How do you tell a client...

[Leslee]

TO CLEAN UNDER HER FINGERNAILS????

Gah. This client is a woman I just adore and in fact, I do her nails for nothing. She's 84 years old and the cutest, spunkiest thing you ever saw.

BUT... every time she comes in there is tons of GUNK under her nails. Her free edge is about 3 inches away (I SWEAR!!! LOL!) from her finger tip so when she washes her hands it looks clean from her finger tip to the nail tip, however, the tip of her finger down to her actual free edge is grody. It scares me.

I'm not really sure how to broach this subject tactfully without offending her. UGH!!!

 

[Carmen]

Ahhh, the lovely things we get to deal with!

If I were you, I'd just give her one of my nail brushes to take with her.

Carmen

 

[alli]

I can deal with a lot of things, but god! I just want to throw up when I see nails like that. yeuch!
Again, I'd give her the nail brush and say nicely' if you'd just like to give your nails a wee wash and then we can get started' or something like that anyway
ali

 

[angel fingers]

say something like

'i can see that youre struggling to get the underside of your nails clean, have you tried using a soft toothbrush, it gets in all the nooks and crannies and does a great job'

 

[Leslee]

Truthfully... sometimes I wonder if she can even see well enough to realize how gunked her nails are.

What worries me is... yesterday I took off her gels and put a sparkling new set... but when I took off her old ones I cleaned a TON of dead skin and junk out from under her free edges and her nails plates seemed soft and spongy. I couldn't see any evidence of fungus or greenies, but um.... ?

I'm wondering if maybe I shouldn't have put on a new set.

She is leaving for CA within the next week and will be gone until April. I insisted she has to come in before she leaves so I can "make sure they look beautiful for her sister to see", but really I just want to clean them really well and I don't know... put some antibacterial something or other under her nails! LOL!

 

[VHunter]

I have a client like this.
Her nails are always absolutely disgusting.. makes me want to toss (sorry, didn't want to paint a picture.. but that's the way of it.)
There is always nasties under her nails and as she's a nurse.. I really dont want to speculate....

I've known her since I was 7yrs old. I can tease her good naturedly. She did buy one of my nailbrushes... but still... she's not quite getting it done... We were kidding around about it.. cause I can't come right out and say 'EWWW DISGUSTING'.. so, we went to the ladies room, and I showed her how to use the brush (cause in actual fact... she was only scrubbing the top and didn't realize it was also for under the nails working in a hosp, go figure)
I KNOW she's a frequent handwasher.. I just dont get it.
I also know she never stops in her kitchen, making this or that from scratch... so I'm sure some of it is 'food'..

I dont know... it's just gnarly.

I've been thinking of 'pushing' a certain retail item. She's a smoker.. and her nails tend to be yellowed... I have manicure pencils.. and maybe if she uses them often enough.. she'll realize how nasty it gets every day?

I'm as at a loss as you are as how to make certain clients understand that they need to get the dirt out :|

 

[Leslee]

UGH! Right, and my little client is so elderly I honestly don't think she can see well enough to SEE that there's still yuck under her nails. It kind of reminds me of the optical illusion created when you do a french on toes. You can make it look like the free edge is much deeper than it actually is. I've actually made myself bleed cleaning my toenails because my eye told my hand I had 1/8" of free edge to clean under, but there was really only 1/16" to work with. OUCH! (Don't laugh.)

I don't think she realizes there is like a mile between her finger tip and her actual free edge that needs to be cleaned! I don't know what to do except I told the other little elderly lady who does all the driving that it would be great if she could bring Miss Alma by the salon once a week. (For nothing more than so I can clean out from under her nails... but I couldn't really say that.)

 

[River]

I have a client like this.
Her nails are always absolutely disgusting.. makes me want to toss (sorry, didn't want to paint a picture.. but that's the way of it.)

Hi Victoria,

Sorry to go off the thread, but this made me giggle. In the UK and SA, the word "toss" means something completely different to what you meant (if you get my meaning..) :wink2:


River

 

[Deb379]

Hi

I have one like this. Last time I gave her a nail brush and whitener and asked her to scrub them under the tap to see if the whitener worked!

She's still the same lol

Deb379

 

[tinkywinky]

I usually clean under the nail plate as part of the service. It's one of those things with our job. I've seen some horrendous things under nails. She may not be thinking about it if she is 84!! Bless.!!

 

[kadie]

Hi Victoria,

Sorry to go off the thread, but this made me giggle. In the UK and SA, the word "toss" means something completely different to what you meant (if you get my meaning..) :wink2:


River

i thought that too!!!!

 

[VHunter]

Hi Victoria,

Sorry to go off the thread, but this made me giggle. In the UK and SA, the word "toss" means something completely different to what you meant (if you get my meaning..) :wink2:


River

Hmmm nope, I dont get the meaning Here in Montreal we say 'toss our cookies'...... as in being ill.
What does it mean in the SA and UK?
(sorry for O/T, but learning uk lingo here lol)

 

[angel fingers]

its something men do in private lonely moments!

 

[VHunter]

:o


OH

 

[Sassy Hassy]

:o


OH

LMFAO!!!

 

[Rose143]

Sometimes clients are unaware of what our jobs actially entail.

I would never clean under somebody's nails ever!! I very politely say, "would you mind giving those a quick scrub before we start?" I am there to beautify the nails not clean them.

God knows what they were doing before I touched their hands, they could've been scratching their bum for all I know! Lol!!! Sorry :o

xxxx

 

[VHunter]

Sometimes clients are unaware of what our jobs actially entail.

I would never clean under somebody's nails ever!! I very politely say, "would you mind giving those a quick scrub before we start?" I am there to beautify the nails not clean them.

God knows what they were doing before I touched their hands, they could've been scratching their bum for all I know! Lol!!! Sorry :o

xxxx

Exactly...
I do my best, but I dont dig for gold. If they want to live with dirt, then go right ahead. I just simply tell the ones that are 'grungy' that it'll show thru if they dont clean their nails properly.

 

[kateyork1]

:o


OH

PMSL!!!

 

[River]

Hmmm nope, I dont get the meaning Here in Montreal we say 'toss our cookies'...... as in being ill.
What does it mean in the SA and UK?
(sorry for O/T, but learning uk lingo here lol)

Hi Victoria,

No problem ! I knew exactly what you meant, it just made me laugh :lol:

Don't you just love different cultures and their sayings ...


River

 

[ariaaland]

hi i read your post and i had a client like that once and she used a lot of hair products that got stuck under her nails and because she did not come to me when she should, her nails used to lift at the freedege because she knocked it and it cracked or something like that (so she said) so hair and all sorts of things used to be caught in her nails, and plus whatever she cooked the week or day before. so i could not take it any more and i justcame out and told point balnk that she needed to clean under her nails before she comes back to me or else i am either going to charge her extra to clean them or just dont do her at all. i dont know if she was mad ( i know i was) but she explained that it was the stuff she used in hair that caused it and she tried using bleach to cleanit but it never worked (so she said) my view is "whatever". so my point is sometimes it doesnt pay to beat around the bush .. just come right and tell them they either will appreciate it or not. its your choice and your stomach so you decide whether its worth it to have a nasty client or a clean client who has pride in themselves and their appearance