The Tricks of the Trade ...

[Trinity]

Also.....scrub fresh gets the felt pen off the spine of ring binders...so you can relabel them cleanly,.....obviously don't use permanent ink in the first place.....nowt to do with nails....but the office will look tidy. LOL

I discovered at the weekend that Scrubfresh will remove the paint marks left by a car if it hits yours :lol:

I backed my van into a lampost recently and despite T-cutting the offending scratches I couldn't get the green lampost paint off my van. For some reason I thought Scrubfresh would work and it does - in fact it's absolutely bloody brilliant Works in two seconds and does no damage to the paintwork.

Not a Trick of the Trade as such, but you never know when it might come in handy :lol:

 

[Hollyballoo]

I discovered at the weekend that Scrubfresh will remove the paint marks left by a car if it hits yours :lol:

Oh brill Trin :hug: - going to give that a bash tomorrow morning on mine - never dreamt our beloved Scrubfresh was such a multi-tasker eh.

 

[Nailsinlondon1]

For clients that fidgit after you have just done that fab enamel jobby.....
Get them to fold their hands as if they are going to pray... all the fingers are out of the way and it stops them waving them about....
A little drop of solar oil on the enamel will speed up the setting time......

Ready for taking a fab picture of your nail work.... spray the models hands with solar speed spray and watch those hands glisten in the picture....

 

[~Emmsybabes~]

oh you girls have had me laughing my head off here,but i have read some amazing tips.....

well heres my addition (as after reading some other threads i realised i dont contribute enough so im gunna try from now on,if i get it wrong oh well woohooo i still chipped in hey :green: )

newbies may find this usefull when starting out sculpting as i am,
*take out the middle bit of your form (yes that insy winsy bit you think you dont need but dont want to throw away coz its a waste of money basicly)
*once you have applied the form snuggly under the free edge use the center piece and place it on just on the nail bed just beneath the free edge,so the curvred top part is where you want your smile line to be as a guide
*sculpt away...then obviously remove before applying the pink!!!:green:
this is not a long term solution but will help to gain knowledge and practice of what angle to hold your brush how much pressure needed ect... its really helped me...
geeg i love your tip about sticking the two pieces together ill try that i just hate waste!
oooohhhh speaking of waste,that reminds me.....if you have kids who always want to have a go with nail art and want to use some of your tips to do it on as i do :irked: save your tip cut offs if people have thier enhancements short my kids love it as they have loads to practice on now,i just round off the edges for them...(does thst make me sound like a bad skinflint lol :o

 

[min11]

*once you have applied the form snuggly under the free edge use the center piece and place it on just on the nail bed just beneath the free edge,so the curvred top part is where you want your smile line to be as a guide
*sculpt away...then obviously remove before applying the pink!!!:green:

Ive seen this somewhere else on here I think for getting a smile on your right hand if your doing your own nails, my question though is this and it might be me being dense. You've done all your prepping of the nail or blending of the tip and then you put this adhesive thing on your nail, does that not affect how the accrylic bonds when you go over where it was when its removed? They drilled it into us not to touch the nail after prepping aside to brush away dust etc so this just makes me curious.

I'll be trying it though when I do my own next!

 

[~Emmsybabes~]

well hunnie i imagine yes this would affect your prep,(and its not dense its a good point,i should have thought to mention that actually cheers)this is why personally i would only use this method short term as an aid to handling your brush ect... when starting out, (although i will continue to use it on my right hand as im pants using my left hand for anything let alone a perfect smile line!!!)
i havent acually used this technique on a client only myself and nail tips just for a bit of a practise just to get your hand/brush/angles ect,
im sure somebody else can tell us exactly though!
i may have actually read it on this site then if you have seen it on here before mabey i did i havent a clue,if i did..thankyou to whoever thought of it originally lol it helped me loads :hug: lol!
i use far to many brackets in my posts i must stop!

