Sculpted nails?

[becs c1989]

Hi ladies haven't been on lately as iv been working a lot on sculptured gel nails as my teacher has now hired me to work in her salon as a junior tech eeekkkk nervous but excited so she only uses forms iv been flat out all week practicing well my question is number 1. How thin should the free edge be and number 2. When doing nails that are so badly biten that there's no free edge do you place the form exactly against the nail as theres no free edge to place under any advice would be appreciated thanks.

 

[becs c1989]

Anyone?

 

[nailpod]

Do a search on this site and someone posted a video by young nails on form fitting. Yes your forms are me to be like normal acrylic overlay thickness no thicker then credit card ! Do your sculpt then afterwards remember to file the front towards you to shape it so it's not "thick "

 

[becs c1989]

Hi thanks for the reply I apply the form sculpt the tip very thin and then build the nail!it's gel I'm using but iv found a few girls I do its like just the sculpted tip is coming off not the rest should I be making it a bit thicker to you think?also what about nails that are biten like when there is no free edge to fit the form under instead do you just place the form as close to the nail as you can? But sometimes I can also see with biten nails there's always a tiny tiny gap and you can't go any closer because it can be crooked with biting,thanks for the reply

 

[Nailed-it]

I'm just starting out as well but I've had a lot of nail bitters and I'm one as well but not like these people. What I do if the nails are really short and swollen, cut the form if I have to, then I leave some skin at the free edge but put the form tight towards the free edge so it doesn't move but not too tight it hurts. This usually works and gives me a nice surface to work on, the gel won't stick to skin I take an orange wood stick and go under the nail after so they don't do it (nail bitters find any excuse to pick at their nails so I try to not give them a reason to) even when building out on a nail bitter I have to remember I can't just make it any length the client wants. I think it's called onychophagy when nails have been bitten enough to be deformed and if there is no free edge they shouldn't be much longer than the end of their fingertip. If they insist I just explain that because they are a nail bitter the strength just isn't there and it's more likely to break off. Okay one more if the forms still aren't working for you, you could build without forms first so it's long enough for you to work with, you can then place a form(I haven't had to used fiberglass but if they need more strength and you use it you could place a small piece to bridge between the free edge and the form and continue with the resin) anyways I hope that all makes sense couldn't think of the words for parts lol hope it helps!

 

[vidar.svendsen]

So when it comes to thickness I agree with nailpod, free edges should not be thicker then a credit card. Building the nail thicker might throw it of balance and you need to check your apex placement to see where you are building your stress point. If this is not in place your entire enhancement will suffer.

Thickness is never stronger than a balanced enhancement.

Also, are you using clear forms? Some techs use acrylic metal foil forms for gel and it effects the cure. It might not be curing all the way thru and causing the build around the free edge do weaken.

Form placement on bitten nails are always hard so check out videos on the subject on YouTube. Take your time with these clients and work on sculpting very consistent and never long nails.

If you sculpt out the free edge I/3 of the nail plate size you are sculpting a safe sustainable length.

Good luck and happy sculpting

 

[becs c1989]

are you using gel though @nailpod cause I don't work with acrylic nail only gel I find long natural nails are easy to do but it's biten I'm having trouble with even with gel when placing the form if there's a tiny bit of skin (and I mean tiny) showing is that okay?as I thought your not meant to get any product on the skin thanks

 

[NicDox]

You really need to speak to your teacher. Forms are not suited for short bitter nails really. They are for people who have got good nails with a bit of free edge. Nail biters need tips I feel. Kinda making your life really difficult. But if you can do forms on nail biters cuddos to you. That's excellent

 

[NicDox]

Short bitten nails. Sorry just re read that

 

[Sharyn]

You really need to speak to your teacher. Forms are not suited for short bitter nails really. They are for people who have got good nails with a bit of free edge. Nail biters need tips I feel. Kinda making your life really difficult. But if you can do forms on nail biters cuddos to you. That's excellent

This is incorrect.
Nail biters are the perfect sculpting candidates and sculpted nails will last far, far longer than tips.
When you put tips on a biter with short nail beds, the tip will cover half the bed and is only held on with glue, which will lift within a few weeks.
You will only apply acrylic/gel to half the visible nail - which is often 1-2mm! That's not enough acrylic/gel to hold the tips on so they will generally start to lose them within 3-5 days.
However, if you sculpt them, you have acrylic over the WHOLE visible nail. Which makes them much much stronger and more likely to stay put!

There are tricks to getting the form to sit properly though, like precutting the sides of the form so that you can get it up nice and close to the free edges particularly tricky when they have bulbous skin at the fingertip, but not impossible.

 

[Mrs Bod]