The importance of the polished man

Last week, Byron Bay’s Chris Hemsworth did something that made us really take notice (more than usual). He posted a photo on social media, wearing a red polished nail. High fives all around! Thor loves nail polish as much as we do! Then we looked closer. He hash-tagged the photo, #polishedman, what is Polished Man? What is its importance? And why are big name celebrities getting involved?

The movement was born in 2014, when founder Elliot Costello met young orphan girl Thea, in Cambodia. While visiting Thea’s orphanage the Hagar International, Elliot bonded with the child playing naughts and crosses, and she later painted his nails blue. In her previous orphanage, Thea had been physically and sexually assaulted on a daily basis by the orphan director. When he later learned Thea’s story, Elliot decided to paint one nail blue in her memory. From this, the Polished Man came about. All funds raised through Polished Man are channeled into trauma recovery and trauma prevention programs for children who have suffered or are at risk of suffering from violence globally.

1 in 5 children globally will experience physical and/or sexual violence before the age of 18.¹

1 in 26 children are affected by violence in Australia, which equates to one child in every classroom.²

150 million girls and 73 million boys under the age of 18 globally are victims of sexual violence.³

Polished Man is an initiative to stop this. They give men, women, businesses, schools and clubs the opportunity to make a change. In embracing a painted nail throughout the month of October, men are showing the world they say no to violence against children, supporting those who are vulnerable. To date, $607,298 has been raised by the Polished Man movement to fund emergency relief and preventative programs around the world.

At Sienna we are nail polish obsessed, and love to see the stigma towards men wearing polish broken down. The Polished Man is an amazing initiative, and we are very excited to see nail polish utilized for such a worthy cause. So pull out your favourite polish, and support the well-being of children globally.

To stock up in time for polished man, take a look at all our vibrant nail polish colours.