Not my nails, obvs.
Some (beginner-focused) tips for painting your nails:
Lighter colors and solid colors are easier to work with. Pick a good color or few, you don't need to start too fancy.
Don't shake nail polish, that can mess it up. Roll it slowly if you ever need to mix.
Don't just do the coloration and call it a day, put clear nail polish on first, and put it over the color. That will protect your nails.
Consider getting nail polish remover when you get your nail polish, mistakes are easy.
Put your nails down on a flat surface, clean your nails (maybe with that nail polish remover?), and apply the clear base coat (doesn't need to be perfect). Stroke from the base of the nail to the top, until the nail is covered. It might get on your skin, that's normal, anything on your skin can be dealt with at the end. Let it dry, like you would any other kind of base coat.
Now that it's dry, do like what you did with your clear polish for colors. Base to tip, going from the center outwards. If you can still see through after it's covered, wait for it to dry a little, then do another layer.
Then apply your top coat to make smooth, shiny, and somewhat protected painted nails. Wait for it all to dry (very important), which could as long as normal working hours + commute. Don't mess it up. If you do, you might have to restart on some nails.
Now that it's dry the polish on your skin should act sorta like glue, where you can just peel it off, but if it's stubborn you could use a cotton swab with nail polish remover to carefully remove it (don't let it touch your nails!).
Now you should have nice smooth nails.
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Well chat, I did it. Told my irl friends my name and asked them to use my pronouns, told them my old ones upset me, etc. One friend has been trying, correcting himself or just outright using the right ones.
She has not however :/ has not gendered or named me correctly, maybe half the time she's kinda muttered off like, oh yea.. Sorry.. After dead naming me or smth. But doesn't use the right ones after. Obviously today was only day one but idk. That's where we're at.
To make things a bit more awkward, I ha e the same name as one of her old friends, idk if that's why she doesn't want to use it or what. She's generally not super woke either. Idk.
spoiler
god fucking damn it I hate this ts. Need to fucking shave too. If only I'd just been born... you know...Im proud of you for telling them! Its super daunting and you doing it shows your courage and bravery in the face of a transphobic world
that was very brave. We can't control other people but we can choose our own destiny and you chose yourself and I love that for you so much. Hopefully your friend will come around!