How to Prep your dipped nails correctly to avoid lifting.
With any nail system, including plain old nail polish, nails can chip, peel, break or lift.
There is no such thing as permanent nail enhancements - no matter which product you choose to coat your nail nothing is forever.
Your nail grows and moves and over time the bond between your nail and the product weakens.
The stronger the bond the longer the nails will last.
And the key to a strong bond is in your preparation.
Here are the steps I use to prep the natural nail for nail dipping:
Step 1
Sanitise. Get your client to wash her hands using soap and a nail brush. A clean surface not only helps the product stick but is essential for prevention of infection. You can also apply hand sanitiser as an extra precaution.
Step 2
Push back the cuticles gently using a good quality metal cuticle pusher.
If there is a lot of pterygium use a cuticle remover to remove the dead skin.
* why?
Nail Products don't stick to skin due to the natural oils on the suface. The tiniest bit of skin will repel your product.
Step 3
In the old days nail techs were taught to 'rough up' the nail surface using a nail file -
Do not do this!
Our dipping nail powders are more sophisticated now and adhere to the nail plate without excessive filing!
All you need to do is remove the shine (oil) from the surface of the nail. You can use a gentle block buffer for this.
Gently buff the entire nail surface making sure you don't miss any part of the nail.
Step 4
Wipe over the enture nail using a gauze wipe with isopropyl alcohol.
Make sure there is no dust left on the nail.
The nail plate needs to be as clean as possible
Once you have complete these steps do NOT touch the nail (or let your client)
This will put oil from your skin on the nail plate and you will be back to square one.
Now that the nail plate is squeaky clean you are ready to apply your product!
Happy dipping!
