Red is a high-energy color. It’s sensual and romantic, exerting dominance, passion, and confidence. Christian Louboutin, Taylor Swift, and Jessica Rabbit all identify with the color—and more recently, single girls of TikTok do too.
First came red lip theory, which proposes that all you need to look collected and dewy is a swipe of red lipstick (really!). Now, enter the red-nail theory, or the idea that you’re more likely to get attention from potential suitors if you paint your nails red. After seeing it take over my feed, I was conflicted. I’m a ’96 baby (read: generational cusp), so the millennial in me wanted to prove it silly clickbait—so antiquated!—while the single-girl Gen Z in me couldn’t help but think, Well, what if?
Determined to scientifically test it, I requested an iconic red at my next salon session: OPI’s Big Apple Red. It’s a high-shine, slightly warm shade of bright candy apple red. While waiting for my nails to dry, I continued to scroll. According to Sigmund Freud (and the TikTokers who apparently follow his work), red nail polish reminds men of their mothers’ hands, specifically during a time when they were young and dependent on them. This began to weird me out. But then my fingers were dry, so it was time to move on to phase two: gathering evidence.
Suddenly, my fingers not so subtly slipped into every Instagram story and Zoom meeting. Somehow my hair just couldn’t stay tucked behind my ear. I was all but begging for someone to comment on my newly manicured nails. But while out on a Friday night, not a single man beelined across Crosby Street to ask for my number, and no, the music at Zero Bond didn’t come to a screeching halt when I walked into the room. All these rom-com scenarios that played out in my head were just that—fantasies.
As the days went on and my nail polish began to chip, so did my (little) confidence in this theory. There was one major takeaway, though: While I didn’t see a direct uptick in male attention or compliments just by waving my hands around, I did notice that red nails boosted my confidence. And coincidentally, as I exuded confidence, I found myself talking to more people.
