Lordy lord.

You know those situations where you could smack yourself across the face just as soon as your client leaves the salon. Gawd I could have slapped myself silly soon as my client left today.

A lady came in today with her daughter asking to book an appointment. The appointment was not for her, it was for her 9 YEAR OLD daughter to have tip & overlay enhancements. I explained that I dont do enhancements on children that young, I need parental permission for under 16's but wont enhance anyone younger than 13 in any event. Well, sorry to say that this kid pretty much stamped her feet and carried on, and mum said it was for a special occasion, could she have them done just the once, then she looked at my nails (I've got gel overlay on natural nails with white paint on gel for a french look) and asked if daughter could have something like this.

So, normally I would have said sorry no, will be happy to do a little file & polish, add some diamante's etc, but....lord knows why, I said I would do a gel overlay but will not add any length. I've got this girl booked in in 2 weeks.

I already think that when she brings her I'm going to say I've checked the code of practice and I cant do an enhancement treatment on her (it wont be a wasted visit as mums having her hair done while I do her daughters nails), and I cant think for the life in me what caused this temporary but monumental loss of common sense????? I'm dead against enhancing children on so many levels, this just isnt something I would have done on any other day but today (for some bizarre reason!)

So, getting to the point, what would you have done, and what would you do now? I gain further stupid points for not taking mums number and writing it in the appointment book, and I always do this, lord knows what was going on in my brain today, but of course this means I cant ring her to discuss it.

So tell me what you think, and please do be honest.

If it's just for a one off why can't she have a file and french polish with a shiney topcoat?
Does she know you wore gel or would she know that it wasn't a french polish?

I agree honey my daughter is nine and yes has asked many a time !!! i give her a glitter french with a top coat and she loves it ! stick to our guns if your not happy dont do ( oh and we all have strange days ) xxx

just a thought, would the hair stylist have the ladys number ?

You havent mucked up, if you can fix it then you havent!

Dont beat yourself up. As someone said, would the hairdresser have the number? If they havent, well wait for them to come in and just say that for a child that age, 'it is recommended' that she has polish instead of gel overlays??? Say to her that you will make the french mani look exactly like a french gel etc.

The Mum might be annoyed - her choice, polish or storm off!

Dont worry hun, we all make mistakes.
I would give her a french polish with a shiney topcoat, they wont look any different (to her) than a gel overlay AND why would she want her o have gel or acrylic anyway if its just foe an overlay-very unneccessaryin my opinion.
Im sure it will go fine, and if it doesnt it will definetly make you stand you ground next time you gt asked. :-)
hth
xx

defo agree with you she is to young to have enhancements. she is 9 after all and I expect this sepcial occasion is just a one day thing then what happens? she will start picking as soon as they start to grow out and will ruin her nail beds guaranteed as I used to pick at mine when I was 16 there's no way a 9yr old would be able to resist , go with your gut feeling, And we all have odd days it probably didn't help that the 9 yr old stamped her feet and mum didn't try and explain to her the reasons it was a no , instead she stamped her feet by trying to pursuade you to do it, I'd have propbably agreed too

aww hun , i can understand how you feel , you were obviously backed into a corner , couldnt you use some uv top coat (uv dry ) on top of the french mani ?? to give the illusion of gels??
(sorry i know its not entirely honest but better than dealing with someone having a paddy in the salon )

It is difficult and I would have said no. Now youv'e said yes, I would do them and insist she comes back in 2 weeks HTH

We ALL have those cringeworthy days, don't worry. I would stick to your guns and not do enhancements.

From reading the other threads I guess you can do some sort of compromise?

Hi there Michelle,

I certainly wouldn't do the enhancements, we had the same sort of thing a while back in the Salon with ear piercing. With some young one's the Parents have to give consent for that and this particular Child did not have it therefore we wouldn't do it. The mother rang the Salon and wanted to know why we wouldn't do it, when I explained she said she couldn't be bothered to come out to sign the consent form. With that I said I would put some literature in the post and left it at that. Basically I went to Caflon and gathered some info which really said exactly what I was saying plus a lot of other legal jargon also. We never heard back from the mother, obviously we lost a client but so be it. We didn't and wouldn't do anything wrong under those circumstances ever. Unfortunately in this world there is always some clever b'stard looking to trip you up out there. She may have been one of them, she may have not. Either way with this sort of thing it’s a zero tolerance procedure.

