Tips, and tricks, how to be organized at Christmas?

Tips for salon owners:

1. Lets begin the New Year at Christmas
Dont stick at the social tradition, that the new year begins at January. NO! In our profession, January-February are almost off-season. Dont waste your ads, and new promotions during this period. Invest this money in your bussiness BEFORE Christmas. Bring on new features, promotions, new products, and do amazing marketing AT Christmas time.

2. Bring the Holliday to your saloon
Bring your saloon a real Christmas athmosphere. Design the holliday accessories. Play Christmas songs from the HIFI center, slink in cinnamon, or apple fragrance, and stand in one of the corners, a decorated Christmas-tree. Create Christmas-gifts from paper-boxes. Tip: Decorate the decor-packs with your company logo.

3. Sale, sale, sale
Dont forget, that at Christmas time, people are more likely to shopping, and spend money. Create special packages for nail-care, pr create excusive gift-cards for the new year.

I wish merry Christmas, and a happy New Year for all nail technician from here, Hungary
Krisztina Rudnay

3D porcelain flowers step by step

A hungarian Christmas nail design

Aniko Palotas, Hungary

Christmas design

Eszter Gal, Hungary

The "Color Pop" Tip

Paint all your colors to color pops, or daisy-s. This can help to not open every nail polish, or colored gels, during the choose. Also, clients can see the colours better in this way.

Tip: separate them by tones. Dark and browns, pinks and cyclamens, reds and burgundies, funny colours...

Paint nail polishes just the same way as on the clients (2 layers of colour, 1 layer top coat). Never try to fix the problems (strokes, light colour...) of the nail polish. Your clients will be dissapointed at differences in results.

Tip: every three month, use fresh layer of top coat, to protect the colours, and bring always fresh, bright effects.

Paint different frenches. Simple french, french with different tips, pink base, beige base, french designs, so clients can easily choose from a variation of ideas.

Tip: paint only that desingns, what you can do perfectly.

Nail polish storage and maintance

Be sure, to cap well when not in use.

Store away from sunlight.

Never make nail polish thinner with acetone, or polish remover. Use special product to make them thinner. And only one time. Than never again, if the nail polish become thicker, it means, the time to throw away.

Nail Art Video

How to make 3D nail art designs inside a clear nail. I made it more funny, with different FIMO-s, and different size of glitters. Enjoy :)

Injuries: Overfile the natural nail

The most common injury at the nail-saloons the overfileing the natural nail plate.

The fingernail plate is made of about 100 layers of dead, flattened keratin cells. Thousands of nail cells. The nail plate of the hand is thinner, the toenail is thicker. The nail technicians often use heavy hand files, or drills, and overfile more, than the half of the nail plate. The thin nail plate will cause problems also for the client, and for the nail technician too. Only a 240 grit, or higher file allowed to work on natural nails.

Its also impossible of the materials (enhancements, nail polish, base coats...) to adhesion well to a thin, smooth nailplate. On the thin nail plate, the monomers can easily penetrate, cause allergic reactions. Unfortunetly, the most nail technician overfile the natural nailplate.

To the best adhesion, you must file down only the very top layers of the natural nail, wich cause the siny surface. This shine made from oil, and dust, on the nail plate. Use light touch, while file down only 3-4 layers of the natural nail (it's about 2-3%), so you let healthy the 97-98% of the natural nail plate.

Crystal Clear Romantica

Step1:



Sculpt a custom blended nail, with nice, slim nail bed. Sculpt the free edge with clear powder. Work super-thinly.





Step2:


Put some glitters (with different glitter-size) to the free edge, into the half settled product.










Step3:

Place a small amount of clear product where you want the design to be, and push it into the bead.
Tip: Use a finely wet orangewood stick to get the designs, and place them right.










Step4:


Sculpt the entire nail with clear product. Concentrate on the apex, and to cover the designs.



After shaping the nail, with gel Top Coat:

Defeat your competitors

Get out from the crowd

Choose something in your professional life, that is stronger than the others', and use as a slogen of your salon, services, or to harden your position as a nail technician. Build your services around this strength, wich can make you differet as the competitors.

• Are you famos of your fantastic nail art?


• Or you have a high quality web site, where clients can make appointments online?


• Have you ever garanteed your services?


• Nail techs around your area offer only tip and overlays? Maybe you can sculpt perfect, long lasting nails with a form, with fantastic curves smile lines?

