Most of the girls I know get them because they look good continually, the polish stays on longer than your real nails and they help stop annoying habits like biting your nails. A lot of black men love them, I don't know why exactly, and are willing to pay for their women to have them done. Long nails are really impractical. You just adjust to them. As part of our African heritage, we love to decorate our bodies with elaborate braids, beads in our hair and jewelry on our ears, hands, arms, fingers, necks and toes.
Fingernails are no exception.
And we really love vivid colors, probably because of African wildlife, especially birds and fish. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and I notice more and more white people are copying what we have always done in this area. I remember in the 1960s when white men only wore black, navy, brown or gray suits, and white women's earrings were no bigger than a green pea. Long nails are in. I don't believe black men find us more attractive with long nails.