Nail biters and Shellac-put my mind at rest

[Glitterbox81]

I've been doing this since November (part time while I build a client base) in that time only 3 of my 10 Shellac customers have returned for a 2nd treatment. However every single one of the non returners was a confessed nail biter with super short nails and terrible picked skin around them. In fact only 2 of my customers so far HASN'T been a nail biter. The 1 who did return returned after 2 weeks with no Shellac left on and told me she'd bitten it all off one night. The 2 non biters who returned had a couple of small chips to the corners of the nails and general tip wear. My family/friends who I've done all had tip wear but no real issues.

So I'm 99% sure my application is okay, I give aftercare advice and warn the biters that if they pick and nibble at their nails their Shellac will not last the distance.

I suspect that my non returners are getting chips/peeling and are then thinking that it's not worth the money. Are chips/issues more common with nail biters or am I just being too easy on myself and doing a rubbish job? I do find it REALLY hard to get super short nails as neat as I'd like but it is improving thanks to advice from here and Fingernail Fixer's videos.

Why are so many of my customers biters? surely 8/10 is an awfully high percentage? Maybe they aren't returning because almost all of them also said it was the first time they'd ever had a treatment done so they just aren't the kind of customers who are going to book in every 2 weeks.

 

[souz]

dont worry, its all a learning curve and if you can master nail biters the sky is the limit!

if you are having chips etc on most clients try and work on that first....when are they starting to chip?how many days/weeks in? it may be that they are not looking after them as they should and not be anything to do with your application. Do you do your own and do they last?

In general nail biters need to come back sooner than 2 weeks to being with or even just clients that are new to having their nails done, maybe book them in for say 10 days and then you can see how they arr getting on and gradually extend appts. Practice makes perfect xx

 

[TIPTOP]

Nail biting is a habit which for some is hard to break, I've started rewarding my nail biting clients by giving a small discount if they can last the distance, I give them a free solar oil pinkie and always give them aftercare Instructions, Ive marketed this as a New year Resolution package, so far my clients are sticking to it, us technicians always blame ourselves or workmanship, don't!! nail biters are nightmares, you can lead a horse to water but you can't force it to drink it, must say fingernail fixers tutorial helped me loads, my 14 year old daughter is my next pet nail biting project xx

 

[Glitterbox81]

Thanks. The non biters with chips have physical jobs with lots of opening boxes/mail and both admit they never wear gloves, use their cuticle oil or look after them so they're happy with the result. The chips are always on the index finger corners. On myself they wear okay- again I never look after them properly and I definitely use them as tools plus I'm typing for a good 10 hours a day so I get tip wear and the odd chip to a corner too.

I struggle with capping/sealing the free edge on the biters so that probably doesn't help and I definitely need to get more practise with that.

The thing is none of them come back so I don't even know if they are definitely having problems, I'm just assuming. None of them have ever got in touch or complained so for all I know they're wearing perfectly.

I did do a survey on my business Facebook for my customers/potential customers to fill out and one of the questions was how often do you get a treatment and only 1 person said once a month or more everyone else said every 3 months or only on special occasions so maybe it's just the client base I currently have isn't the kind who are going to regularly come back.

Urgh being self employed in IT is much easier than in beauty at least I get regular feedback from my clients there and know if I'm doing something wrong :lol:

 

[gr8nailz]

Girl, kudos to you. I won't Shellac a badly bitten nail. There are too many issues that come with it. Even though a lot of nail biters believe that by having Shellac or some gel polish applied, they'll stop their biting habit, most of them don't.

Here's why I don't Shellac a nail biter:

• They're nail biters, for Pete's sake. Most of them just chew it off.
• It takes longer to apply the polish (at least for me) because, lord knows, nail biters' nails are a hot mess to polish with all that skin everywhere no matter how well you pep/prep.
• Usually their nails are so badly damaged, Shellac is prone to chipping/peeling.
• I like to have a free edge to work with to ensure that my Shellac adheres well. There's no free edge.

With all of the above, you're bound to have service breakdown. I don't like re-doing work or having clients believe that the product isn't any good when in reality it's neither my work or the product that is at fault.

It just saves me a lot of headache in the long run.

 

[syncage]

From personal + professional experience with nail biters you have to make sure the application is super neat + tidy. The tiniest bit overlapping cuticle (and nail biters often have messy uneven cuticles) or thick bit near the free edge will be red rag to a bull and they will be in there!