Tell your costumers, what will they get after your service, what they wouldnt at your competitor.

Base coat, top coat: what is the difference?

Base coat: To ensure adhesion between the natural nail plate and the colored nail polish. Use in one, thin layer under the color. Features: usually clear, dry quickly to a dull, stickey surface.

Top coat: Use on the top of the hal dried, colored nail polish to ensure protection and high shine. Great to fit flat nail designs, like stones, glitter... Features: Usually clear, slower dry (there are speed-dry top coats in the market), dry to a shiny, smooth surface.

Does 2in1 polishes work? I dont think so. As the two opposite functions of theese opposite properties dont work at the same time. I believe 2in1 (base and top coats) are not for professional use.

A golden, glossy, shiney nail

Golden designs

1. Custom blended nail bed

2. Build a thin, clear layer on the form. Until the product is not settled (or the gel, before curing) push some golden sliced glitters, glitter foils, and some glitter.

3. Put a small product ball to the nail, and push the golden designs into it.

4. Build the arches, the apex, and protect the designs with a layer of clear product.

5. File the nail to a perfect shape, and use gloss gel, to make the designs more shiney.

Tips and tricks for custom blending

Warm skin tones: undertone of yellow, orange or red

Cool skin tones: undertone of purple, blue or green

CREATE YOUR UNIQUE COLORS



Free edge: Forget the common pink and whites. Add a little shimmer, or creamy brown with the commonly use white powder, and give unique service for everyone.

Rates: Concentrate on the balance of the nail bed and the free edge. The free edge can be maximum the half of the nail bed.

Technique: At the 3rd zone, work thinly, that the differences of the custom blended nail, and the natural nail would be invisible.

Opaque: Add some white, or another opaque color to strengthen the opacity. The more opaque the color, the better the coverage to camouflage problems, and create illusion.

The problem: crack on the sides of the free edge

Commonly cracks of the free edges sides.

The base of the problem: You were afraid to touch the skin, therefore you put less than enough product to the sidewalls of the free edge. Maybe you filed down too much product, make the zone too thin. This can cause three problems:

1. Weakens the structure of the nail, cause cracks soon.
2. As the natural nail grows, the natural free edge become under the bad sculpting sidewalls. The client can picking it.
3. The nail crack soon at the sidewalls, and the whole free edge can come off.

The solution:

1. During the sculpting process, be sure that you work thinly, but put enough product to the sidewalls of the nail enhancement, and covered throughly the free edges sides. Leave a small margin around the surrounding skin. During the prep of backfill, file the free edges sides, than build again with fresh product.

2. At the finishing process, use a maximum 180 grit hand file, or higher, and always check out the sidewalls. Pull back the surronunding skins with your fingers, during filing.


Nails: Gabriella Strahl (Hungary)

The benefits of waterless manicure

Why waterless?

Fact: The water can soften the strong skin surrounding the nail plate, but it cause another effects:

Just like your body after showering, the hand's skin will drying after soaked in water. The nail plate penetrate with water, becoming soft, and vulnerable. You can easily damage the skin, or the nail plate during cutting the skin, or filing the free edge. After a few hours, the water will evaporate, and the nail plate become dry, hard, and rough. Change the water to professional skin softeners, high quality skin care, and base coats.

Step by step waterless manicure:

1. Shaping, reduce length
2. Skin softener (tip: Cuticle Away CND)
3. Push back cuticles, cut the skin if needed
4. Refine and cleanse the nail plate to buff with a fine block file
5. Buff oil into the nail plate

Tip: Use professional cuticle oil for manicures. The cheap oils, such for body's skin have bigger molecules, than the nail plate's size. Smaller molecules (what are in professional cuticle oils) can penetrate onto the nail plate. Bigger sizes can not.

Why is it so ugly and strong the smell of liquids?

All is chemistry!

Some manufactures tried to make odorless liquids, but it was affecting the balance of the chemical. These drugs can only mask, not eliminate the odors, and also bad for the liquid and the finished enhancement.

The odors serve as a sign of warning that the chemical, what we are using, can cause allergy.

Turn your side these signs, neither suppress them.

Find your ideal salon

What is an IDEAL salon? It's such a subjective matter. All people have different ideals, and values, so you can see all the same places in different ways. There are some aspects that can select on the basis of business, where there is more chance to start your profession, as a beginner nail tech, or a newly opened salon owner.

