Help my first nail biter.

[Missy G]

Hi geeks,my worst nightmare happened today somebody's called me about extensions for her bitten nails. I've got another two weeks until the appointment, but was hoping to get as many tips as possible.

None of my training has gone into depth on nail biters. I have some rough idea, for example, they may need a course of manicures before hand, and they may need weekly appointments at first to keep the nail short.

Any other advice please?? Should I sculpt or tip? I havent really had any experience in extending the nail bed either. Please help as I really want this to work. I will be the happiest nail tech in the world if I can get a nail biter to grow her nails. This has been my goal since I first started out.xxx

 

[KellyT]

When i do nail biters, i give myself a bit of extra time to do prep as i find i usually have more to do on these types of nails!
I keep the length short so that they will not be too hard to get use to.
I use formation tips on nail biters (so which ever matches these using ezflow)
Make apps closer together than normal.
Can't think of anything else right now HTH

 

[hayleypayne]

hi debbie
i have done a couple of nail biters one of which was my sister in law for her wedding.
We managed to get her gorgeous long nails for the day after alot of hard work. she had to have very regular maintenance, as when very short they lifted quicker. I also extended the nail bed slightly when i started because the nails were seriously short.
i think she stayed having maint every 2 weeks once she had the length, and she loved them!!
i love doing nail biters i find it so rewarding when they finally have gorgeous long nails
Hayley x x

 

[Lellipop]

I tip severe nail biters there is a tutourial on how to saddle the tip by nailsinlondon1 on this site The tip needs to be changed to fit because biters tend to have bulbous fingertips and a normal shaped tip will not fit snuggly enough.
Also to give the illusion of a longer nail use a pink coverage powder of gel to extend the nail plate and then apply the white

 

[cups1974]

I think but not sure if you do a search there was a very good thread re nail bitters i want to say around Yule i'll try and get back to you

 

[SthrnComfort]

Nail biters are not my favourite either, and really dreaded doing a set my first time....but luckily my sister offerered her horribly bitten nails to be my first lol. She had the bulbous skin at the tips so had to saddle the tips to fit them.

While they are hard work to do, they are also very rewarding, with your client walking out the door admiring her new nails!

I still don't look forward to the call from someone wanting a set, them adding 'oh im a nail biter'! But at least they warn you so you can prepare.

I did have a client phone me a couple weeks ago to get a set and said she was a chronic nail biter, so i was not looking forward to it. But when she turned up they weren't bad at all and I was easily able to sculpt them. So try to work yourself up as they may not be that bad.

Good luck - check out the tutorials on here!

 

[Missy G]

Nail biters are not my favourite either, and really dreaded doing a set my first time....but luckily my sister offerered her horribly bitten nails to be my first lol. She had the bulbous skin at the tips so had to saddle the tips to fit them.

While they are hard work to do, they are also very rewarding, with your client walking out the door admiring her new nails!

I still don't look forward to the call from someone wanting a set, them adding 'oh im a nail biter'! But at least they warn you so you can prepare.

I did have a client phone me a couple weeks ago to get a set and said she was a chronic nail biter, so i was not looking forward to it. But when she turned up they weren't bad at all and I was easily able to sculpt them.So try to work yourself up as they may not be that bad.

Good luck - check out the tutorials on here!

Thanks hun im trying not to worry about it ,although I did wake up early hours this morning and couldnt get back to sleep thinking about it,but I am a big worrier anyway.

But like you say it may be not as bad as I think it is.I had a young girl last week who has NSS nails wastnt happy with them at all wanted me to sort them out for her , i wasnt too happy about sorting out somebody elses work but when i got there I couldnt see what the fuss was , they appeared fine to me , just needed a rebalance.

So we shall see ,ive got plenty of time to to do some research, just still not sure wether to tip or sculpt at the moment.?

 

[waxprincess]

So we shall see ,ive got plenty of time to to do some research, just still not sure wether to tip or sculpt at the moment.?

Are you acrylic or gel? When I did acrylics on biters I would sometimes put the acrylic right on thier nail/finger. It makes it kind of like a free edge. Then you have something to put the form under. But, Sculpting on a biter tends to look like big, old June Bugs sitting on her finger!
I do gels now and I put tips on the biters. They may have a few breaks the first couple weeks, but then no problems. I might have pictures somewhere...
Oh, and PREP, PREP, PREP!!

 

[Missy G]

K thanks ,I will be definatly using acrylic ..dont think Bio gel will be strong enough..and I told her its too edible too ..lol...I am thinking of doing a sculpt ..if I can,in natural, if not a tip and then a natural overlay , and then painting in a bright varnish or a dark one ...obviously if the clients ok with this at the moment,and also mention to her about nail art that I do , maybe the prettier her nails look , the less she might bite them.

I am a right picker myself but i have found recently using a dark Bio colour over my acrylic(for strength)its cured my picking as there are no visible bits to pick if you know what I mean.

I am so dreading it, but at the same time I cant wait for the experience.xx