 

[becki x]

take out the middle bit of your form (yes that insy winsy bit you think you dont need but dont want to throw away coz its a waste of money basicly)
*once you have applied the form snuggly under the free edge use the center piece and place it on just on the nail bed just beneath the free edge,so the curvred top part is where you want your smile line to be as a guide
*sculpt away...then obviously remove before applying the pink!!!

Let's put it politely,my smiles are pants !!!

Would this work as a guide when trying to acheive the perfect smile too?

I personally can't see why it wouldn't but i would just like for a clever experienced geek to give me the yey or nay x

 

[TracyUK]

For the clients who just won't still still while their enamel dries (the ones you just KNOW will smudge immediately!) get them to pop their fingers into the spongy toe separators infront of them on the desk...not tried this myself yet but it sprung to mind it might be a good idea?!x

 

[nailcouture]

ok here's my tip for you fibreglass techs out there.

If a client wants some extra length but doenst want tips or sculpting, you can use fibreglass for this.

1. cut 2 sized pieces of fibreglass

2. Place one piece on top of the other

3. place it and size it to the natual nail, but do NOT cut off the extra length.

4. Do the bond/ resin/ activator steps as normal.

5. Ask the client to reverse her hand, another words turn it upside down.

6. Ask the client to tilt her finger downwards towards you slightly, and then do your resin activation stage to the underside of the fibreglass mesh.This seals the fibregalss from both sides, but makes the extra length. Beware not to let the resin run into the nail bed. Normally i use the nozzle method for this as I feel I can control the flow of the resin better. I use the single drop method and then use the nozzle to sweep it from side to side as well as going down the extra length.

7. Shape it as normal and do your normal finish.

8. You can either polish as normal, or you can place a thin layer of uv top coat on it for a little extra strength.

Please advise your client, that this is a temporary solution while they are growing their nails, but this does not have the same strength as side walls of a tip.
Sometimes i use the resin and run the nozzle/brush ever so slightly at the end of the free edge to cap the nail like you do with gel. Find this makes the ends chip less.

HTH and I have explained it clearly.....................

:green:

Another tip i picked up for gel was from Vicke Peters

1. Prep as normal etc.
2. Do your bond layers
3. With a string of gel create an H shape on the nail.
4. Freeze cure it
5. Get another bit of gel and fill in the gaps, making sure that there is enough gel in the rigth areas, and then cure for the nornal time.
6. Shape and finish as normal.

When using this method you are always supposed to be able to create great apex's and shape to the nail etc.

I have used this method a couple of times and it works, but im not a great big gel user like some of you are and would be albe to comment as to if it is a consistent and timely method that can be used all the time.:lol:

 

[lindag]

If you just airbrushed a clinents nails and they dont have time to let them dry have them sumerge them in ice cold water depending on the top coat but found this touch dry's the nail stright away

 

[Prionace]

I don't know about your brushes, but my favourite gel brush was painted white, and the paint came off everytime my hands had remover on them, so i decided to remove the rest of it, then i decided to sand it with my white block and cover it with gel, i cured it and now my brush is bullet proof! lol

 

[elfprincessem]

I found that when doing my smile line I try and remember to go Straight to Liverpool and then to newcastle and also remebering to get my brush to angel to my left Boobie to get the ear's on my smile - p.s. this is Mandini's tip passed on to me:hug:

Sorry but could you reword this please? It sounds interesting but i just dont get it! lol

 

[Boogaloo]

Sorry but could you reword this please? It sounds interesting but i just dont get it! lol

Well when I am doing a smile line I place the bead the normal way and imagine I am doing a V and Mandini say imagnine you are going to liverpool first then newcastle. I am a visual learner this has helped me no end. and to make sure I get the point on my left hand ear of the smile, mandini tells me to angle my brush so it is in alignment with my left boobie which is tricky as it feel's unnatural to me. hope I have explained better! It has helped me.

