You’d have to have been living on an Amish community to have not heard of the tv franchise “The Real Housewives of … Potomac?” Really, where is that?!
The series has fascinated up to three million viewers per episode, and is currently up to nine American spin offs, and now growing internationally including our own Melbourne and Sydney Housewives.
So, what makes it so fascinating, and why have we at Glamour Nail Bar been intrigued enough to develop an Instagram series around it? It’s simple, we want to showcase the Real Nail Artists and Technicians we employ, the team we consider family, the personalities who work and support each other and us, to create a business worthy of its own series.
Psychologists have identified a number of reasons for such a large following and fascination with reality tv, and in particular the hugely successful Real Housewives franchise. Glamour Nail Bar is a business with a rapidly growing following, a matching increase in social media attention, more staff, two locations and the ever evolving need to meet expectations of both clients and staff. Where we are not quite an international franchise yet, that doesn’t stop us from dreaming of, and planning for world wide fame.
You may be unaware or in denial, but most of us love to peek into the amazing homes and lives of incredibly wealthy and beautiful people. This may be our dirty little secret, our quiet shame, or an obsession we celebrate loudly and proudly – whichever it may be, we love these characters for their palatial homes, shoe collections, and flamboyant parties. Don’t we adore the over the top indulgence as well – the army of assistants, consultants, plastic surgeons, party planners, hairdressers, sycophants and hanger – ons …what a crazy world we love to watch and imagine we too have someone always doing our hair and perfecting our makeup, let alone our nails.
This vicarious desire can actually be a healthy trait because low level envy keeps us competitive and self evaluating; it motivates us to seek a more level playing field. This is not malicious envy were we hope for terrible outcomes for a character, it is a gentle low key envy where the viewer Is more interested in the objects, possessions, or situations.
Many of our nail techs have a respectful healthy envy for international high profile celebrity nail artists such as Alicia Terello who has 54.2k followers and works closely with Vogue and Harpers Bazaar, Kimmie Kyees with 75.2k followers and Rhianna and Kylie Jenner as devotees, and Tom Bachik adored by 160k followers including Anne Hathaway and JLo.
This envy becomes a positive force that inspires people to improve, excel and strive towards a goal. Already a number of our nail technicians have competed locally, nationally and internationally in nail competitions, and won multiple awards between them, earning greater numbers of followers, prestige and exposure.
In the Real Housewives we love the sex and scandal, the gossip, the hookups, the put downs, the affairs and the fights – where the intrigues and power plays continuously unfold as we watch the toppling of another Queen Bee by someone younger, richer or more conniving.
A good scandal with an extra wallop of sex allows us to safely fantasise about a life we don’t live, to vicariously experience the illicit thrill of an affair, to break the rules, give into temptation…so much good juicy stuff in each episode, especially if you are home on the couch in your pyjamas.
Over time, envy shifts and changes with our own sense of status, our feelings of self worth, self confidence, self peace, and the new or changing priorities within our lives. At Glamour we have a culture of care and mutual respect, we genuinely care for our staff and each other. Building an inclusive sense of family and belonging works positively to offset unhealthy envy and diffuse potential situations worthy of a Real Housewives episode.
As we continue to grow and expand, we stay grounded and never forget where we came from and the hard work that it takes everyday to build a business. We honour the dedication and expertise, the heart and commitment of our hugely talented nail artists, and the loyalty they bring to Glamour; and we can’t wait to take them with us on the next stage of the journey, and who knows, maybe our own television series in the future .