For nail biters especially those with messy cuticles i leave a tiny little bit more of a 'gap' between the shellac and the cuticle to make sure I can get a crisp thin bottom edge and can properly make the 'sandwich' (if you have done the shellac training this will make sense!). If the treatment goes well within a couple of services the cuticles will be healed and tidy so you can go back to getting it as closer then.

With shellac compared to gel polishes 'capping' the free edge is not essential. IMO for nail biters with no free edge it is more important to get a neat thin consistent application without getting any product on the skin. I find the side to side technique works well. (see the fingernail fixer video). If you worry to much about capping you end up with the shellac being too thick on the ends or pooling under the nail giving another opportunity for the nail biter to pick/lift it up.

I would agree with the other advice given here about seeing them more regularly at first and offering/giving solar oil. Put their idea in their head that instead of biting or picking at their nails the could be rubbing solar oil in as it keeps their hands busy!

 

[Glitterbox81]

Honestly the girl I had today had the worst nails ever. Bitten right down, splits down them, the skin around them is red raw from her picking at them. She said that she's had extensions applied a few times in the past for special occasions and has bitten them off.

I must have told her about 100 times through the treatment that if she picks and bites then they will not last. She works shifts so hasn't made a return appointment yet as she needs to wait for her rota. We'll see if she returns.

 

[CHarvey]

I am (or was) a biter I've been having shellac for about 16 weeks. The first 2-3 only lasted 7 days but now it lasts 10-12 days. If I didn't work in a salon where I got staff discounts on shellac then I certainly wouldn't have been able to afford to have them done every 7 days.
Just explain its really worth persevering, every time I go to bite my nails I see lovely glossy colour and stop in my tracks also because my nail edges are smoother I don't break them as much so am not as tempted to chew at any rugged or flaky bits which used to lead to a full on chewathon

 

[Glitterbox81]

From personal + professional experience with nail biters you have to make sure the application is super neat + tidy. The tiniest bit overlapping cuticle (and nail biters often have messy uneven cuticles) or thick bit near the free edge will be red rag to a bull and they will be in there!

For nail biters especially those with messy cuticles i leave a tiny little bit more of a 'gap' between the shellac and the cuticle to make sure I can get a crisp thin bottom edge and can properly make the 'sandwich' (if you have done the shellac training this will make sense!). If the treatment goes well within a couple of services the cuticles will be healed and tidy so you can go back to getting it as closer then.

With shellac compared to gel polishes 'capping' the free edge is not essential. IMO for nail biters with no free edge it is more important to get a neat thin consistent application without getting any product on the skin. I find the side to side technique works well. (see the fingernail fixer video). If you worry to much about capping you end up with the shellac being too thick on the ends or pooling under the nail giving another opportunity for the nail biter to pick/lift it up.

I would agree with the other advice given here about seeing them more regularly at first and offering/giving solar oil. Put their idea in their head that instead of biting or picking at their nails the could be rubbing solar oil in as it keeps their hands busy!

thanks for the tips. I've been leaving more of a gap around the edges than I normally do on longer nails as the cuticles/skin are normally such a mess that I can't get too close and stay neat.

I think I just find the lack of feedback frustrating. If I'm doing a bad job I'd rather know so I can change what I'm doing and if I'm doing a good job I'd like to know so I can keep doing what I'm doing.

 

[syncage]

What's your charge/policy on removals? You should really be seeing everyone again to remove the shellac at least even if they don't want it redone?

Wherever possible I try to get them to rebook their next appointment while I'm with them. And also during the treatment I would talk about the improvements we could see at their next appointmnet and what colours / nail art they might like to try next time - any special occasions coming up etc.

I include the removal in the cost of the application so I know I will see them again + can inspect the nails + get feedback. If you are getting virtually no repeat business maybe you should try this if you aren't already?

 

[Glitterbox81]

I charge £10 for removal or free with a re-application. I discuss future appointments with everyone but so far everyone has been a shiftworker so hasn't been able to commit to a time there and then. I also always stress that they should have it removed properly to minimise damage to the nails and that picking it off will cause damage.

I'll definitely start including the removal in with the application rather than the reapplication though that's a good idea thanks.

 

[Glitterbox81]

Thought I'd update this as someone had asked how it wears on me when I do my own. Normally i change mine every few days but decided to see how they wear so I could see if I'm doing something wrong. Here's mine after 1 week. I've not worn gloves for anything, have been peeling stickers and depotting make-up, moving furniture and have been doing extra work in my other job so typing around 12 hours a day

There's a bit of tip wear on my index fingers but apart from that they seem fine not even lost any gems.