Manicuring and Pedicuring Procedures
Procedure questions reward knowing the order of steps and the points where a service must stop. The exam tests safe technique on natural nails, correct product sequencing, and contraindications you must recognize before you begin.
Manicure sequence
Sanitize your hands and the client's, then consult. Remove old polish with non-acetone remover if the nail is dry or damaged. Shape with a fine-grit file (240 grit or finer on natural nails), filing from corner toward center in one direction - sawing back and forth creates heat and splitting. Apply cuticle softener, soak briefly, push back gently with a rubber-tipped pusher, and nip only loose dead tissue or hangnails, never living skin. Buff lightly; over-buffing thins the plate and causes peeling. Massage with effleurage and petrissage, then base coat, two thin color coats, top coat, capping the free edge.
Pedicure cautions
Soak 5–10 minutes, no longer. Use a separate, labeled basin or a disinfected tub. Reduce callus only on softened skin with a paddle or rasp. Do not use a credo blade or aggressive abrasion on a client with diabetes, neuropathy, or circulatory disease - refer to a physician. Never work over open lesions, burns, or inflamed skin.
Massage limits
Avoid massage over varicose veins, bruises, inflamed joints, or undiagnosed swelling; use light pressure and stop if the client reports pain. In hand and arm massage, move toward the heart and never press on the antecubital area.
Worked example
A client with weak, peeling nails asks for a square shape and a heavy buff. Correct response: shape with a fine-grit file in one direction only, skip the coarse file and the drill, use a minimal buffer pass, and finish with cuticle oil. A high-shine buff on a thin plate removes the layers that hold the nail together.
Traps
- Filing a natural nail with a coarse or electric bit at high speed.
- Over-soaking, which swells and softens the plate.
- Cutting cuticles "for a clean look" - it opens a portal for paronychia.
- Applying polish over damp nails, causing bubbles and peeling.