Manicuring and Pedicuring Procedures
How you perform the service - order of steps, tool choice, pressure, and hygiene between steps - is what this domain scores. Items often ask for the next step or the safer alternative.
The manicure sequence
- Sanitize your hands and the client's; set up with a fresh towel and single-use items.
- Assess nails and skin; note anything that stops the service.
- Shape with a fine-grit file (about 180 grit or finer), one-direction strokes from corner toward center; sawing back and forth delaminates the plate.
- Soften cuticles with product, then push back gently with a rubber-tipped pusher or towel. Nip only a loose hangnail. Never cut living cuticle - it opens a portal for infection and thickens the seal over time.
- Soak briefly, dry thoroughly, massage with light pressure, polish base–color–top, cap the free edge.
Pedicure specifics
Use a clean, disinfected basin with a disposable liner; pumps and filters harbor biofilm. Do not perform aggressive callus reduction or credo-blade work on clients with diabetes, circulatory disease, or neuropathy - refer them. Never treat an ingrown nail; refer. Advise clients not to shave their legs within 24 hours of a pedicure, since micro-cuts invite infection.
Worked example. A client's nails keep splitting after every appointment, and you notice a 100-grit file on the table. Reasoning: 100 grit removes too much plate on a natural nail and leaves a rough edge that catches; the fix is a 180–240 grit file, one-direction strokes, and light pressure. Grit numbers run opposite to coarseness - the lower the number, the coarser the abrasive.
Traps: cutting cuticles "because the client asked"; using a coarse file on natural nails; skipping foot-spa disinfection because the liner looked clean; massaging over red, swollen skin.