Tainted Love

It's a rite of passage that every young girl in Korea takes on. It involves dipping your finger nails into some local flower that's crushed and made into a coppery orange ink. These hands were nicely dipped one, the dye has stained the nails evenly and her skin is still its original colour.

Being around kids all year round some girls and the odd randon boy's single digit come in stained up to the second knuckle. This colouring doesn't come off easily, you could scrub all the skin off your finger and I reckon your muscles would be marinated in the stufff. And that's the main point.

As I understand it, girls dye their fingers and patiently wait for the their original skin colour to return. When it does the first man they see is the one they are destined to marry. There is also something about the first snow too, but haven't yet figured it out.