“Let me see your nails!” That’s honestly one of the first things readers say to me when I meet them in the parks!

Dole Whip Cupcake

Since Disney Food Blog historically has been a “faceless” brand (early on it was always our policy to stay anonymous so that we could report on the true experience that any guest would receive when they went to a Disney restaurant or attraction…like an old school food critic), but in all of my photos I always had a manicure. And then, when we hired Tina (who was our primary reporter in the parks for 5 years), her nails were always immaculate — as well as the rest of her; she’s a style ICON!!!

What do you do when there’s a nearly 3-month gap between the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival and the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival? You throw yourself a big old DFB Mega Fest! We’ve got loads of giveaways, behind the scenes content, and untold crazy stories from AJ Wolfe and the DFB team. Come celebrate DFB Mega Fest with us!

So the Disney Food Blog “manicure” was one of our unforeseen calling cards! We didn’t require our reporters to have manicures or anything. It just happened. And I’m going to be honest with you about WHY.

Orange Lemonade with Sweet Cream Foam

I’m a nail-biter. A horrible nail-biter. I have been since I was tiny. I bite my nails down to the nubs. Like…until my fingers hurt. My anxiety is so high, that’s always been one of my outlets. Apparently it’s genetic. People who have this gene are more likely to develop Body-Focused Repetitive Behavior disorder (or BFRBs) like nail-biting, hair-pulling, face-picking…stuff like that. Anyway, that’s what I’ve got. So my nails were always gross-looking! And I knew I had to fix that if I was going to be holding food up in front of the castle for pictures LOL!

Krampus cookie at Gideon’s Bakehouse

So I started to get manicures to help myself stop nail-biting. And it worked! Even today, the only way I can stop myself from biting my nails is to have a heavy-duty manicure where those nails are so thick you’d break your teeth if you tried to bite them! Do I like to get manicures? Nope. It’s just a hassle and a waste of time as far as I’m concerned. But, for me, it’s basically a medication to help myself stop what has proven to be a harmful practice.

Butter Pecan Praline Sundae

So there you have it! The “DFB Manicure” had nothing at all to do with brand and had everything to do with my weird brain and genetics. We’ve never (and still don’t) require our reporters to have beautiful nails…or even nice nails. We don’t really care about their nails at all. We just want great reporters! But the legacy still remains of the “DFB nails.” So that’s a fun little piece of lore for you!

Thanks for following us here at DFB!

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The post The True Story Behind The Disney Food Blog Fingernails first appeared on the disney food blog.