Nail Care and Manicuring
Nail anatomy
Master the nail plate, nail bed, matrix, lunula, cuticle, eponychium, hyponychium, free edge, sidewalls, nail folds, and mantle. The matrix produces the plate, so injury there permanently deforms the nail. Fingernails grow roughly 1/8 inch (about 3 mm) per month; toenails grow more slowly, and growth is faster in summer, in children, and on the middle finger.
Disorders versus diseases
Disorders include discoloration, Beau's lines, onycholysis, koilonychia, and leukonychia. Diseases include onychomycosis, paronychia, and bacterial infections. Do not service an infected or inflamed nail - refer the client.
Procedure and safety
Consult, wash hands, then shape with a file using one direction from sidewall toward center. Soak to soften, push the cuticle back gently with a pusher, nip only hangnails, buff, massage, then apply base coat, polish, and top coat. Never cut living tissue, and never probe deeply with a credo blade. Nonporous implements must be disinfected after each client; porous items such as files and buffers are discarded or given to the client. For pedicures, sanitize the basin and use a disposable liner; razor blades are prohibited.
Traps
Questions frequently mislabel the eponychium as the cuticle, accept back-and-forth sawing with a file, or let candidates use nippers on the cuticle itself. Foot baths are another favorite: skipping disinfection is a violation.
Worked example
A client's nail splits at the corner. File from the sidewall toward the center in one direction, then repeat on the opposite side, thinning nothing. Rule of thumb: one direction only - sawing splits the layers and weakens the free edge.