard As Nails is the science behind it and the energy it creates. It gets men talking, and that's the catalyst everything else needs."

James SaundersChief People Officer, Wates Group

"Men are notoriously difficult to engage in health research. Hard As Nails brought in over 400 of them and produced significant shifts on validated psychological measures, with no movement in the control group. As a researcher, that's what makes this worth taking seriously."

Professor Brendan GoughProfessor of Social Psychology, Leeds Beckett University

Research oversight and support.

Research oversight from Leeds Beckett University, with support from CALM, Movember, Talk Club, Wates, Treatwell and Scratch.

"Hard As Nails is one of the most interesting and original community approaches to men's health we've come across. At Movember, we've followed their data closely, and we've been impressed by the team's dedication to rigorous measurement and continuous learning."

Gayathri ButlerDirector, Global Social Connections Investments, Movember

Pass it on

Do you know a man brave enough to take part?

To take a risk, break a few rules, and stand up for a fairer, safer society, alongside hundreds of thousands of men doing the same.

Join the experiment.

Be one of half a million men standing up to the bullshit that blocks good men from being great, whether it's the manicure or the mental health crisis, the blame or the shame too many men carry.

If the pilot results hold at scale, this unusual little intervention points to a more open, honest, empathetic and healthy culture, for men and everyone they care for.

Erica Chenoweth studied a century of nonviolent movements and found that none which reached 3.5% of the population ever failed. For midlife men in the UK, that number is 350,000. We're aiming for half a million sign-ups to get there. That's change in the attitudes and behaviour of men, and in every team they manage, family they support, door they hold open and person they look after.

It's a big, ambitious number. Will you be counted?