Nail Biters Help Please

[beautifulnails1]

HI
Can I get advice please, this is a subject I hate the good old nail biters. I had a fairly old lady come to me in the salon on saturday to ask if I could do a set of extensions on her, she had just seen her mates that I had done that morning. Well to put it blunt her fingernails were horrific, I have never seen a nailbiter this bad, there was no freeedge and she had started to go up the nail, a few of her nails had red marks where she had bitten on the top and gone right down ( as though a file had gone too far down) they were sensitive to touch for her too.
I have asked her to stop bitin them for 2 weeks and then come back to me and will see what diff it makes she has told me she going to buy that stop and grow, but ive just found out she coming in this sat now she cant wait that long...
Advice here would be great. I wish I had taken a pic of her now but just imagine the worst ever nail biter ever.

 

[abicrunch]

HI
Can I get advice please, this is a subject I hate the good old nail biters. I had a fairly old lady come to me in the salon on saturday to ask if I could do a set of extensions on her, she had just seen her mates that I had done that morning. Well to put it blunt her fingernails were horrific, I have never seen a nailbiter this bad, there was no freeedge and she had started to go up the nail, a few of her nails had red marks where she had bitten on the top and gone right down ( as though a file had gone too far down) they were sensitive to touch for her too.
I have asked her to stop bitin them for 2 weeks and then come back to me and will see what diff it makes she has told me she going to buy that stop and grow, but ive just found out she coming in this sat now she cant wait that long...
Advice here would be great. I wish I had taken a pic of her now but just imagine the worst ever nail biter ever.

I can imagine what they are like as I used to be a bad nail biter, biting past the nail and the skin, it was red raw skin. Nail tips should not be applied on open skin in my opinion. I used to leave them to grow for at least 2 days, this way the skin has a layer over. Then I applied tips, keep them very short just to the ends. You can either do a natural look using clear or pink and paint over the top or do the french look. I use CND products so I would use the neutral pink for the nail beds to elongate them and white for tip. Because the neutral pink is an opaque pink you can hide imperfections and put the white smile line where ever you want it to be. This would make the nails look more natural. you wouldnt have known I was a nail biter. I was so impressed with the finish look. Good luck with this client. Ax

 

[VHunter]

First note: I am a former nail biter.

Biters are one of the biggest challenges we face.
First, there needs to be an understanding that nailbiting is frequently very unconcious. It's not like quitting smoking.
Smoking requires the concious decision to remove a cigarette from a pack, find a lighter and light it (if there is no pack and no lighter.... then they can't light one).
Nailbiting is often like absent-mindedly scratching an itch, and often they will randomly nibble without a thought. Just as you might have just scratched your head, just now.

You need to convey this to the nailbiter, and express your understanding.
They need your support.
Tell them that this IS a hard habit to break, explain the above analogy to show how much you understand.
Explain that although you know that between appointments they may nibble a nail or two, that it's important that they don't "even them off" by nibbling the rest.
It's much easier to hide one bitten nail than it is to hide 10.
Encourage them to come and see you for a touch up in between.
Offer them incentive that if they can get their nails to such-n-such a length, that you will give them such-n-such a service for free or for a discount.
Congratulate them for every single millimeter that they grow.
Nod your head, "yes.. it's very hard, and you're doing so well"...
Anyway.. I could ramble on.

After you explain your understanding of the habit, explain that you will only apply the very shortest of enhancements to square/round them all off evenly BUT that there will be no free-edge to tempt them with.
For a few reasons:
A) you don't want them tempted AND you don't want to give them an easy edge to rip off.
B) biters will bash their hands about more and you don't want them to hurt themselves because they're unaccustomed to having anything at the end of their fingers
C) the free edge can NOT be longer than the bed as it's not strong enough to support them.


Here's a pic of a biter I've been reforming (2 of my biters have since grown their own free edges and now PROUDLY wear Shellac). They are NOT my most beautiful nails... they were a real challenge to do. But it can be done.

Apply bright colour so that they catch it out of the corner of their eye if their hand lifts to their mouth.....
Also, they will likely have lift because of the bopping and nibbling, so you want to hide that so that they can't see it. If they see it, they WILL pick it.

hth's

 

[MissJulesBeauty]

First note: I am a former nail biter.

Biters are one of the biggest challenges we face.
First, there needs to be an understanding that nailbiting is frequently very unconcious. It's not like quitting smoking.
Smoking requires the concious decision to remove a cigarette from a pack, find a lighter and light it (if there is no pack and no lighter.... then they can't light one).

hth's

I have never biten my nails but have done lots of research into it and it appears to be one of the hardest habits to break. Some even argue it is passed on from parents / grandparents. I do not bite nails but do chew and bit the inside of my mouth sometimes to the point of it bleeding if i am stressed. It is not visible to anyone but is also a bad habit i do without realising!

