Problem client..

[CorrineC]

Hiya All,

I have a lovely ~60y.o. client who comes to me for french acrylics/refills every 3 weeks..

She has an extremely curly nail (right where it starts growing as the free edge) which causes some curling and lifting off at the edge, then she has alot, and i mean alot, of pocket lifting.. I dont have this problem with other clients too so am thinking its not my technique.....?

Also I noticed she has very dry and brittle looking nails (if that makes sense), like when I file them they are really brittle, they will just break away whereas a healthy nail would not do that, healthy nails are more flexible etc.. I know some people can have oilier nailbeds than others, is it possible that she has a really dry nailbed? I asked her last night to solaroil all over the nail, cuticle and hyponicium (sorry, bad spelling) day and night so am hoping this helps.. But i really have no idea what else i can do after that.. :cry:

Im sorry to rant on, but it really gets me down that i cant get her nails perfect, sure, when she leaves me they are but when she comes back, they are terrible all over again..

Please help..! Thank you, Corrine x

 

[Susie H]

Have you asked her what she does with her time? I'm sure that some of her problems are to do with her age, as we get older our nails do get thicker, drier, etc the menopause is no friend to our hair, nails or skin.
BUT I have also found that some of my older ladies don't think to wear gloves when cleaning with bleach, doing the gardening etc.
I had one lady who used to soak her nails in sterident (false teeth cleaner)
twice a week to keep the underside of her nails looking brighter:Scared:

 

[Bagpuss]

what i have found is that you cant change the way a nail wants to grow...thats whats so fab about what we do...we can give the appearance of perfection...If a client has nails that do not grow to the right shape...(curl under, over ect) then remove the free edge and sculpt/tip an perfect nail.

Some clients just are not suited to NNO...

I have a client whose middle nail on both hands grows very wonky....no amount of filing in the world will make that nails look anything other than wonky....so we always tip that nail and NNO the others...as soon as that nail starts looking wonky again...it all comes off and we tip it again....to make and keep it looking perfect.

HTH

 

[geeg]

Angie is so right (as she usually is). :green:

When a client has a misshaped nail or a problematic nail shape ... they are going to have problems as the nail grows out. YOU HAVE TO TELL THEM THAT!! That is our job as professionals.

They have to be told that they will need more frequent full sets than others .. period. It is ridiculous to imagine that nails like this lady's would last in the same way as nails of a more uniform and ordinary shape.

You can't have a NNO on a nail like that anymore than you can on a ski jump nail. All the pressure is in the wrong place and it literally forces the overlay away from the nail plate. the filbert nail shape that you describe is one of the worst to do and to make look pretty.

You have to have a real partnership and real commitment from a client like the lady you describe.

 

[CorrineC]

Geeg, in answer to your "YOU HAVE TO TELL THEM THAT!!", I have told her that already, she does realise that her nail shape makes it very difficult to avoid problems. However, I did not realise or know that having deep/curling edges/sidewalls of the nail would produce pocket lifting.. Is there anything else I can do to try and prevent this from happening? She has been to other techs before me and never had to have sets re-done...

Thank you for your replies..

 

[NoLimitNails]

You say she never had to have sets re-done, have you seen for youself how they looked? I mean if she's happy with your nails, even after 3 weeks, maybe it's because she don't know how they could look with more frequent new sets, if that makes sense.

Could be that you are more of a perfectionist (and I mean that in a GOOD way) so you want to have her come back with nails that are more like those "almostproblemfree" nails? Instead of a tech just saying, I give up they just look like that every three weeks, period!

I thougth of this as I have just recently gained a client with skijump nails, and the other tech just said that her nails kept fallling of and lifted because of her job. We keep her comming back every 14 days still, but I have now explained about the nails, told her she could never have a nno, and we have a minimum of lifting issues now..... And this as left me with a happy client that now knows why her nails don't last as long as others.

 

[Crystaltippers]

I have a fibreglass nno client with this problem. She wanted to try square nails for a while - nightmare. The curling was so much more noticeable with the wraps constantly losing contact with the nail no matter what I did. We have now agreed that she will stick to oval shaping and we endeavour to keep them relatively short so that the curl doesn't get chance to take over. Still get the occasional separation but on the whole she recognises that these particular couple of nails just need new nno's every now and again.

We persevere as she won't wear tips unless it is in extreme circumstances. I think from having many 50+ ladies on my books I have learnt that their age has such an impact on the condition of their nails. My curly nail lady got told off last week for not oiling (deaf ears again) and is now promising to be a better client. lol

 

[Bev Rose]

Could I suggest you tried your client with gels - as, if she has very dry & brittle nails, the gel is more likely to offer her a bit more flexibility than acrylics.
I'm a very experienced L&P tech, but newly qualified in Brisa gel (CND all the way), and my experience would suggest she may get on better with gel than acrylic.
As for her having filbert shaped nails - then be sure that you cap the sidewalls and the free edge with gel / or L&P, and not file away the capped area with your finishing filing, as this would allow the nail to pull away from the overlay.l
I have a client with exceptionally deep sidewalls with her filbert nails and have no problems with L&P on her, but she is much younger than your client (in her late 30's) and not on any medication.