I met Arinda while researching for this book and in it she shared a lot of valuable information with us. She is a fetish model who has specialised in long fingernails and toes for the past 4 years, having made this career change after breast cancer.
Q: What do you like to do to relax as far as hobbies or interests go?
Well, with my fingernails bowling is a bit out of the question. Taking pictures use to be my hobby. Then it became my job. At times it is more than a full time job.
Q: What sort of music do you enjoy?
Being a child of the 60′s, I came of age in the late 70′s and early 80′s. I still find myself listening to a lot of the stuff that was popular back then.
Q: What’s your idea of a favourite meal?
Ah, now this is a most interesting question. After the process of breast was concluded, I was lucky enough to find two very well known macrobiotic chefs in Cleveland, Ohio. I studied under Francois Roland for a few years. I am most fond of squash soup and good old brown rice is always a fav.
Q: What were some of your previous jobs?
I started off as a paper girl when I was young. While in high school I started working retail. I have kept the books for a small HVAC company and most recently I was an Account Specialist for a Mfg company. My fetish work actually started while I was working my last job. Sometimes I miss the interaction of being in an office. Working online gives a certain barrier between myself and others, even the webmasters I have worked with.
Q: Are there any drawbacks in being a fetish model, in particular with nails?
There have not been so many drawbacks with my fingernails. Having just had my fingernails cut back about half way, I can tell you that the first knuckles in my fingers were sore for a couple days. They are now being used again.
It’s also never a quick trip out some where as there are always people who want to stop and see my nails. They start with my fingernails and then it works down to my toenails. My toenails have remained uncut…for now.
Being so open does present a certain hardship when it comes to relations. While some fans have been around from the very start and they have become friends, the fans who just happen upon me get that feeling they know me by looking at my work. Often I find myself reminding guys that I don’t know them nor do they know me. Can you imagine sending your phone number in the very first message you send to someone and saying call me? This happens to me more than you would think. I never call these guys.
Q: What do you like best about your career?
Is there a person a live that doesn’t like being told they are beautiful? I hear this each and every day. I came to this business in my mid 40′s after having both breasts removed. I am BBW too. This year, come October 21st, I will be 50 years old. I have fans from the age of 18 all the way up to who knows and they all have the same basic thing to say. I am beautiful.
Q: You live in the US, where do you find most of yours fan come from?
I would say that my fingernails are most popular here in the US and in Europe. My feet are more popular in the Middle East and India. Most of my smoking fans are from the UK. It’s a pretty mixed bag depending on the fetish.
Q: how has the reaction been from family and friends to your new career?
My ex husband laughed when I first told him I was a fetish model. He then, very tongue in cheek called me a deviant. My co-workers at my last job had watched as my fingernails went from a normally long 1/2” to about 3”. As they had known me all along this journey, I was just me. My present room-mate is a guy. While he has his own kinks, I do not model for even one of them. How ironic is that?
Q: What’s been the highlight of your new career so far?
I would say there have been several highlights with my hobby turned career. It started with a worldwide fan base. I am now in two books, one of which is My Other Self. The other has yet to go to publication. It will be called Claws For Alarm. It will be a coffee table type picture book centred around women with long nails. I have modelled for a long toenail site and I am now working with a long nail e-magazine, lngnails.com .
Q: Are there any new and exciting projects on your horizon?
I will likely be spending the spring and summer in Europe. I’m not exactly at liberty to say what for just yet!
Arinda is special in many ways. I got in contact with her a few years ago.
It amazed me what a mixture of candor, open mindedness and strength emanates from this Great Lady.
You mean people with kinks and fetishes are ‘the girl next door’? LOL
THANK YOU!
I am so glad I found this site. I write a sex blog about my D/s relationship (which is also a long distance relationship, but not for much longer) . My parents have become aware of my blog and therefore the D/s nature of my relationship with Sir. They accuse me of sexual deviance, and liken it to child porn or drink driving??!!! and are worried about my children…..I would like to add that my children are not exposed to my sex life just as children who’s parents have a vanilla relationship are not exposed to their sexual activites.