Back onto subject you have some great tips here VHunter x Thank you x

 

[Planky1]

I'm a nail biter too :o all nails bar my right thumb are now lovely and have a nice free edge but they do keep breaking. Am also really bad for biting the skin around them too. Am looking forward to my Shellac training so then I can hopefully put it on mine and help them grow even more without wanting to bite! This is the best incentive though, how can you be a nail tech with yukky bitten nails?? Now just need to try and grow my thumb nail which has always been hard, I was a thumb sucker right into my 20's :o and it just doesn't grow?!?!

 

[Wooshka]

I'm a nail biter too :o all nails bar my right thumb are now lovely and have a nice free edge but they do keep breaking. Am also really bad for biting the skin around them too. Am looking forward to my Shellac training so then I can hopefully put it on mine and help them grow even more without wanting to bite! This is the best incentive though, how can you be a nail tech with yukky bitten nails?? Now just need to try and grow my thumb nail which has always been hard, I was a thumb sucker right into my 20's :o and it just doesn't grow?!?!

Don't be embarrassed about sucking your thumb for that long, I too sucked mine until I was near 15 but in my case my thumbs are the nails that grow the best and I used to be a chronic nail biter until my mid 20's if I didn't have enhancements on. It's my pointer fingers that are the worst and I am currently wearing nothing on my nails and my right pointer finger has cracked right across my nail bed and nearly broken right though about 3 ml back from my smile line, it's not sore but I have to fix it asap.

Beautifulnails1-
Everything VHunter has said, is so spot on with how us biters think/are, so yes, I would listen to her advice.
The only thing I would add is to make sure you use a opaque cover powder to elongate the nail bed, even if it's only by 1 ml, it can make all the difference. This is providing she wants a French look, which she probably will as they all seem to want it first time.
I do everything I can to encourage them not to and I pretty much tell them it will look horrible at first and until their nails have grown out a bit more and most times they listen.

Just do the best you can and make sure the client understand that she MUST come back in ONE week for a check up if she wants to keep these enhancements on and have them looking good.
Really push the aftercare advice too.

Good luck, let us know how you go.

 

[abicrunch]

HI
Can I get advice please, this is a subject I hate the good old nail biters. I had a fairly old lady come to me in the salon on saturday to ask if I could do a set of extensions on her, she had just seen her mates that I had done that morning. Well to put it blunt her fingernails were horrific, I have never seen a nailbiter this bad, there was no freeedge and she had started to go up the nail, a few of her nails had red marks where she had bitten on the top and gone right down ( as though a file had gone too far down) they were sensitive to touch for her too.
I have asked her to stop bitin them for 2 weeks and then come back to me and will see what diff it makes she has told me she going to buy that stop and grow, but ive just found out she coming in this sat now she cant wait that long...
Advice here would be great. I wish I had taken a pic of her now but just imagine the worst ever nail biter ever.

Once the biter had grown her nails a little you can then encourage her to use shellac. I now have shellac on and my nails are really long, once I put a shellac colour on I dont want to bite it now as it looks so nice. Have a look in my album and you will see a picture of my nails now I have grown them. Ax

 

[VHunter]

Back onto subject you have some great tips here VHunter x Thank you x

Thanks!

Beautifulnails1-
Everything VHunter has said, is so spot on with how us biters think/are, so yes, I would listen to her advice.
The only thing I would add is to make sure you use a opaque cover powder to elongate the nail bed, even if it's only by 1 ml, it can make all the difference. This is providing she wants a French look, which she probably will as they all seem to want it first time.

Good luck, let us know how you go.

Oh yes, definately! sorry, hadn't mentioned it because I discourage my clients from the french.
Opaque/cover/camouflage pink is a MUST have for biters to hide nibble-damage and extend the nail plate.
If I can't convince them of the full cover, I then try for the glitter-fade. It draws less attention to the free edge and is a style that is "kinder" to biters than a french is.
When that fails, I dig out my cover-pink.

AND YES!! Encourage them to start a NEW habit to replace the old one. GIVE them a pinky-bottle of oil to get them started. Tell them every time that they are tempted to bite, to get to work with their oil. Will help with all the snags of skin that I'm sure they're nibbling too.

Once the biter had grown her nails a little you can then encourage her to use shellac. I now have shellac on and my nails are really long, once I put a shellac colour on I dont want to bite it now as it looks so nice. Have a look in my album and you will see a picture of my nails now I have grown them. Ax

The one thing I've noticed with biters - myself included - is that it's "usually" best to keep wearing L&P/Gel for a minimum of 6mths (usually takes 1yr) before switching to natural nails, even with Shellac. A life-long habit that is unconcious is the absolute worst.
I've seen it time and again "Oh, I have my own free edge now... I just want a polish" and in 1-4wks... the free edge has been munched.
They need that 6mth minimum to get used to the idea that they CAN'T bite them because they're too hard, even on an unconcious level.

hth's