Nail Care Services and Procedures
The service sequence
Consultation → hand washing → set out disinfected implements → prepare the nail → perform the service → massage if included → client checkout → clean and disinfect the station → record. Questions love the order. Implements come out of disinfection before the client, never after.
Filing and shaping
File the natural nail in one direction, corner toward center. Sawing back and forth builds heat and splits layers. Match grit to the job: coarse for shortening artificial nails, fine for natural nail finishing. Never file deeply into the sidewalls or thin the free edge.
Cuticle work
The cuticle and eponychium are living tissue - do not cut them. Use a gentle pusher to move back dead tissue only, with client permission. Nippers are for hangnails and tags, used flat, never for digging into the fold.
Product application
Acrylic: correct monomer-to-polymer ratio, thin at cuticle and sidewalls, let it set before filing. Gel: thin base, full cure, cap the free edge. Do not mix product lines unless the manufacturer allows it. Tips and wraps must be sized and blended, not forced.
Pedicure
Use a single-use liner or a hospital-grade disinfected basin, and disinfect basin and jets per manufacturer between clients. Test water temperature. Avoid aggressive credo blades and rasps; stop for redness, cuts, or swelling.
Traps
"Cut the cuticle for a clean look" - no. "Back-and-forth filing is fine" - no. "Massage is optional, so skip the contraindication check" - massage has its own contraindications.
Rule of thumb
If it absorbs liquid, it is single-use. If it is rigid and nonporous, it is clean-then-disinfect.