Say goodbye to cookie-cutter approaches forever, and embrace the power of technology! The professional nail industry has experienced a remarkable surge in scientific advancements, offering tailored solutions for every natural nail type and lifestyle requirement. In just 50 years, we've evolved from basic nail polish formulations prone to yellowing and chipping to long-lasting gel polishes and advanced nail enhancement technologies like gel and liquid and powder systems, boasting lift-proof adhesion and enduring performance, allowing wearers to go maintenance-free for over three weeks.
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Say goodbye to cookie-cutter approaches forever, and embrace the power of technology! The professional nail industry has experienced a remarkable surge in scientific advancements, offering tailored solutions for every natural nail type and lifestyle requirement. In just 50 years, we've evolved from basic nail polish formulations prone to yellowing and chipping to long-lasting gel polishes and advanced nail enhancement technologies like gel and liquid and powder systems, boasting lift-proof adhesion and enduring performance, allowing wearers to go maintenance-free for over three weeks.
Despite these strides, many professionals still rely on a one-size-fits-all approach, missing out on the immense benefits of customized services based on factors such as nail type, lifestyle, style preferences and maintenance plans. Fortunately, comprehensive systems now exist to cater to every aspect of nail care, empowering nail professionals to deliver exceptional transformations.
To ensure success, it's crucial to understand the best system tailored for specific and individual needs. This understanding is gained through a thorough consultation and diagnosis of the natural nail condition. 
Mastering the fundamentals of each product system enables nail professionals to elevate their artistry, even with challenging nails, creating flawless and natural-looking results. With intelligent recommendations rooted in science and technology, professionals can ensure long wear and successful longevity for their clients.
When selecting an enhancement system, consider the principle of "opposites attract;" soft nails benefit from a strong liquid and powder coating, while hard, brittle nails require a tough yet flexible gel coating. Matching the coating to the client's activity level ensures ease of wear and long-term maintenance.
Initial nail sets should adhere to these guidelines, with adjustments made during subsequent rebalances based on observations of wear and tear. If issues arise, such as lifting or chipping, modifying product strength or adjusting length, shape and embellishment can help achieve the perfect match for each client.
Client style preferences should also inform service recommendations. Whether enhancing natural nails or creating dramatic statements, customization is key. By aligning with the client's desires, professionals can deliver truly personalized experiences, ensuring satisfaction and loyalty. Let’s look at some examples.
1. Nail Type: Nice, Natural Nails
Recommendation: Gel polish provides flexible protection.
A nice natural nail typically has a healthy-looking pink bed. Traditionally, the nails are uniform and do not have deep ridges or break easily. Elevate your clients’ nail services with the unparalleled power of gel polish. This miraculous service will provide a wear time of 14+ days with glorious shine, providing tough and resilient nail protection and allowing beautiful removal and no nail damage, when a calibrated and patented system is utilized.
Four key essential components are required for best performance, including: base coat, color coat, top coat and the LED lamp. Maintaining the service requires professional removal and application after 2+ weeks to ensure service longevity and with no nail damage.
Pro Tips
- Seal the extension edge on only the first layer of color coat.
- Customize the service by selecting the right base coat and top coat for each client’s need.
- Apply the color coat in thin layers to ensure the coating cures properly in the LED Lamp.
- Use a fine detail brush to get close to the cuticle line and sidewalls if needed.
- Educate clients on to daily use of an AHA cuticle treatment and a deeply penetrating oil to condition the natural nail while keeping the coating flexible and maintaining the health of the surrounding skin.
2. Nail Type: Ridging/Cracking
Recommendation: Builder gel provides flexible strength and length.
Vertical nail ridges are raised lines that run from your cuticle to the tip of your fingernail and are a common, normal sign of aging. Nails that have ridges are commonly susceptible to cracking or splitting since the nail plate suffers from uneven thickness. Enhancements will provide strength and protection and give the nails and smooth, sleek finish.
Coat the nails using an enhancement system like a flexible builder gel will effortlessly create a smooth nail surface and cover any imperfections. This unique, modern and convenient builder gel enhancement system suitable for a nail professional of any level of artistry and skill providing up to 3+ weeks of strength, length and shape. The advanced system has the strength and toughness of a hard sculpting gel and the removability of a soft gel. Maintaining the service requires that the client should return to the salon to have the enhancements rebalanced after 2-3 weeks of wear.
Pro Tips
- When possible, use sculpting forms to create length to avoid any excessive filing on the nail.
- Choose a color builder shade to best match or accessorize the clients skin tone.
- Build the nails in layers to ensure proper curing in the LED Lamp.
- Educate clients on to daily use of an AHA cuticle treatment and a deeply penetrating oil to condition the natural nail while keeping the coating flexible and maintaining the health of the surrounding skin.
3. Nail Type: Wide and Fan Nails
Recommendation: Sculpted hard gel provides permanent toughness and protection.
A fan nail is narrow at the cuticle area and expands outward, resulting in the extension edge being wider than the nail bed. The C-curve of the nail is flat to non-existent.
A wide nail is wide from the cuticle area and continues the progression to the extension edge.