1. Entrance

The ideal is a big entrance from the street directly. It's not a good choice to open from a staircase, a house hall, or an office house. An open dorr from the street gives you better advertisement oppurtinities, and clients can find the salon easier.

Tip: Avoid the narrow entrances, the small places, or leading to the entrance (going up or down). People feel disconfortable also in dark, windowness, too cold, or too colt environment.

2. Environment

Take attention also to the salons parking area, and easily get there (on foot or by car). The best choise is a bussy area of other shops, or restaurants, where the neigborhood can hel to each other vith clientel.

Home care recommendations

Would you like to increase your profit up to 30% with the same work?

Ask your distributor for mini sizes of common use products, such as mini oil, mini hand cream, what can fit in a hand bag. Keep some new 240 grit file for home care recommendation, and buy some extra bottle of the most popular polishes.


Recommend them for your clients to home use  for a little extra profit to your business..

Forget the lifting parts forever

1. Proper mix ratio:


- use a medium wet bead. Neither too dry, neither let the bead not be too wet.

2. Perfect preparation:

- Skin remain on the nail plate: cause lifting for sure



- Gently buff the nail plates surface with a fine hand file. Pay extra attention the parts near the surrounding skin.



-Only one thin coat of primer needed. Primers are heavier than prep products, cannot vaporize that easy. If primer remaining near the surrounding skin, the product will mix with it, and change it. Extra tip: Touch the primers brush hairs with a paper towel, and sponge up some primer.



- Once prepped the nails, follow with apply the product in 20 minutes. If not, the nails need to be dehydrated again.



3. Proper product application:

- - do not touch the skin with the product, or the brush.



- - look at the brush size. Don't use too big brushes.



- - maintain, and fill in the nails regularly



4. Shaping:

- too thick product will causes lifting!



- build up the arches of the nail: let it be the highest in the middle, and keep thin in every direction (towards the nail-bed, towards the sides and the free edge).



5. Keep away mechanics effort:



• reduce length with scissors or tip cutter

• improper use of electric drills

• heavy files

The problem: LIFTING

Problems and solutions...
...which can occur not only with beginners

The problem: The nail crack, break, or get out in one piece



The basis of the problem: The artificial nail does not adhere properly to the natural nail. If there are lifting parts, its easy to „pull off” the nail enhancement in one piece.



The solution: There are three different reason to fix the problem. The first and most common reason (which I could see not only with beginners at the salon work) is that the product (gel or liquid/powder bead) touched the clients skin.

Many newbie nail tech are afraid that they cannot cover zone3 evenly, finally they touch the skin with the product. The root of the problem is in the PREP proceed: push back cuticles, and remember that there could be skin near the lateral sidewalls. Don't scratch up this skin with your file or drill, because its not safe, and you cannot be sure that there is no skin remaining on the nail plate. Never touch the skin with the sculpting brush.

Another possible reason for the adhesion problem, if there are oil, dust, or other chemical remain on the surface of the nail plate before product application. If you use cuticle remover, wash it off thoroughly, push back cuticles, and gently file the nail plate with a 240 grit hand file. The nail plate would not be shiny. If there are shiny places on the prepped nail plate, the product would not adhere properly, and will cause lifting.



The other side of the problem can cause lifting: if you want to prep well, and overfiled the natural nail plate. You may know the rule: you must gently file the nail plate to ensure proper adhesion. But did you know: if you overfile the nail plate, that become smooth and thin? Rule No2: The product can not adhere well to a smooth, glossy surface. That's why irritated, overfiled natural nails „pull out” the nail enhancement, cause massive lifting.



Did you know? The fingernail plate is made of about 100 layers of dead, flattened keratin cells.
Only the very top 4-5 layers of plate needs to be removed to create good adhesion.

Correct mix ratio

Imagezoo

Ok, I know that is very important to use a correct mix ratio..... BUT WHAT IS EXACTLY A correct mix ratio?

Here's an easy way to determine the proper consistency for l/p enhancement products:

1. Use a clean brush to make a normal bead.
2. Dip the brush totally onto the dappen dish to drink up as many monomers as the hairs can.
When taking out the brush, gently pull down one side on the dappen dish.
3. Place the wet brush onto the very top of the powder, and draw a little line. The powder will stick to the hairs, becoming a bead.

Place the bead to a clean nail tip, placing it directly over the center of the tip.

