I wish I knew your name and where you were from ... can you fill in your profile? ... ,makes it much easier to relate. ANYWAY I will try to explain how to tackle a rebalance and to bevel the product so you never see any 'fill lines'. 8)
So often when a technician starts to prepare the nails for a rebalance (some call this a Fill) she/he sees a
little bit of lifting and heads straight for it with the nippers or the abrasive to remove it. What started out as a little bit goes further... and further ...until one is half way down the nail before it finally stops. :!: ... working in this manner takes MUCH longer because one is working on product that has not been thinned first, what's more it is loose, so all you do is loosen it more by shaking it around with excess filing
AND working so close to the new regrowth, one can easily damage it.
First (so we know what we're talking about, lets call the smile line to free edge ZONE 1, the stress area ZONE2, and the rest of the nail ZONE 3).
Try it this way. This is for a
French Rebalance.
First check out Zone 1 - and shorten it. Next note the thickness of the product at Zone 1 and reduce it by HALF of
however thick it is. Check the sides to make sure there is no 'curling' of the natural nail away from the tip.
Next check out Zone 2 - particularly look at the side walls to make sure there is no lifting or cracks or breaks. Then similalrly to zone 1, file over the surface to reduce the thickness of the enhancement. (Only a bit, there is no need to reduce by half). If there is a crack or break, then carve a 'V' into the crack widening out at each side with the abrasive until it looks like you have removed a 'piece of pie'.
Finally we get to zone 3. (This is where the bevelling comes in) If there is any lifting in this area then FIRST - gently thin it down and THEN (with a nice new abrasive) place your abrasive NOT on the product which is loose and lifted,
BUT on the area that is still adhered to the nail plate and file, with firm but controlled strokes, until you go thru the product. BE CAREFUL here as you don't want to harm the natural nail. Any lifted material will just flake away leaving a beautifully unscratched nail plate and a perfectly bevelled edge and NO fill lines.
This operation does not take long because you have Already done the majority of the work when thinning the product - the rest is easy!
Re-apply Perfect White to Zone 1 making sure to (1) catch and clamp any new growth or edges that may be curling and (2) reform a new smile line with a small bead (remember zone 1 already has product on it so you don't need a large bead here) and taper the bead out to the free edge.
Next - another small bead in zone 2 that will fill in the 'piece of pie' and re-establish strength in the stress area.
Finally, apply your last bead in Zone 3 as usual to anchor the rest of the enhancement.
There you have it
Hope you have a new outlook on maintenance which is designed to
prevent problems rather than to
cure them.