It is so lovely to see someone showing the world that people with ‘kinks’ and fetishes are ‘the girl next door’ we are not freaks, we are not criminals.
Thank you….
Mollyxxx
Kinky Domina: thanks so much for your lovely remarks and I will be sure to draw Arinda’a attention to it – I agree, she is just a gorgeous person
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Molly – brilliant to have you in our circle of friends – if you are a Facebook girl, come and hook up as many who contributed to the book are around on the FB page (the link is on the website) . I understand what you are saying with regard to people’s perceptions, I actually also cop it all the time as people refuse to believe I could write about ‘things like this’ without having a ‘secret’ fetish of my own, but I am boringly vanilla (though very kink friendly). In the vein of showing that the girls and boys next door are kinksters, we could tallk about making you a ’10 Questions’ interview. Email me if you are interested and obviously it will be all be done so that your privacy is protected (angela.lewis@myotherself.com.au).
thanks you both for taking the time to comment!
cheers
Angela
I’ve gotten to know Arinda through her presence on Facebook and I have to say it’s been a real pleasure to make her acquaintance and she has opened my eyes to another realm – one that I previously had only passing knowledge of. It is my hope that her work will continue and that her fan base will only grow larger as people learn about her and the nail art that is uniquely hers. Her work and life intertwine in a way that is a model for others that may feel their interests may prove too risque for the “Vanilla” public. her willingness to interact with everyday folks shows her as the genuine individual she is, no compromises!
Thanks again Angela for shedding a bit more light on a lovely lady and Pioneer!
Wow KD, you know I love you lady. I didn’t even have to pay her to say such nice things. Isn’t that the coolest?
Wow Pedd, it seems we were here at the same time leaving comments.
Getting to know you has been a treat for me as well. You are truly a gentleman and have always treated me with kindness and friendship. Your words are such high praise. I cannot help but wonder if I deserve such recognition…a pioneer? Hum, I can tell you that this path of happenstance I call life has been made better for having intersected with your own
Be well,
Arinda
I have only recently, within the last 3 or 4 weeks been fortunate enough to become friends with Arinda. I have a had a nail fetish for a number of years and have admired Arinda’s art from afar, never thinking for one moment that I would ever be given the chance to converse with her.
As others have said, she is most certainly a genuine, lovely lady with no airs or graces which can beset other models, fetish or otherwise. Arinda is honest, beautiful, and calls a spade a spade, there are no hidden agendas where she is concerned. And that is part of the beauty of her, amongst many others that are too numerous to list here, but then for those who know her better than I do, they know this already. Of course her artwork and long nails is her trademark but apart from using this as part of her business, she doesn’t dwell on it unless of course she is asked about it in which case of course she is more than happy to talk about it.
I could go on, but I think I’ve gone on for long enough. So, I’ll sum up by saying that Arinda is a genuinely genuine, lovely lady who isn’t too proud to befriend anyone who shares an interest in the fetish, even if she has had no prior contact with them. Quite simply, there is nothing about her not to like.
Thank you Arinda for allowing me into your world.
My dear sploodge,
In the short time I have come to know you it has been a pleasure. You are a gentleman and treat me with respect. Maybe you do not understand how rare it is to have this happen. This went a long way in letting me open up to you and allowing you to do the same with me. Thank you my dear friend.
Maybe in part the reason I come off as being so genuine is that no one every told me that I was supposed to be anyone other than who I am. When I very first started taking pictures of my now infamous long fingernails, I did so to help spur my waning desire to tend them. I was quickly introduced into the community and given no prior heads up to be anything but myself. Way back when, I use to go on about the messages I would get asking for this or that…always nail related. It was as if the nails were the primary entity. This honestly use to drive me straight up the wall. I come first and you have treated me as such. Once again, thank you my friend.
Be well,
Arinda
Greetings Arinda,
I have often seen your nails on the net and spent time just looking, wondering, imagining
a) if they are real b)who is behind them, I have been enlightened!
You are the ultimate for the nail fetishist.
Sad to read about the breast issues but its nice to see you are still active in fetish.
Thanks for sharing your very interesting and inspirational story.