It does not matter whether you are going to redecorate your home or improve your garden, make a garment or make a cake … whatever task you set out to accomplish … the better the preparation you carry out the easier and better the job will be, look and last.

Lack of thorough preparation is the cause of 99% of the ‘lifting’ that technicians see in the salon. Even when technicians tell me, “I know my preparation is spot on”, if they are suffering with lifting as a regular feature of their work, I know it isn’t!

Preparation is one part of the nail service that cannot and must not be rushed. Thorough PREP will take the most time of any part of the whole service; application and finishing will take much less time proportionally. Preparation is all about removing cuticle from the nail plate.

There is much confusion as to just what cuticle is. It is referred to as: True cuticle, non-living tissue, pterygium, and probably many more things, all misleading. Some think the eponychium is the cuticle. Let’s define.

Cuticle is made up of exfoliated skin cells from the folds of skin surrounding the nail unit. Cuticle is non-living. Cuticle is NOT pterygium (which is an over growth of skin cells). Cuticle is not the eponychium (which is living skin surrounding the base of the nail unit). Cuticle is not ‘true cuticle’ as opposed to false cuticle, it IS cuticle.

If the cuticle is not regularly removed or rubbed off in some way, then it will build up and stick together until it almost looks like a membrane which is growing from under the eponychium … but it is not growing and it is not living, it is just building up until such time as it is removed.

Always use a hand sanitizer on yourself and your client before you start the full set procedure or any procedure. We will assume here that you are preparing for a Full Set of nail enhancements.

First take a good look at the overall condition of the client’s hands and nails. Chances are, if they are coming to you, the nails will have been neglected for some time. Nails that are not regularly manicured, will have a large build up of cuticle on the nail plate (even if you cannot see it) which will have to be removed gently and thoroughly before any enhancement products are applied, or there will be a barrier between the product and the plate which will cause the product to separate from the plate.

Lifting is something that you do not want your clients to experience. Lifting is the root of many problems for the technician. Lifting leads to clients picking at the product and it can lead to a bacterial infection on the client as well as being an unsightly breakdown of service that will not encourage clients to carry on with regular maintenance of their nails. Removing lifted product is time consuming and stressful to the product and the natural nail, the technician and the client. Lifting does not need to happen at all providing you are performing perfect preparation, using good application techniques and of course a good product line.