Sculpting enhancements on wide or fan shaped natural nails can be done on tips as well as forms. Both options will help to create a sleek illusion by tucking the fanned corners or wide shape inward and keeping it aligned to the finger. A hard gel is the enhancement coating for this nail type. It creates is strong, flexible and resilient enhancements to reshape the nail resulting in sleek, feather light enhancements. Maintaining this service requires the client to return to the salon to have the enhancements rebalanced after 2-3 weeks.
Pro Tips
- On a wide nail: If the nail has an extension edge, sculpting on a form will be the best option; Try stacking two sculpting forms together for a snug fit under the nail if needed.
- On a fan nail: Begin by reducing the length of the nail, rounding the corners of the fan shaped nail.
- If using a tip, selecting a smaller size will help to tuck-in the wide or fan shaped corners. Build the apex higher to create an illusion of a sleeker-looking nail, creating a spine like vertical center.
- Educate clients on to daily use of an AHA cuticle treatment and a deeply penetrating oil to condition the natural nail while keeping the coating flexible and maintaining the health of the surrounding skin.
4. Nail Type: Bitten Nails
Recommendation: Acrylic system provides ultimate hardness and strength.
Constant biting or tearing of the free edge and hyponychium of the nail causes the skin beneath the free edge to callus. The bitten edge shortens the look of the nail bed. Clients must form a partnership with their nail professional and agree on the route to their nail transformation with regular services to allow the natural nails to grow out and help the client overcome the habit of biting their natural nails.
Experienced nail professionals will be able to service a client with bitten nails with ease working either with tips or forms. An acrylic system is the best enhancement system to be used on bitten nails because it is the strong and hardest of all enhancement systems. Acrylic creates dramatic, designable and indestructible enhancements and provides control like no other system. It creates instant shape and length for clients that need dramatic transformation, allowing them to go as “extreme” as they want. It is a semi-permanent, durable service option for clients with weak and damaged nails. It is the strongest of all enhancement systems. Maintaining this service requires the client to return to the salon to have the enhancements rebalanced after 2 weeks.
Pro Tips
- During prep, ensure there is no non-living tissue left around the proximal nail fold and sidewalls.
- Utilize a pre-shaped tip to begin the transformation, and suppress the swollen skin around the nail plate.
- If it is difficult or not possible to use a nail form or tip on extra short nails, utilize a full coverage tip instead.
- Keep the length of the enhancement shorter for the first few services to prevent service breakdown and allow the client to adjust to the new length.
- A French acrylic design is the best option for extreme transformation and illusion sculpting with bitten nails, providing the client instant transformation.
- Educate clients on to daily use of an AHA cuticle treatment and a deeply penetrating oil to condition the natural nail while keeping the coating flexible and maintaining the health of the surrounding skin.
5. Nail Type: Ski-Jump Nails
Recommendation: Acrylic nails provides ultimate hardness and strength.
The nail bed of a ski-jump nail has a concave rather than a convex base, which causes the nail to turn up at the extension edge. Enhancements on these nails tend to lift at the sidewalls and center of the nail (pocket-lifting). When working with ski-jump nails, utilizing a pre-shaped tip is a great way to align the lower arch to the desired illusion for the enhancement during application. If using a form, place the form in the same manner, aligning the lower arch line to the desired illusion. Both ways work, and offers a choice for the pro. Acrylic nails are the best enhancement system to be used for ski-jump nails because they are the strong and hardest of all enhancement systems. Maintaining this service requires the client to return to the salon to have the enhancements rebalanced after 2 weeks.
Pro Tips
- It is essential to shorten the natural nail as much as possible and lightly remove the thickness of the upturned extension edge with 240 grit file during prep.
- If sculpting on a pre-shaped tip, the goal is to apply the tip straight to the axis of the finger and not the natural nail growth pattern.
- If sculpting on a form, customize the contact area using the scissors to match the extension edge of the natural nail. The form must be fitted with no gap between the nail and the form to avoid product seepage underneath.
- When sculpting smile lines, use the fingertip as a guide for smile line placement, and pull the corners of the smile line deep into the sides to create a narrow illusion.
- Educate clients on to daily use of an AHA cuticle treatment and a deeply penetrating oil to condition the natural nail while keeping the coating flexible and maintaining the health of the surrounding skin.
The Right Knowledge
The right knowledge and approach will enable nail professionals to transform any challenge into a triumph, delivering impeccable results tailored to each client's unique needs and preferences.
About the Author:
Jan Arnold is the co-founder and style director of CND. Her father, Dr. Stuart Nordstrom, was the brilliant dentist and organic chemist whose discoveries launched the company in 1979. Her family built CND on a commitment to advancing the state of the industry through groundbreaking innovation and world-class education. Jan is a founding Board Member of Beauty Changes Lives (BCL), a foundation committed to elevating, educating and exposing the richness of a career in professional beauty. She led an effort to raise scholarship donations for aspiring nail professionals though the creation of the BCL CND Tippi Hedren Nail Scholarship Fund, which has raised $250,000 to-date along with $150,000 in Advanced Scholarships for active and licensed nail professionals.
