Manicuring and Pedicuring Procedures
The sequence the exam expects
A basic manicure runs: consultation and hand washing, nail and skin analysis, shaping, cuticle care, buffing if requested, massage, base coat, polish, top coat, and aftercare advice. A pedicure runs: consultation, foot soak, nail shaping, cuticle care, exfoliation and callus reduction, massage, polish, and cleaning and disinfecting the basin and implements afterward.
Shaping and filing
File the natural nail with a fine-grit file, moving in one direction from corner toward center. Sawing back and forth creates heat and separates the nail layers, causing peeling and splitting. Match shape to the client's finger and lifestyle (square, squoval, oval, round, pointed); a square shape on a wide nail bed looks unbalanced and a very long square corner snags easily.
Cuticle and skin care
Only dead tissue is removed. The eponychium (the living cuticle seal) is pushed back gently with a rubber-tipped or metal pusher; nippers are for a hanging tag of dead skin or a hangnail, never for cutting the living seal, which invites paronychia. Credo blades and similar cutting tools for callus removal are restricted or prohibited in many jurisdictions, so use a rasp or file and check the current Alabama rule.
Traps
The frequent distractors are: cutting the cuticle to make polish lines cleaner; filing back and forth; soaking hands for a long time before shaping; using nippers on a nail fold that is red or swollen (that client is not serviced); and skipping disinfection of the pedicure basin between clients.
Rule of thumb
File in one direction, corner to center, and if the client winces or the skin is broken, redness, or swelling appears, stop, do not apply product, and refer.