Watch the bead for 10 seconds:

- Does the bead begin to settle and flow out almost immediately?
- Does the height of the bead drop halfway or more within 10 seconds?
- Does the bead seem to lose most of its original shape?
- Can you see a ring of excess liquid around the base of the bead?
- Would this bead be difficult to control, or would it flow into the skin surrounding the nail plate?

If you answered YES to any of the questions above, your bead is probably a wet consistency. Nail enhancements made with excessively wet mix ratios are prone to develop tiny stress fractures, cracks, and lifting near the cuticle area or sidewalls. Also, discoloration becomes more likely, and there will be an increased chance of developing an allergic reaction to the product.

- Does the bead melt out fairly slowly and have a "frosted glass" appearance?
- After 10 seconds, does the bead hold a smooth, dome like shape?
- Does the overall height of the dome drop only 1/4 of the original height?
- Does all of the liquid stay in the bead without a ring of excess liquid around the base?
- Is the bead easy to control, and does it retain its shape once its placed?

If you answered YES to all of the questions, you are probably using a medium mixture, so CONGRATULATIONS. Make sure you always stick to this procedure. You will be much less likely to having problems.

- Does the bead hold its original shape and/or melt out very little?
- Does the bead height and shape remain unchanged after 10 seconds?
- Does the bead look lumpy or have a crusty appearance?
- Is the bead difficult to control and shape into place?

If you answered YES to any of these questions, you are probably using too dry a bead consistency. A dry mix ratio can cause the product to undergo massive lifting as well as brittleness and discoloration.


Doug Schoon: Nail Structure and product chemistry

3D flowers

Cominance transition 3D flowers


There are two secret of the 3D porcelain flowers:

1. Make drier balls, as you make for sculpting. You can’t take under control the wet product on a shiny, well balanced nail surface.
2. Practise, practise, practise…

The bead:














To make a mix colored bead, first push down your brush into the liquid, and swipe off both side on the sidewall of the dappen dish. Place the achieve of the brush to the white powder. Allow the brush to catch up a tiny bead, than quickly move to the other colored container. Place the hairs of the brush to the other color powder, and allow to catch up some.

Placing














Place the bead on the nail, where you want your flower to be. Wait a minute to settle, than work on a nice shape and position. Push down one side of the flower-leaf. That will be the centre. With the hairs of your brush, make a teardrop form from the bead.

The other leafs

















Follow to create another flower-leafs, using the technique bellow, in a circle.

The centre of the flower

Make a smaller bead with yellow, and gold glitter powder, using the technique bellow to mix different colors in one bead. Place it to the centre of the flower, and press down a little. Work with your brush to create a ball. Once it is on the best position, wait to set.

Design

Create tiny balls, in a half circle shape, or put some shiny stone, whatever you want to make your flowers more beautiful.

Here is the finished design

Correct usage of liquids

3. Myth:

The liquid itself perfect for smooth the enhancements surface.










The truth: To use the liquid merely taking risks with a dangerous chemical reaction, and totally useless. When you absorbed the liquid and the powder with your brush, the polymerizing begins promptly. At this time the product is not able to allow even more liquid already.

If you try to bring a little more liquid into the bead, the unnecessary liquid leaks in to the soft tissue surrounding the nail, and makes an opportunity for the development of an allergic reaction. This explains, why doesnt work to bring more liquid to the prodeuct neither to make the product softer, neither to smooth the enhancements surface.

The monomer (liquid) and the oligomers (gel) may never be touched the skin (neither guests, neither yours). In as much this happens, it makes an opportunity for the development of an allergic reaction.

Sculpted french or glitter nail l/p

1. Proper PREP

Push back cuticles.
Gently file natural nails surface with a 240 grid file. Double check the plate near the skin, and on the free edge area.
Cleanse and dehidrate the nailplate.

If needed, use Primer in one coat.

2. Place the form under the natural nails free edge. Avoid gaps between the form and the natural nail.

3. Sculpt the free edge

With a medium wet ball, build up the free edge area. Build it with only one ball.

Place the ball to the form and gently push up each corners. Smooth out the entire zone.

With the tip of your brush work on the smile line.

Build up the centre of the nail.

With a medium wet ball, build up the stress area. Gently push the product to the sides, and smooth out.

Build up zone3. Avoid to touch the skin with the product or with the brush.

Work thinly in this area.

Pinch the half settled nail

Finish the nail with a 100-180 grid file

Smooth out with a buffer

With a drop of oil buff to a high shine

Nails: Gyorgyi Bertus, Hungary