You don't have to be Michelangelo or any of the other Mutant Turtles to create enhancements on the fly.

Sculpting enhancements on a form is the nail professional’s secret to fast, lower cost services. In this splendid pictorial, I cover some tips and tricks that successful nail sculptors use to easily enhance and repair nails in today’s busy salons.

Why sculpt anyway?

Sculpting is a true art that one loves or one avoids like an Iraqi Military commander at a cocktail party.

Not only is sculpting on a form an art… er... form… Sculpting is a significantly faster way to complete a full set than by performing a tip and an overlay. Why? For one, you don’t have to farf around with sizing tips, pre tailoring them and then adhering them to the nail plate only to turn around and have to blend them in. Sculpting allows you to dive straight in and create your art without limitations.
Performance Forms also cost significantly less money than a tip does. Using a form to apply an enhancement will lower the cost of doing nails to a minimum. Over half of the cost of a full set to you is tied up in the price of tips. Lose the tips and reduce your overheads and shorten the time spent per set.

Thoroughly prepping the natural nail before application is the backbone to any service that you want to last longer than the lifespan of a moth.
Through thorough prep, we remove oil, moisture and contamination that can cause lifting or bacterial infections.
When sculpting on a form, I spend a little more attention to detail when shaping the free edge of the nail plate for that perfect no clump application.

If the free edge is long, I want to ensure there is no curling along the lower arch
(curling along the lower arch will push down on my form and lead to seepage underneath the nail).
If the natural nail is short… I will actually file the shape of the smile line into the free edge.




Take for example the infamous horseshoe forms. Damn near every technician on this bright green earth has been inducted into sculpting with these babies. Most of those technicians soon followed their first experience with these forms by taking a vow to never sculpt again. Why?
They are an absolute pain in the buttocks to get a decent fit and decent shape with.

Sure there are about 152 exotic ways to be able to manoeuvre these things so they will fit haphazardly, but you must ask yourself… do you really care about learning 152 ways to make a dunce cap?

The plain and simple truth is that no matter how you apply these things, you are damned to sculpt flat points.

What about the super hybrid horseshoes? There are many differing variations on the horseshoe theme, ranging from the solid gold square forms to the grand mama horseshoe forms that seem designed to sculpt out magnificent Egyptian hats.

Overall Performance forms offer the greatest versatility in a sculpting form. From simple applications to highly customised tailored solutions, Performance forms will give you the versatility you need to sculpt consistent cylindrical enhancements every time.

1. Fit.
   It is imperative that the form fits snugly on the underside of the natural nail. If there is a gap between the free edge of the nail and the form, you will get seepage. Though you can try with all your might… most clients are far to savvy now a days to accept a lump of product underneath the natural nail as nail art.
   
   Seepage is a larger concern than just aesthetic. Getting product under the natural nail overexposes the hyponychium to your sculpting monomer. Frequent and prolong overexposure leads to irritation and finally to an allergic reaction.
2. A Cylindrical sculpting area.
   It is imperative from a design standpoint that the area you are sculpting is cylindrical, smooth and even. Your product will take on the shape of your form and if it’s wrinkled or uneven, then the underside of your enhancement will be as well. So… If it’s shaped like a dunce cap, then your enhancement will be to.

As a rule of thumb, the more you play around with the form before application, the more difficulty you will have with the application.

1. Start by slightly rolling the form between thumb and forefinger to give the it a slightly curved shape.
2. Peel the form from the backing paper and line up the free edge of the nail with the edge of the form.
3. Press back tabs to finger, then gently press the lower tabs (under the form) together.
   If you press too high, your sculpting area will look cone shaped... which sucks... so don't

The technique

One of the most common difficulties when sculpting on a form is due to something fancy pants called ‘Surface Differentiation’.

What that essentially means, is that when it comes time to sculpt, you end up working on 2 different types of surfaces that respond differently to the product.

The natural nail (and tips for that matter) are porous and ‘grab’ product, Forms are designed to be non porous so they ‘repel’ product. While this is a good thing friends (unless you fancy your clients leaving with forms still stuck to their enhancements)… It can spell frustration for nail technicians trying to master the art of sculpting.

To solve this problem, I sculpt in layers.

Sculpting out a tip

I apply a thin layer of white up to the natural nail free edge and essentially, sculpt out a tip.

1. Take a medium size bead… one that’s relative to the width and length of the ‘tip’ you are sculpting out and apply it up against the free edge. Be careful not to push product onto the surface of the plate.
2. Give the bead a moment to settle, then in gentle nudging motions… push it up to the free edge line and out to one side. When you get to about 80% of the way over, work the other side of the bead to the 80% mark.
3. Go back to the first side and nudge it up into the corner, then repeat the nudging on the opposite side.
4. Gently smooth out your surface and then carve your lower arch in with the side of your brush.
   You do this by scooping the side up… and then by pushing it toward the natural nail… then away in a swooping motion.

Viola. There is your sculpted tip.




I place a medium sized medium wet bead of Retention+ and Perfect Color White tip powder close to (but not on) the smile line.
I give the bead a moment to settle and gently press from side to side forming the smile line with the flag of my brush.

I cover the smile line technique in the Million Dollar Smile line turorial in far more detail.







Repeat this step in Zone 3 to create a thin, ledge free enhancement that requires minimum buffing for perfection.



If you want to slim the appearance of the enhancement and give it a greater degree of C Curve… you can pinch the nail as it is setting.

Be warned though… during pinching… you exert a lot of pressure on the enhancement and the natural nail plate. If done with much pressure, or for too long… something will weaken and give. That something is usually the natural nail plate.

The natural nail plate is held onto the bed in a system of rails and grooves (bed epithelium and dermis) Applying too much of a pinch can pop the bed epithelium away from the dermis which could manifest itself as vertical Onycholysis.

The other problem with pinching that I see far too frequently is over pinching and the placement of the pinch.

The goal of a pinch should be to bring in the love handles (the area of the enhancement where the pink and white come together) and to straighten the line from cuticle to free edge.
If your pinching is too far back or too far forward, you may end up with a curled extension edge.

I focus the pinch on just the love handles and hold (not press) with my fingernails and avoid touching with your fingers or skin as this promotes overexposure.





I then slather with SolarOil to oil, buff with the specially treated 1200 grit side of the Koala buffer to create an ultra smooth finish.

I remove any freestanding oil with a quick swipe of ScrubFresh, buff to a high gloss shine with the Girlfriend buffer and finish the service with SolarOil.