Out of the plethora of problems that can be seen in the salon... Which one causes you the biggest grief??? Or for those that are angelic teks and never have any problems... what is the biggest pain in the butt you could imagine dealing with in the salon...

o, I wait with baited breath (bad baited breath...)

i would have to say lifting is my biggest problem no matter how much i prep, scrubfresh, and take care with my application of acrylic i usually get a least one nail that has got some lifting !!

It's good to see that it's not just me who says lifting! :P How do you stop this wreched thing? My method for preparing the nail plate.....take the shine off (white block) then nail dehydrator (dont let the client touch em) nail primer then acrylic (oh, not forgetting to sanitise first of course)....is there anything else i could do???

Two things to watch that help to avoid lifting.

1. Make sure the nails are completely dry before application. Some people tend to use too much Scrubfresh instead of just a damp pad.

2. When you notice lifting, it is almost never in zone one or two - that's because no one is afraid to PRESS and SMOOTH in zones one and two BUT when we get to zone 3, we can be a bit hesitant to PRESS and tend to 'tickle' the product into place - this hesitancy could mean that the product is not making as good a contact with the keratin in the nail plate as is necessary to avoid any lifting later. SO make sure to press firmly into place in zone three AND down the sidewalls, always avoiding touching the skin.

If lifting is still a problem on some clients, use the Acid Free Primer - - but make sure it is dry before you apply. Hope this helps!!

thanks geeg

i will try pressing more in zone three i am a little more careful in this area and if that dosn't work i will try using the acid free primer like you suggested

Hi

Once again it has to be lifting. This is especially so when I have a client with a deep 'C' curve or when I have ski jumps (Wheeeeeeeee............. :shocker. In fact they do seem to go together.

Sometimes I also have problems with the tips getting a split in them (horizontally) where they come detached from the natural nail. I do spend time shaping the nail to mirror the well area. This sometimes happens on oval shaped enhancements where there is only a small amount of tip left at the top of what is almost a complete overlay. Is this common or am I missing something?

Adele

Not sure what you mean by the working to mirror the nail well. Do you mean pre-tailoring the sidewalls to fit?

And do you mean the tips are cracking from left to right? or vertically (down the length of the nail)??

Hi Master Geek

Sorry I was garbling..........but it was late! What I meant was shaping the natural nail to fit the tip well area.

The tips appear to come away from the natural nail either from the left or right. It doesn't seem to be a crack, more like where the natural nail butts up to the well area of the tip. It seems to happen more on oval nails once the natural nail has grown most of the way up and there is just a proportion of tip left.

Hope this makes more sense, Adele

P.s currently using Gelbond.

I did have a spell when one or two clients did not turn up for appointments - I introduced a £10 charge if people failed to turn up without cancelling and it has done the trick, clients have to learn to respect your time. As far as lifting goes I used to have trouble with it but I seem to have cured the problem - my mix ratio was always a little on the wet side and I now take more time and make sure the mix ratio is dryer - it seems to have worked for me and my clients usually only lift if they have banged their nails.

Clients who turn up late or don't show up at all :x -It makes me really mad. If people ring (even on the day of their appointment) I can always resell the time.

About 50% of my clients tip me, I assume those that don't think that because its my own business they don't need to.

Fortunately, I don't really get lifting. I only get curling when the client's nails are really long underneath

The biggest problem for me is lifting but the funny thing is only a few of my clients have a problem with it. The rest of my clients have no problem with lifting. I feel that my application is consistant for each client. Do you think each person is different?? (i.e. "some people lift, some people don't.")?? It seems that the same people always have a problem with lifting.

Candy

Hello

This too happened to me with just one client, ahhhhhhh how frustrating so I pushed back cuticles and used cuticle remover, sanitised of course and buffed and used pre primer then an acid free primer. She does not suffer with lifting any more!! It was really frustrating at the time as I dreaded her next apointment to see if they had lifted or not and found my self thinking and worrying about it all the time inbetween her fills. Any way part of the problem was that of the original product I was using, did not think much of it, and some one suggested she may have had an oily nail plate, so I changed to a different Brand and have no problems now with the Client who had lifting probs phew got there in the end.

It can make the job some what stressfull if lifting does occur so I always make sure that I am maticulous with every step.
I would like to ask a question though a which stage during the curing process should you press the acrylic, obviously it has to be pliable still? If thats the right word???? Help wheres the spell checker gone???

Now and again I get the product (fibreglass) drying after 2 weeks, only happened a couple of times, never been sure why it has happened..Always do thorough prep..

Hi!
You are using a glue to apply your tips and glue is water soluable(spell???).You wont have problems until her next or 2nd fill because natural nail is growing and tip is starting to separate .That's why you have cracks in tips.Did you ever try to sculpt with nail forms?
Lana

Curling away from free edge has to be my biggest, once the tips have grown off and I`m only overlaying the natural nail. I do (I think) make sure I get product down the side walls at the free edge, although this is very hard not to get on the clients skin. I still quite often get the curling and it sucks