Fitz (Steve)

I think this little girl is going to be getting very excited about getting her nails done...and she has 2 whole weeks to be getting really excited and be looking forward to having her nails done....you think she had a tantrum before....imagine the showdown when she gets to the appointment in 2 weeks time only to be told shes not getting her nails done after all!
I would be really careful about disappointing this little girl tbh....her mother prob wont be too happy...(it is quite upsetting to see your child 'let down' i have to say).

Having said that...like most people...I wouldn't put enhancements on a 9 yr old either.

I would however...in light of the fact that u have already agreed to do a gel overlay....and to avoid disappointments...I would just do that...perhaps as already suggested just use a gel top coat? I dont see the harm in that myself.

Perhaps when u see the mother u could quietly explain to her that you are not prepared to do the full 'works' but as its for a special occasion you will do the overlay (which will still look the same) but on the provision that she is brought back in within say 2 weeks to have the gel removed properly for which she will need to pay for at this appointment..you could then say you will put some sparkly polish on for free after removal or something like that?

Dont beat yourself up about what you should or shouldnt have done at the time...it doesnt matter...what matters is what you do now!

Well I definitely would do enhancements on a 9 year old if a parent asked me and I would also book the soak off appointment at the same time and get them to pre pay for the lot of it.

There is no reason on earth why you shouldn't do this with the parent's say so. Are you going to damage her nails??? Do you not believe in what you do and that it will be safe for her?

What reason (other than your OWN thoughts on whether it is suitable or not for children to have enhancements) would you have for not doing them?

It is not up to us to make moral decisions for others unless we would be doing something to cause harm. I personally think it is too young for MY children, but it is not up to me to make or impose that call on someone else.

You didn't do anything wrong at all and I would do it happily.

Thanks for all your replies ladies.

In relation to not wanting the child to be disappointed when she comes to the salon and is told she cant have her nails done, I'm not so bothered about her having a tantrum as I am about doing the right thing. The only problem here is that I didnt take a number so cant ring to discuss it and avoid disappointment in two weeks (although someone has suggested seeing if the hairdressers took it which is a good point that I hadnt thought of - why I didnt think of it is anyones guess, I really think my brain has taken annual leave!)

geeg in response to your comments, I think the reason I am against enhancing children is mainly two-fold. firstly, as you have said, I wouldnt enhance the nails of my own child at that age, and I understand and agree with what you say about not making moral decisions for others. However my secondary (and main) concern is not so much about the application because I am confident in my application and know I wont cause any damage, but it's the damage that a 9 year old will cause after she leaves the salon that worries me. I know that some of our grown up clients leave a lot to be desired in this area, but a nine year old cant hope to properly grasp the importance of safety, never mind after care, and I dont think she is old enough to properly understand the extent of damage she can cause if she picks etc. It can be explained to her of course, but my experience of nine year olds is that it's in one ear and out of the other. My aim is to prevent a situation where mum brings daughter back with greenies and thineed nailbeds because she;s been picking at them, then playing out in the muck, not washing her hands etc, and then mum complains that it's my fault.

I think with all the advice given and a bit of thought, I'm going to leave the appointment as it is. when mum brings her to sign the client record card I'm going to have a special extended version one printed just for her, specifically stating that these must be removed at the salon no later than 2 weeks after application, and I'm going to go through a very detailed after care (but before the appointment), and offer a file & polish if they think she will not reasonably be able to keep to the advice given.

I do appreciate everything you have said Geeg and can understand the reasons behind it, but I wont be booking anyone so young in for enhancements again. I know it's not my place to make moral decisions for customers, but just like those people who pierce ears and set a minimum age even though you can do it on babies, I dont feel comfortable giving my service to someone so young.

thanks ladies, your advice is much appreciated.

As to the two points highlighted in red. It has been my experience that young ones more often take much better care of their nails than the older ladies and it is up to her mother and not you to worry about what she will or will not do and to enforce the proper aftercare and see that it is done. Once you have explained everything and aftercare (and given them a printed aftercare advice sheet and noted it on the CRC etc) your responsibility is over.

Pre booking and pre paying for the soak off at the time of the appointment is the key to making sure that no damage occurs from improper removal. If you do not insist on a prepayment for this then they will not return to have it done. Let this determine whether or not they accept the service on that basis. Of course ideally this should have been discussed before the booking was taken but even if you didn't you can make it clear on the day that unless they do this you are not prepared to do the nails. That is up to you.

If you don't feel comfortable then you don't feel comfortable although exactly why you don't feel comfortable with parental consent escapes me. By the way, this is the perfect client on which to use PopIts!!