 

[Claire_Unique]

I was teaching a student the other day and her model 'dinged' her nail polish so that there was a lovely (not) dent in the middle of her middle fingernail.
The student was mortified thinking she'd have to start all over again with this nail by removing the polish etc etc. I simply showed her the trick I have been doing for YEARS of dipping my middle finger into Scrub Fresh, then firmly and quickly, stroking the surface of the polished nail to smooth out the bump. One more coat of colour or top coat and you could never tell.

She was amazed --- --- never seen this done before. One of the tricks of the trade we take for granted??

How many others can we 'oldies' or even newbies, come up with that will help others to learn some of the Tricks of the Trade that never get taught in a class? Get your thinking caps on and share some of yours.

Thats fantastic, will be definatly trying this out

 

[jenny34]

I was teaching a student the other day and her model 'dinged' her nail polish so that there was a lovely (not) dent in the middle of her middle fingernail.
The student was mortified thinking she'd have to start all over again with this nail by removing the polish etc etc. I simply showed her the trick I have been doing for YEARS of dipping my middle finger into Scrub Fresh, then firmly and quickly, stroking the surface of the polished nail to smooth out the bump. One more coat of colour or top coat and you could never tell.

She was amazed --- --- never seen this done before. One of the tricks of the trade we take for granted??

How many others can we 'oldies' or even newbies, come up with that will help others to learn some of the Tricks of the Trade that never get taught in a class? Get your thinking caps on and share some of yours.

i tried this today workd really well thanks for tip geeg

jenny

 

[Leslee]

I used to work in the dental field. Temporaries (used to cover teeth while waiting for the dental lab to return the porcelain crown or bridge) are basically made from gel, but it's much more dense in consistency. I worked with a dentist who made the best temps I'd ever seen and discovered he kept a loose sable brush (almost *exactly* like a medium to large L&P brush) in alcohol for shaping.

Alcohol won't hurt uncured gel, and gel will not stick to a brush saturated with alcohol. It can easily be used to smooth and shape building gels, thus eliminating a LOT of buffing, shaping and filing in the long run if you run into problems... like we all do on the odd occasion.

 

[nailzoo]

dunno if you guys think this is a "trick" or not, but before i apply, i wipe my brush slightly wet with monomer over the old acrylic i'm about to overlap, i find it makes my acrylic "merge" (is this the right word) further, it's great to do on the area you are about to apply white acrylic to when doing a french fill, it makes your setup time and manipulation time of the product slightly longer (as you are not applying to a dry surface), often you can do whites in one application including corners/sidewalls ( i also tilt the finger back, to let gravity slightly help also), then tilt the finger forward when i'm ready to pat it down ........ (it may not work for all products, as some setup differently to others), but ......it's the way i do it and it works for me, ya never know, it may just work for you also

 

[geeg]

dunno if you guys think this is a "trick" or not, but before i apply, i wipe my brush slightly wet with monomer over the old acrylic i'm about to overlap, i find it makes my acrylic "merge" (is this the right word) further, it's great to do on the area you are about to apply white acrylic to when doing a french fill, it makes your setup time and manipulation time of the product slightly longer (as you are not applying to a dry surface), often you can do whites in one application including corners/sidewalls ( i also tilt the finger back, to let gravity slightly help also), then tilt the finger forward when i'm ready to pat it down ........ (it may not work for all products, as some setup differently to others), but ......it's the way i do it and it works for me, ya never know, it may just work for you also

This is an overexposure hazard and I would not recommend it to anyone. It simply is not necessary and it is risky and stinky to boot.
NEVER use monomer on your brush without polymer.

 

[Apex73]

This is'nt going to help with nails, but an Acetone soaked pad is brilliant for cleaning marker pen off windows, sticky glue off laminate flooring, label glue off bottles...
fantastic stuff!

 

[Fingertips ND]

acetone is fab for allsorts if used safely!

it is great when kids have stuck stickers all over your furniture (don't use on wood though, you'll strip the laquer off)!