Need help with a nail biter

[suzie49]

Hi
I'm hoping someone can help me, I have a lady who is a sever and I mean sever nail biter, who wants me to do her nails. Now I have done a nail biter before with great success, she now has NNO, but her nails were nothing compared to this ladies, and to cap it all she has I nail if you can call it that that is a ski jump nail, most of the nail bed is red hard skin with a very small amount of nail.
She has been to a lot of salons in town and non will touch her, if I can help her I would love to try, but would love some advice on how go about it for the best, I have explained I would be asking for information before I commit myself, and that it would be a commitment for her as well, as in weekly appointments and care taken with them once on...She is agreeable to all that.
I use NSI.. or Le chat gel and tips ..Thanks guys in advance

 

[Pinky's!]

I've had a couple of severe - and when I say this I mean caloused cuticles, bitten down to the quick almost! hard as hooves and really ugly.

As you say it is a committment on her part as well. Prior to getting the set done she needs to get those talons in order - a bit of cuticle oil of an evening, soften the hands up etc.

Then you can start - prep prep and prep again is what I would recommend. you really need to clean the nail plate and get a good surface to work with.

But i would say that she needs to be warned that the first few times she gets treatment, a nail or two may pop off - for several reasons:
1) she may continue to pick and bite at the nails and break the seal
2) as she is clearly not careful about her nails, she may bang and bump them alot initially
3) the very condition of her nails may take some time to improve and until them expect a few casualties
As for the wonky nail you should be able to build a nail for her easy enough, but I would be concerned if the nail bed is red, as you say.

i would also encourage her to go for natural finish as white tips way down the nail look SOOOOOO wrong!
Initially i would leave them quite short until she gets used to them and learns to stop picking and biting, and the nail underneth heals and reconditions itself.

so far so lucky with my nail biting clients - their nails always look good, and have improved dramatically since getting enhancements. One lady still picks and bites, and inevitably always has one with an air bubble or ready to pop, but compared to what her nails were lke before its a miracle! and at least she knows its her own fault for the damage as she will insist on biting the darn things!

 

[suzie49]

Thanks for that hun, I did explain about them not staying put the first few times because of the reasons you statd and she does seem to be commited, so we will see.Hopefully she will keep it up, its a great feeling when you convert a nail biter x

 

[geeg]

I'd use PopIts on her for the first few sets ... that way you get a great result without spending hours and hours of work only to have them come off.

 

[tracey louise]

http://www.salongeek.com/misc-tutor...?highlight=building+a+free+edge+without+forms
i found this really helpful,it was done by glynis (peterpan).it worked really well when i did it on a client.xx

 

[milkshakerrr]

http://www.salongeek.com/misc-tutor...?highlight=building+a+free+edge+without+forms
i found this really helpful,it was done by glynis (peterpan).it worked really well when i did it on a client.xx

I just commented in the tutorial but I must say again, I wish I'd have seen this before starting the worst biter I've ever seen. She bit her nails to less than half of what they originally were. I panicked and used forms and they turned out okay, but I think building the free edge without the form would have saved me a lot of time. I will try this next time, as I'm sure she'll break them at least a couple more times before they grow out. Thanks for linking the tutorial!

(Here's a photo, just in case anyone wants to know.)

Another question regarding biters: How do you decide how long to make the extension, particularly if the client wants something other than what you think is best? I know that if it's longer than the nailbed it puts not-so-nice pressure on the natural nail and may lead to onycholysis (right? ...) My nail-biter client wants them long for her wedding, and at present they are probably 2.5x the length of her bitten nailbed. She is getting married in two weeks so maybe it's okay for her to wear them that long until then... Am I making this too complicated?

 

[mdskora]

I too have a very similar problem bitter... hers were as you say.. red lumps and ski jumps. She has had weekly apt's and was doing quiet well.. problem is that everytime she pop's one off.. as there is litrally 5mm of nail plate to work with.,,. she bites at them and we are back to square one.... then she decided it would be better to carry around a bottle of hardware glue!..stick them back on so that she doesn't bite at them.. then i had to try and get these..rather horrid nails off and a new one on.. takes me forever.
She loves her nails and is dead set on keeping them on..
Will her natural nail plate ever grow back to a normal length?... how long will it take.. she really wants to have a white tip but at the moment it looks like she will never get there.

Also should I chager her a reduced rate becuase she is coming weekly?..
I know it is not my work as to why the are popping off but I feel bad for her.

 

[karentriff]

Hi I have had several severe nail biters. After prep I apply a CND full well tip using Gelbond. This is important as the gelbond takes up the lumps and bumps and gaps in the natural nails and kind of acts as a filler. I blend the tip and then sculpt a free edge. I then use a CND pink cover powder in zones 2 & 3. I never make them longer than the end of their finger because they are not used to them. They have all been happy with their new nails and haven't had any pop off. My worst has almost grown her nails enough for a nno next time.
Cheers
Karen

 

[mdskora]

Hi Karen,
what do you mean you sculpt the free edge?.. if you have used a tip?. Thanks for the gel bond tip.. I have some of that.
X Mel

 

[geeg]

Hi Karen,
what do you mean you sculpt the free edge?.. if you have used a tip?. Thanks for the gel bond tip.. I have some of that.
X Mel

Whenever you are making a nail either with or without a tip, you are sculpting with your brush. So I think she is just saying she sculpts the bead onto the tip with her brush.

 

[mdskora]

Thanks Geeg, That is what i thought.. i do the same but i was just checking to make sure... today has been a big learning day for me : )

 

[karentriff]

Hi Karen,
what do you mean you sculpt the free edge?.. if you have used a tip?. Thanks for the gel bond tip.. I have some of that.
X Mel

What I mean is that I use a natural tip and if they want french I sculpt in the white and smile line.
Yes Geeg that is correct

 

[bubbles132]

When i have a very short nailbed to sculpt my first step is just by making the nailbed longer. No white free edge. This way the nail can grow. The client needs to use the cuticle oil two time a day and after a week or so she comes back for a check up. If the nails are a bit longer then i make a little free edge with my white.

 

[jax]

I have a few horrendous biters who other techs wont touch and its such good fun doing them!

For ski jump shape with virtually no nail plate I have had good success using the following technique;
1. Use a well-less tip (the more exposed nail plate for the L+P to stick to the better)
2. Do hard core prep
3. Apply a bead of gelbond (or you could use a bead of L+P) to the underside of the well-less tip, near to the join area but not right up to it- then quickly apply gell bond to the edge as usual
4. Apply your tip as usual sticking the edge of your well-less tip to the tiny nail plate then apply pressure to the tip with the gelbond bead underneath and hold in in the position you want which will be tight against the exposed nail bed and fingertip. The gelbond will squidge around and create a perfect mould to hold the tip to the finger and most importantly will fill in all those gaps.
5. Apply your product as normal over the top
6. I would insist on a very short nail - your client wont cope with anything past the end of her finger.

Popits sound like a good option too, but my personal preference is to use gelbond as the gap filler instead of L+P, I think it sticks to the skin longer than L+P does and has less risks of exposure problems probably. I have found clients last easily 2 weeks......if they manage not to pick them off!

 

[nailzandbeauty]

This is a good thread thanks for starting it, can i just ask aswell as my daughter is a nail biter but her beds are wide aswell so what tip would you advice for me to use on wide nail beds.I use CND products thanks ,sorry to jump thread xx