Fashion: Fingernail
flash chewy nails   (+2)  [vote for, against]
edible false talons for nail-biters to nibble while the real thing grows underneath.

tasty fruit-flavoured jelly (gelatin) nails stuck on with edible glue. nail-biters can nibble away to their hearts content while the real nails grow strongly underneath. just the thing for preparing for a special occasion like a wedding etc.

gelatin has been marketed as a remedy for brittle nails since the turn of the twentieth century and has been mentioned in medical journals at least since the 1950s. no doubt a swift google search will find experts arguing the toss over this but there is usually some truth in these old wives tales.

they come in all colours and flavours, lime green, raspberry pink or even blackcurrant gothic.
-- po, Dec 13 2002

Oh, please, I desperately need some of these.
-- Isis, Dec 13 2002


wonderful for drumming the table awaiting autoboner :)
-- po, Dec 13 2002


I guess he's out of town tonite.
-- DrCurry, Dec 13 2002


Brilliant!
-- Marassa, Dec 13 2002


I feel like this one is aimed at me personally. I am a chronic nailbiter and I do indeed have two weddings coming up at which I am bridesmaiding.

Bake it quickly. Please!
-- madradish, Dec 15 2002


I've watched this one for a day or so, and regretfully have to vote against it. Gelatin nails would be but a mere substitute for the negative bahavior. The gelatin nails would, no doubt, taste better than the real thing, and the chronic nail biter would likely increase the frequency and degree of behavior. If the gelatin nail user found himself/herself in the predicament of not having the tasty talons available, he/she would certainly continue biting, but with a renewed enthusiasm. No offense, [po], that's just the way I see it.
-- X2Entendre, Dec 15 2002


one word [double] - UnaBubba's cowshit - oh thats two, nevermind.
-- po, Dec 15 2002


mmmMMmmMmmmm....
Italian kitchen...
-- yamahito, Dec 15 2002


Gelatin is good for ones nails because gelatin is extracted from cow's hooves.
-- ImBack, Dec 15 2002


To respond to X2: who cares? If they're addictive, that just means you'd sell more of them. Nail biters may not actually care to quit - they just want to be able to display nice nails when they get to the wedding. Also - great market in the elementary school surreptitious candy market. You'll make a fortune before they get banned. Ravers might like them too. Can they be fluorescent ? Query, though - how do you keep them from getting messy-sticky?
-- EvilHomer, Dec 15 2002


Hey, that's an idea... let's make them taste like *cowshit* . Then the biter will no longer wish to bite, AND have lovely nails for the wedding.
-- X2Entendre, Dec 16 2002


I am a reformed nail-biter, and it was the cowshit approach that worked for me. You can buy _foul_ tasting stuff from pharmacists which you paint on, and after several attempts I managed to stop.

[Interesting psychological aside: as I was such a committed biter, towards the end the poo-paste actually started to taste better - must have been some kind of Pavlovian association with the pleasure of biting]
-- whimsickle, Dec 16 2002


[po] splendid. I mentally halfbaked this idea this morning in the shower. Glad you got there first! +
-- jonthegeologist, May 30 2004


Gotta bone this one. There's nothing to stop you from biting past the end of the gelatin, which most nailbiters certainly would because they're not accustomed to the new length. And you cannot replicate the satisfying tactile sensation of having a fingernail crack between your teeth.
-- Tabbyclaw, Aug 05 2004


Gelatin would be so soft that it would probably only take one or two bites.
-- destructionism, Aug 06 2004


jelly is harder in my part of the world obviously - its what made the world pink!
-- po, Aug 06 2004


i'm voting for this, even though i dont think it will work, just cause i'm an inveterate nail biter.
Also, i dont see the point of flavour - people dont bite their nails for the flavour (at least not the sane ones), and even if they do, wont this encourage nail biting?

On second thought, I dont think I'll vote for this.
-- energy guy, Aug 06 2004


energy - free beer with every vote!
-- po, Aug 06 2004


How bizarre, I thought all brilliant ideas were already out there, and then suddenly, pop, this one!

When will they be available in Europe? And please hurry up, I got two special exams coming up.
-- django, Aug 07 2004



random, halfbakery