THE majority of the people who have played key roles throughout my life are women. Except my lovers of course! My best friend is a woman, and I have a wonderful relationship with my mother. I work with loads of women as well. I used to work on a crui
se ship, and it was me and 19 women in the salon. Wonderful most of the time, tiring at other times, but best of all, it was as if I had 19 mothers.
For some reason, women love to mother me, even my 16-year-old niece. I don't know why, I hope it's not because I'm too childish! I love being looked after by women, especially by my flatmate, who says she enjoys cooking for me. Of course I like women three weeks out of the month. When I worked on the cruise ship I worked out when that one week was that a woman was a bit tetchy and I'd steer clear!
I'd be in a sorry state if I didn't have my women around me. I think that my personality just clicks well with women. I love their company, and they seem to feel really comfortable with me, whether I've known them all my life or for five minutes.
Unlike men, women don't always say what they want. I learned that early on, but I also know that if you listen to them properly you can usually read between the lines. They don't tell you directly what they want, but they tend to expect you to figure it out, so you've got to listen carefully.
One thing that I've noticed about women is the more beautiful they are, the more insecure they tend to be, and the more reassurance they need. I currently work with a lot of celebrities, so I've worked with some of the world's most beautiful women, and I've often found that to be the case. It's a shame really, because I don't think it's the same with men.
Doing a woman's nails is really intimate, and I often find that women will really open up when I'm working with them. I think a lot of straight men would be jealous of me because I get to hold the hands of some very attractive women!
They don't feel threatened by me and my clients are always asking me for my advice. I think women like getting advice from a gay man as it's not biased, there's no agenda, and we tend to tell it like it is.
I can usually guess a woman's age by looking at her hands. It's one place that's a dead giveaway, and it can be tricky to avoid that. Older women often go for a paler nail colour, but I always tell them that it's best to go bold. Joan Collins, who is one of my clients, always goes for a gorgeous bold shade as bright colours actually make hands look younger, simply because they draw attention to the nails instead of the hands. It's a good trick. One of my celebrity clients always tells me that she'd rather go out with no knickers than without her nails done. I think a lot of women feel similarly about their nails. It's a small part of your body – which is probably why some men don't understand why women care so much about their nails – but having your nails done makes you feel completely polished. I've done Dita Von Teese's nails and she's incredibly polished. I'm a sucker for a woman with gorgeous nails, and I think that a woman with groomed nails will always look fabulous, whether she's in an evening gown or jeans and a T-shirt.
• Leighton Denny's products are used at day spa Serenity in the City, South Castle Street, Edinburgh
The full article contains 648 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
