Nail Tips, Wraps, and Sculptured Nail Enhancements
Enhancement questions test product knowledge and structure: which system suits which client, how to build a stress area that does not crack, and how to avoid harming the plate you are covering.
Tips
Choose a tip whose well fits the free edge without overlapping the sidewalls, lightly etch and dehydrate the plate, apply cyanoacrylate adhesive sparingly, hold the tip at about a 45-degree angle to avoid trapping air bubbles, then blend the seam with a fine file. Bubbles mean lifting.
Wraps
Silk, linen and fiberglass are applied with brush-on resin and activator: thin resin coat, fabric laid without wrinkles, wrapped slightly around the free edge, resin over the top, activator, then a second layer. Two thin layers outperform one thick layer.
Sculptured nails and gels
Liquid-and-powder systems combine polymer powder with monomer. Pick up a bead with the correct ratio, wet enough to flow and dry enough to hold shape; place it at the stress area; press and pat to build the apex; keep sidewalls thin. Zones: thin free edge, thickest stress area, then a thin cuticle area. Gels cure under UV or LED for the manufacturer's stated time in thin layers, and the sticky inhibition layer is removed with cleanser, not by filing into the plate.
Matching product to client
Choose tips or forms for shape, not for strength. Bitten or flat nails need shorter extensions; clients who pick or work with their hands need a stronger apex. Methyl methacrylate monomer is prohibited or restricted in many states, so licensed technicians use ethyl methacrylate and never mix brands of liquid and powder.
Worked example
A client returns after four days with lifting at the cuticle on two nails. Reasoning: lifting at the base usually means oil or moisture on the plate, product touching the skin, or product too thin at the cuticle, not weak glue. Remove the product, dehydrate, keep a hair's-width margin from skin, rebuild thin at the cuticle and thicker at the stress area, and review aftercare.
Traps
Oversized tips, thick product at the cuticle, over-filing the natural plate during prep or rebalance, and blaming lifting on the product alone.