Join thousands of men painting nails to break rules that hold men back.
An experiment that helps men show up for the people they care about. A university measures what changes.
This November, men across the country are painting their nails for a week. We're measuring what it does to them.
You take a short survey on how you see things.
You get your nails done, as fancy as you like.
Then you go to work, the gym, the pub, the match, the in-laws, and everywhere else a normal week takes you.
The nails are the easy bit. It's the conversations they start that men still talk about.
More than one said it changed his life. Most said it helped them help someone else.
Join the WhatsApp group, or don't. Come to a meet-up, or don't. There are men near you doing it, and plenty do it with their partner or kids.
And if it still sounds rum, check the research.
Know a man who'd be brave enough?
Not painting? Fair enough. Pass it to a braver mate.
Academic oversight from Professor Brendan Gough, Leeds Beckett University. See the research.
What happened to 422 men.
- 95% had a very positive experience and would do it again.
- 85% had conversations they'd never normally have.
- Willingness to stand up for others doubled.
- Fear of judgement halved.
Source: the past study, 2025.
"Hard As Nails is a best-in-class example of a grassroots, community-led programme with the potential to have real-world impact."
As seen on
What is Hard As Nails?
- Men get their nails painted and wear them for a week.
- We send prompts to help the conversations along.
- One short survey before and one after measure what moved.
- Women nominate the men, paint the nails, and tell us what they noticed.
- Everyone's welcome. Data is anonymous. Results published in 2027.
“An ambitious experiment challenging negative stereotypes and making positive change, built by ordinary men, for any man proud enough.”
Why does it work?
Most men are good. A lot of them have gone quiet. The rules that keep them quiet are weaker than they look: most men don't believe in them, but each of us assumes the other blokes do, so we all keep obeying rules nobody remembers signing up to.
Telling men to change doesn't shift that. Daring them does. So we ask men to break one small rule, in public, on purpose, for a week.
Someone once called it a science-backed stag do. We'll take that. The science bit: the men who painted their nails moved on every scale we used. The 50 men in the control group, who read an article about masculinity instead, didn't move on any.
"Wearing nail polish pushed many men out of their comfort zones and into new spaces of vulnerability and connection."
Pass it on
Know a man in your life who should do this?
Pick the man you'd most enjoy seeing in painted nails. The one brave enough to speak up and stand out. Then tell him.
It takes him five minutes to sign up. It takes you about eleven seconds.
Copied. Now go and pick your man.
Yours to edit before you send it. Your own words beat ours.
WTAF
What the FAQ?
Are you serious? This sounds nuts.
Nuts, performative, daft: we've been called all three. We've also got 422 men, a control group and a professor marking our homework. It started because men kept asking us what they could do about male suicide and violence against women without walking into a minefield. Painting your nails turns out to be a decent answer. 85% had conversations they'd never normally have.
Isn't this just having a go at men?
The opposite. We're as done with the blame game as you are. Most men are good, and 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.
What do I say when someone asks?
"I'm part of a national study on what blokes are actually made of." Works on site, in the office and at the bar. Last year that question started most men's best conversation of the week.
Isn't it a faff? And a cost?
Not much of either. 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: plenty of men had theirs done by a partner, a daughter or a colleague. Then one short survey before, one after.
Straight men wear this for a week. Other people can't take it off. Isn't that the problem?
Partly yes, and we'd rather say so than argue it. Our men get seven days, by choice, with a study to hide behind and an end date. Queer communities, the Black women who built modern nail culture and the Vietnamese technicians who built the salon trade got none of that, and paid far more for it. We're not asking our men to borrow that or claim to understand it. We're asking them to find out what they were actually afraid of, which mostly turns out to be nothing, and whether that changes how they act when somebody else is the one being looked at. If you've already lived it, you weren't wrong about the hostility, so there's nothing here we'd ask you to learn. Respect: the longer answer →
Hang on, is this even legit?
Yes. We're a registered Community Interest Company, Brave Males Great Nails CIC (no. 17127621). Professor Brendan Gough at Leeds Beckett University oversees the research, on validated psychological scales. Surplus funds go to CALM.
Photo: weathered hands, oxblood nails
Join the experiment.
Join the experiment →- Anonymous. All data anonymous, under UK GDPR.
- The commitment. Painted nails for one week in mid-November.
- The survey. One before, one after. Withdraw at any point.
- Then what. Discount codes to book a salon near you.
From the men who did it
What men wrote down at the time.
The anonymous research diaries, exactly as typed. 194 entries from the past study. Six of them below. Swipe.
Anonymous research diaryEntry 24 / 194
Had my nails done with my son at a professional salon and the staff were very welcoming and friendly and we had a lovely time. It was also fantastic bonding time with my son (especially as he doesn't live with me and hasn't for 15 of his 20 years).
Anonymous research diaryEntry 30 / 194
It started with me explaining why I was taking part and talking about emotions etc and lead into a discussion with my 19yr old son about his Autism and how it affects him in life generally but right now at Uni. The conversation involved the whole family including my parents and we also talked about my Dad's struggles with social anxiety in the past
Anonymous research diaryEntry 103 / 194
The first person I saw this morning after doing my nails last night was my daughter (9). She told me she liked the colour and was glad I'd painted my nails because 'some men don't like doing it and they wouldn't do it'.
Anonymous research diaryEntry 155 / 194
A female member of the gym, in a class, pointed out my nails and said they looked professionally done. I explained why I was doing it and it sparked a lot of conversation but mainly about nails. The rest of the conversation for the whole session was a lot more open. It was really clear that the change in tone was sparked by my nails.
Anonymous research diaryEntry 177 / 194
We went to a birthday party for my friend and it was really nice because everybody asked about the experience of having my nails done. He gave me a chance to reflect on the experience and talk about how actually it’s not something. I do very often being touched by somebody else having somebody pamper me in anyway. It was a different conversation.
Anonymous research diaryEntry 119 / 194
I've been reading and observing people share their experiences and personal reflections about their persnal life. I've never spoken in a group chat of men who are so open and fluid with their emotions. It's been really positive to see other people share similar experiences and if not, are open to learning and understanding other people's experiences.
Four of the 100 Men. Daniele painted every one of their nails and asked each man for three words he wants masculinity to stand for. The most common: open, empathy, kind. Meet all 99 →
A note on credit
Credit and context.
We didn't invent men painting their nails. Queer communities have been breaking these rules through what they wear for decades, at far more risk than any man in this experiment. Black women defined modern acrylic nail culture. Black men in pop culture (ASAP Rocky, Travis Scott, Lil Nas X) put painted nails on men in the mainstream. Vietnamese nail artists built the salon trade we walked into. We're adding to that conversation, not starting it, and we know whose work we're standing on.
One thing kept coming up in the diaries: for a week, these men got a small taste of being visibly different in public, something most of them had never felt. We're not saying it's the same. The data says the taste itself is worth having.
Respect: the longer version, and the obvious objection answered →
"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."
Research oversight and support.
Professor Brendan Gough, Professor of Social Psychology at Leeds Beckett University, oversees the research. Supported by CALM, Movember, Talk Club, Andy's Man Club and Scratch. Employer partners: Wates, Salesforce, JCDecaux and innocent.
Where next.
November is the 2026 workplace pilot, the one testing whether this works at work. If it does, Hard As Nails goes annual from June, aiming at half a million men.
Why half a million? The research on how norms tip puts it somewhere between 3.5% and 10% of a group. Stick a pin in the middle and you land at roughly half a million of the 9 million midlife men in the UK.
Sign up, pick your week in November, and tell us who you're doing it for. A son. A mate you lost. A daughter watching how you handle it.