Creative Acrylic Cracking

[sdanzine]

Hi

Hope someone can help.

My client of 6 months came for her fortnightly rebalance last night and a few of the enhancements on each hand had like a shatter like crack across the nail bed (not on the line where the tip is stick on but in the middle of the nail bed). The crack did not go from one side to the other but stopped approx 1mm from each side. The acrylic wasn't thin and it didn't have any air bubbles in. She assures me she hasn't smashed them etc. and I tend to believe her. She is not on any medication and I hadn't done anything different than before. Can anyone help?

 

[Belle De Jour]

Hi ya sam was your lady a former nail nibbler?? i must admitt to having chomped on the middle of the free edge (if that makes sense :o ) which causes them to shatter but not nessasarly shatter quiet side wall to side wall depends on how much munching you do :o im happy to say that im now a reformed nail nibbler!! (although the urge still gets me sometimes :o ) does anyone else suffer from this ? i tend to find it worse if i wear enhancements dunno why? not too good for a nail technician :o

 

[The Geek]

Hi

Hope someone can help.

My client of 6 months came for her fortnightly rebalance last night and a few of the enhancements on each hand had like a shatter like crack across the nail bed (not on the line where the tip is stick on but in the middle of the nail bed). The crack did not go from one side to the other but stopped approx 1mm from each side. The acrylic wasn't thin and it didn't have any air bubbles in. She assures me she hasn't smashed them etc. and I tend to believe her. She is not on any medication and I hadn't done anything different than before. Can anyone help?

Let me know the following:

How many nails did it occur on?
How many times have you done her nails?
How long has she been wearing enhancements?

Hope to help.

 

[Nailsinlondon1]

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMmm.........Micro shattering.............

Most likely cause is service breakdown
L&P takes 24-48 hours to fully polymerise, during this time, the client should be aware of 2 things:

No1: Solar oil being used 2-3 times a day, to help speed up the polymerisation and to plasticise the enhancement.................

No2: The clients has to be very careful not to knock or bash the nails during this time, as they are at their most fragile until fully polymerised..........

If this dosn't solve the problem, check your mix ratio ....................

Another thought, did you finish the enhancements with a e-file............ as this can lead to micro-shattering.............for the above reasons............

Hope this helps

 

[Deni]

Hi Ruth...
Excuse me for sounding dumb...but what is an 'e-file'? :o

 

[Nailsinlondon1]

Hi Babe, not dumb question...............e-file is an Electric file .................

 

[sdanzine]

Let me know the following:

How many nails did it occur on?
How many times have you done her nails?
How long has she been wearing enhancements?

Hope to help.

Hi

It happened on the small finger, middle finger on one hand and the thumb and the ring finger on the other hand. I didn't file the crack out but removed the whole enhancement from each one, there was no damage to the nails.

I have done her nails every 2 weeks since last September. This is her second rebalnce on this set of nails. She uses solar oil.

She has been wearing enhancements for a long time.

I have told her to call me if this happens again, but as a curtisy call I'm calling her this evening.

Hope you can help.

 

[The Geek]

Hi

It happened on the small finger, middle finger on one hand and the thumb and the ring finger on the other hand. I didn't file the crack out but removed the whole enhancement from each one, there was no damage to the nails.

I have done her nails every 2 weeks since last September. This is her second rebalnce on this set of nails. She uses solar oil.

She has been wearing enhancements for a long time.

I have told her to call me if this happens again, but as a curtisy call I'm calling her this evening.

Hope you can help.

Whelp... It was most liekly one of three things:
Severe solvent exposure, excessive wet ratio, or excessive length.

The thing to watch here is that it only happened on a couple of fingers. If it was something with the product (i.e. contamination) then the problem would have been pretty much accross the board (most fingers, most clients).
Im a little hesitant on the wet ratio because if it would have been wet enough for this level of cracking, then you most likely would have seen some pocket lifting as well. Saying that... if the ratio is slightly wetter, then all it would take is a knock to still form the crack.

Solvent exposure would have mosre than likely caused a dulling of the product, and usually happen on most fingers.

That brings us down to the length. Chances are this is your culprit.
Some clients can wear their nails very long and never have a problem. Some can wear them short and still crack and break them. It all comes down to how they use their hands.
Combine the off ratio and longer nails and this can contribute to the inconsistent cracking.

Hope this helps

 

[Nailsinlondon1]

Whelp... It was most liekly one of three things:
Severe solvent exposure, excessive wet ratio, or excessive length.

The thing to watch here is that it only happened on a couple of fingers. If it was something with the product (i.e. contamination) then the problem would have been pretty much accross the board (most fingers, most clients).
Im a little hesitant on the wet ratio because if it would have been wet enough for this level of cracking, then you most likely would have seen some pocket lifting as well. Saying that... if the ratio is slightly wetter, then all it would take is a knock to still form the crack.

Solvent exposure would have mosre than likely caused a dulling of the product, and usually happen on most fingers.

That brings us down to the length. Chances are this is your culprit.
Some clients can wear their nails very long and never have a problem. Some can wear them short and still crack and break them. It all comes down to how they use their hands.
Combine the off ratio and longer nails and this can contribute to the inconsistent cracking.

Hope this helps

So is this not a possibilitie too then:

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMmm.........Micro shattering.............

Most likely cause is service breakdown
L&P takes 24-48 hours to fully polymerise, during this time, the client should be aware of 2 things:

No1: Solar oil being used 2-3 times a day, to help speed up the polymerisation and to plasticise the enhancement.................

No2: The clients has to be very careful not to knock or bash the nails during this time, as they are at their most fragile until fully polymerised..........

If this dosn't solve the problem, check your mix ratio ....................

Another thought, did you finish the enhancements with a e-file............ as this can lead to micro-shattering.............for the above reasons............

Hope this helps

 

[The Geek]

Sure, these are good general points to follow (use SolarOil 3-4 times in the first 24 hours)... I was just trying to be more specific to the situation if I could.

Since she has been having her nails done for some time without this problem, I assume that the micro cracking wasnt a result of her banging them about during the first 24 hours as where the nails broke... would have been applied about 3-4 months previously (actually, in this case, since her last soak and set). Though it doesnt rule this out as we could simply be seeing previous abuse manifest itself as a crack.

If it were due to an e-file or over aggressive finishing, chances are she would see this behaviour in a lot more than 1 client. Saying that... this could still be a very large contributing factor.

In my experience, if the symptoms are wide spread (spanning several clients) it usually refers to the technicians technique and approach.
When it is one client, it usually refers to not customising service for client (i.e. one client with tons of lifting may need a more customized prep approach... 1 client with frequent cracking and breaking, the nails are not customized in length for their lifestyle and activity level).

Anyhooo... these are all just indicators. Problem solving seldom results in a 'Magic Bullet' being found. in virtually all cases, 1 particular problem is not caused by 1 particular thing, but rather several 'things' working together.

Anyhooo... hope that makes sense

 

[Nailsinlondon1]

Yep makes perfect sense, Cheers Sam

 

[sdanzine]

Thanks everybody

I rang my client last night and no problems

Thanks once again for good advice.

Samantha x