Dry skin around little toes

SalonGeek

Help Support SalonGeek:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

PaigeRosexxx

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 22, 2019
Messages
94
Reaction score
12
Location
Manchester
Hello so I am a trainee beauty therapist (started 2 years ago but training has been delayed), and I have a fungal infection which is being treated with tablets so this may be why, but no matter how much I scrape my cuticle/push it back then nip the cuticles... there’s always a thick layer of skin at the bottom of my toe nails and around my toe nails. If it isn’t my fungal infection, what could it be? I’ve been doing gel nails in a salon for 2 years now and never had this problem on clients. I will attach a photo.
 
The cuticle is not the thick lip around nails. This is living skin and shouldn’t be cut. It has an important function as a seal/barrier to protect against the ingress of bacteria. The more you nip, the more your skin will grow a thicker protective barrier.

Try just pushing the nail fold after softening with appropriate products and don’t nip. If you use nice products the skin will gradually calm down and stop over growing.
 
Try some cuticle softening cream/gel based on fruit acids that will gently soften and break down the dead skin on the nails. Cuccio do an apple variety which is very gentle. I always do this after the feet have been soaked. However not all of my clients have this problem.

In your training were you shown how to roll the cuticle area back with an orange wood stick and small amount of cotton wool loaded onto it? This method is the most kind and removes the need for the nipping of any living tissue. Gentle pressure and the dead skin comes cleanly off the nail and leaves the cuticle intact.

Cuticle nippers are used very rarely for hang nails etc. Let the products do the work for you....gently does it.
 
I have found that a pumice pencil works a dream. They may be sold as a ‘ruby stone’ since they are sometimes pink in color. They can be filed with a coarse board to shape and work fine in sterilizer liquid.
 
Try some cuticle softening cream/gel based on fruit acids that will gently soften and break down the dead skin on the nails. Cuccio do an apple variety which is very gentle. I always do this after the feet have been soaked. However not all of my clients have this problem.

In your training were you shown how to roll the cuticle area back with an orange wood stick and small amount of cotton wool loaded onto it? This method is the most kind and removes the need for the nipping of any living tissue. Gentle pressure and the dead skin comes cleanly off the nail and leaves the cuticle intact.

Cuticle nippers are used very rarely for hang nails etc. Let the products do the work for you....gently does it.
Hi no I haven’t been shown this! Can you explain? Xx
 
My method after soaking and the applying cuticle remover is as follows:-

Slightly dampen the chisel shaped end of the orange wood stick and using a cotton wool disc separate it into 2 halves so that there is a small amount of fleecy cotton wool. Take your dampened sick and pick up enough to wrap around it as if it was a long cotton bud.

Keep the stick horizontal and from about the centre of the nail roll it up and over the cuticle area, repeating several times to really roll all over the cuticle area. I would start say the left and rolling up over and finishing on the right of the nail. It is so hard to describe I hope you understand me! Sorry if you can't. It is easier to practise the method on finger nails because they have a larger area.

Finish off by gently removing any dead cuticle with the stick at an angle. Absolutely no pressure so that you don't damage the nail in any way. If you press too hard when the stick is more vertical or at an angle you can cause an indentation line as the nail grows .

My method is something I have used for the last 38 years, and I hope you get to try it for yourself.
 
Cutting the skin means that it aggressively grows back. This is because it is a natural seal / barrier to infection causing bacteria etc getting in. It needs to be there but it is your personal choice of course. When working with the general public? You have a responsibility.

It is called the 'eponychium' via the training that i received, however last time I mentioned this here people were quick to point that it was an eye infection instead, so in bearing that in mind, the eponychium is what you are describing as the 'cuticle'. Check this nice nails mag article:

https://www.nailsmag.com/390751/in-the-thick-of-it
As a pro. I personally never cut skin, and those unhappy with this made their decisions to go elsewhere. I never cut my own skin, but that's due to the education that I received and of course then my own personal choice.
 
Cutting the skin means that it aggressively grows back. This is because it is a natural seal / barrier to infection causing bacteria etc getting in. It needs to be there but it is your personal choice of course. When working with the general public? You have a responsibility.

It is called the 'eponychium' via the training that i received, however last time I mentioned this here people were quick to point that it was an eye infection instead, so in bearing that in mind, the eponychium is what you are describing as the 'cuticle'. Check this nice nails mag article:

https://www.nailsmag.com/390751/in-the-thick-of-it
As a pro. I personally never cut skin, and those unhappy with this made their decisions to go elsewhere. I never cut my own skin, but that's due to the education that I received and of course then my own personal choice.
I'm so pleased to see other people saying this. I'm so sick of seeing Instagram influencers hacking away at living skin and teaching a generation of techs to do the same!
 
I'm so pleased to see other people saying this. I'm so sick of seeing Instagram influencers hacking away at living skin and teaching a generation of techs to do the same!

Cringey to even think about !

Imagine, nipping all that cuticle away and then flooding the area with product, then round two.. cleaning it up by flooding it with another product, this is an overexposure hell.

I have noticed people seek to clean up their own manicures to the same degree that they see on social media with no way of doing so - the images have been touched up beyond possibility in reality.

Health an safety going down the pan for social media is not worth it, plus wouldn't any tech want to showcase images of an reasonably obtainable result to prospective clients rather than a lie? It can seriously mess with customer satisfaction, not to mention mental health.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top