Editor’s Note

It’s a good feeling when weeks of planning come together satisfactorily. In this case, the cover story and concept for the February issue: The article was completed, the cover design was finalized and film from the photo session was “in the can.”         

It was a feeling of both dismay and triumph, then, to see the January 18 issue of TIME Magazine. Who is this (un)masked man? What quirk of fate caused TIME Magazine to feature a cover similar to NAILS Magazine’s February issue? And yet, our ideas must be pretty good, since TIME Magazine came up with a similar concept.

It’s a relief to know TIME’s cover story was about Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new Broadway musical, The Phantom of the Opera. No similarity to our subject: feeling good about your job. (Well, maybe we could draw some parallels between how the Phantom perceived his mission in life and why he hid both his face and feelings behind a mask. But never mind; that’s going a bit too far.)

What we’re concerned with is not letting any negative feelings about your career go too far when you’re a little bit down. Don’t mask those feelings and carry on as if everything’s fine. There are ways to change your attitude, as Allison Deerr points out, and as exemplified by what your colleagues have told us about reviving the excitement in their manicuring careers. Once you come out from behind a facade of complacency, you’ll rediscover those good feelings of satisfaction with your profession.