Founding NAILS publishers Peter Grimes and John Cipriano had an idea for a magazine. As they outlined their purpose in their first pub­lishers' note, they said they wanted to “strengthen those involved with the nail industry by providing decision-making information on current industry issues, economic trends, man­agement styles, sales and marketing techniques, and coverage of any and all events important to the further development of the nails industry”

Ten years later, we abide by the same basic prin­ciples, with some new sources of emphasis: Nail health issues have become as critical to today's nail technicians as technical features, and although many of the chemical issues facing to day's techni­cian are still the same, today's salon professional is considerably better informed than she was then about chemicals and product interaction. Finally, there is someone who has changed as much as the nail technician and as much as NAILS Magazine in the past 10 years, and that is the nail client. Just as aggressive and demanding of information as her nail technician, today's client wants to know what you're doing, what you're using, where you've trained, and what her options are.

NAILS Magazine has changed with the times to reflect these evolving salon realities, but we are committed to the same simple purpose as the founding publishers: to serve the nail industry. NAILS originally delineated itself with the slo­gan: “The magazine for manicurists, sculpturists, and the nail industry.” That sounds like a mouthful, but it no longer covers the fun scope of our purpose, which is why we've adopted a new slogan: “The Nail Industry's Authoritative Leader.” We rarely use the term manicurist anymore, using instead nail tech­nician, which was first used in these pages in September 1984.

NAILS' subscription base has grown steadily over 10 years. The first issue of NAILS, published in February 1983, wasn't mailed out at all; it was sold, copy by copy, at the Long Beach Hair­dressers' Show. Although not an instant success, NAILS did find an immediate and loyal following.

From the beginning, what has given NAILS its authority has been its committed leadership. The magazine has had only two publishers and four editors. Peter Grimes handled editing duties in ad­dition to wearing his publisher's hat until 1985, when Heidi Fron signed on as editor. Fron saw NAILS through a period of tremendous growth and was succeeded by Anna Morgan when Bobit Publish­ing purchased the magazine in 1988. In 1990, I took the reins, and I intend to be around at least until its 20-year celebration.

NAILS Magazine has branched out and now sponsors trade shows throughout the country, and we recently established the Nails Industry Associ­ation as part of our continuing effort to support the industry.

From an article on national licensing in 1984, to an indictment of our nation's cosmetology schools in 1992, NAILS has reported the important issues in the nail industry. Our covers have been graced by such well-known faces as George Schaeffer, Tony Cuccio, and the Sperling family, to Florence Griffith Joyner.

NAILS prides itself on asking the hard questions: Will Doing Nails Hurt My Baby? (June 1992), Why Is New York Still Unlicensed? (October 1991), Do Quick DIY Products Work? (November 1991), Are You Really Listening to Your Clients? (December 1990), and Booth Rental or Commission? (March 1985).

In 10 years, we've done 26 articles on lifting, answered 435 letters to the editor, covered 489 tradeshows, described 7,447 new products, and profiled 288 nail salons.

By standards in many other industries, 10 years is merely a drop in the bucket. But in the nail in­dustry, 10 years (and this particular 10 years) has seen the most dynamic period in our relatively short history. Just as nail technicians have asserted themselves in the full-service salon environment, so too has NAILS tried to separate itself from other beauty magazines. We have a dedicated staff and hard-working vendors who help put the mag­azine out every month, but we would not have en­joyed the extraordinary success that we have with­out the support of our readers and advertisers. We thank you all.

And finally, if you've enjoyed the last 10 years, you're going to love the next 10!