Problem with clients L&P chipping at free edge

[jenna00]

Hi,

I have recently taken on a client from my boss and seem to be having a few problems.

I only ever have her for infills as she always wears red polish on top so I just use a sheer pink. There is very minimal lifting around the cuticle area but the problem seems to be at the corners. From the couple I have had to remove, her nails are very thin and paper like. I have changed the shape from square to squoval so theres no sharp corners. She says they have started to just and peel away at the sides. On a couple of the nails the acrylic has been completely intact but the natural nail has peeled away underneath from the sides. (Hope that makes sense). She has a very deep c-curve but I wonder if thats from her nails being thin.
It's almost like the acrylic is not adhering to her natural nail.

I use CND retention l&p and have also started to use the primer. I really just can't put my finger on it as I've never come across this before in any of my other nails I've done. I'm baffled!

I am under a bit of pressure as I'm fairly new in the salon and there is little room for error so any suggestions would be greatly appeciated

 

[Chickafish]

With some people, when their nails are paper thin like that, when their nails get wet from whatever it is they're doing (showering, washing up, ect) the corners of the free edge curl inward. (Imagine a square nail turning into a stiletto nail.) This causes lifting, cracking, just all sorts of problems starting at the corners and going down the sides, especially if there's a fair amount of free edge underneath the enhancement. I thik you'll have to clip her natural nails short with minimal free edge before gluing on tips. The lack of natural length will stop the corners from curling and lifting.

 

[jenna00]

Thankyou! She actually said she had damaged one whilst cleaning the shower. Her natural nails are full length of the enhancements. I think what is frustrating is she says it's just recently started happening and she's worn them for 10 years. Just wish I had a bit more confidence in myself at times x

 

[Chickafish]

Most likely she will have to clip them short and grow out more healthier nails. It's like hair... what's the point of having it long if it's damaged? You can try to reinforce them with fiberglass, but with the under parts of the nails exposed to moisture, they're still proned to curl no matter what's placed on the top. Don't lose confidence. Maybe you can talk her into cutting them short and getting natural tips, and if it works out, she'll have to keep getting infills if she's adamant on acrylic.

 

[Emily Case]

I'm not sure if it's relevant, but I have a client who las L&P Natural Nail Overlays. Her nails were quite short when she first came to me and they've grown beautifully now - she has these gorgeous healthy nails. Her subconscious habit is flexing the sides of the free edge "because they feel so strong". This means she suffers from the free edge lifting, chipped corners and so on.

Do you think your client may be putting her fingers in her mouth and not realising? Just a thought, although Chickafish has given some fantastic advice there. Is she using Solar Oil as recommended? xx

 

[geeg]

It sounds to me as if in changing the shape of the nails you have removed the 'clamp' of product down the sides which 'seals' protects against 'curling' so that now her nail and the product are not sealed there at the sides and as chickafish says, moisture and drying (causing the expanding and contracting of the nail plate) and no 'seal' or 'clamp' there has allowed the nail to just curl away from the product.

You do not have to shorten the nails, you can remove all product and using a form, apply a nice new natural nail overlay making sure you go over the edges and free edge with the new product to form a seal which will clamp and protect the fragile free edge from curling away from the product.

The client needs to regularly use Solar Oil to keep the plate from drying out, and you need to be very careful that when doing your finish filing you do not then remove the clamp you have just created and that at every rebalance appointment you make sure you have resealed the area.

Natural nail overlays require special care to keep curling from happening.

Here is another article written by the GMG which though amusing may explain further.

Curlingonysuckus. - Salon Geek

 

[jenna00]

Excellent! Thankyou very much. I always remind her about solar oil and the benefits but I know she doesn't use it. I feel alot more confident now. And thanks so much Geeg for the link!
The explanation of how a sponge dries and leaves a horrible smell. Thats exactly how her nail that curled was, it smelt really strange, like detergent! Thats when she said she had been cleaning the shower and also used 'glue' to stick it back down.