Urgent help needed re cannibalised nails

[bexlovesnails]

i have a client tomorrow who wants enhancements for a 21st party she is going to. She is an extreme nail biter i have never seen nails so short. SHe came to see me last night, i knew she was a biter but not how bad. she only has about half a centimetre of nail to work with and im not sure what to do. she defo wants enhancements couldnt talk her out of it even though i explained she will need regular maintenance more than average client and explained i dont want to put white tips on for them to fling off in few days, so i said i would try and extend the nail bed, now ive looked on several threads about tipping and sculpting on biters, but wandered what your opinion is that i should do, should i clear tip and extend nail bed that way, or sculpt or what i could hardly sleep last night as i dont want her to be disappointed. she has bulbus fingers also and her free edge has been bitten back quite a bit. so last night i did a mini manicure, tidied the cuticles gave her some cuticle oil (foc) told her how to apply it and told her to cream her hands as her hands were quite dry and said i would see what i could do thurs, she was happy with this as she doesnt want her nails looking odd with loads of white and hardly any nail bed. but im just stuck on what to do, and looked through my notes and looked at threads on here, and thought i would ask se if one of you fab geeks could help me out.

thank you in advance

 

[champagne]

Ive got one today.......they are not nail beds they are bitten bits of nail with no free edge at all........Im going to slightly extend (sculpt) natural and book her in for next week...

 

[izzidoll]

I don't think you need to panic, you obviously know what you are doing and have looked at all the options open to you.

The easiest way to do her nails would be to tip with a natural colour tip (following the tutorial on here on tipping a bitten nail) and just do either a pink or clear overlay on it....then if she wants a colour on them just use enamels, ask what colour outfit she is wearing and use a matching/contrasting enamel.
Then offer her a weekly maintenance service until her own nails grow underneath to a decent length then she can get a french manicure look with white tips, if she still wants it.

If you are confident and have extended nailbeds before then, tip and extend the nail bed with an opaque pink. If you haven't done much extending of nailbeds before you may be putting yourself under a lot of pressure for this client, who may well end up biting them off within a week, or covering them in a polish anyway!!

It will be interesting to see what other geeks think..........

 

[bexlovesnails]

thanks for your quick reply, which tips would you recommend, one with a well but trim it down so it wouldn't cover the nail plate too much, from what ive read on here i dont think i will sculpt with forms, im still not that confident putting them on clients i use forms on myself only done them on two clients though and they were friends who were very patient, im doing my master application soon so that will help me with putting forms on. i have velocity, formation and eclipse tips which would you recommend to use. ive seen a few people mention reverse application what is this x

 

[lady R]

i get them all the time! I sculpt acrylic using CND opaque pink with a small white free edge and keep them very short, ie to the end of the finger so they can't ping them off.

They usually want them longer but having such a small nail to attach to they come off really easy so I advise short for 2 weeks until their infill and see how they go.

Hope that helps!

 

[izzidoll]

thanks for your quick reply, which tips would you recommend, one with a well but trim it down so it wouldn't cover the nail plate too much, from what ive read on here i dont think i will sculpt with forms, im still not that confident putting them on clients i use forms on myself only done them on two clients though and they were friends who were very patient, im doing my master application soon so that will help me with putting forms on. i have velocity, formation and eclipse tips which would you recommend to use. ive seen a few people mention reverse application what is this x

I would use the Velocity tips....the rule is that you shouldn't cover more than 50% of the nail area with the contact area of the tip. So the micro contact area of the Velocity would be best....although I would probably still reduce the contact area even more either by cutting it with curved scissors or filing some of it out. You could reduce down the contact area of the Formation tips too, but I have always found them too much work to blend, Velocity's are way better.

Reverse application would be applying zone 2 first by turning your brush around 180 degrees so the flags/point is facing you as you apply the bead and as you press it out to the sides you form the reverse smile. then you can do zone 3, and then butt zone 1 into the lovely smile already created.
(Loads of thread on here re this)

AGAIN If you haven't done this before, then you are putting too much pressure on yourself for this client, you need to practise first!!

Simplest and easiest way is to apply a tip and do a 1 colour overlay. She doesn't have any nails, you will give her some, she will love you!!

 

[bexlovesnails]

thanks you've been a great help, ive just sat down with my velocity tips and read the saddling tutorial and practised cutting on a few tips and this has helped me a lot, so i think i will use tips, saddle them and then do overlay, keep them short and ask her to come in, in a weeks time, still a bit aprehensive of doing them (if thats the right word), but after your help and reading the tutorial i feel like a weight has lifted already, going to practise tonight on my mums bitten nails see how i get on, again hanks for your help apperciate it x

 

[geeg]

thanks you've been a great help, ive just sat down with my velocity tips and read the saddling tutorial and practised cutting on a few tips and this has helped me a lot, so i think i will use tips, saddle them and then do overlay, keep them short and ask her to come in, in a weeks time, still a bit aprehensive of doing them (if thats the right word), but after your help and reading the tutorial i feel like a weight has lifted already, going to practise tonight on my mums bitten nails see how i get on, again hanks for your help apperciate it x

Im glad you decided to follow Izzi's advice because it is good advice and will I'm sure give you the best looking result.

One or two things you might condsider. Why not sculpt the whole nail with the opaque powder and then just paint the white free edhe on with a French polish at the end of the service. My reasons for suggesting this method are twofold.

1. Many nail techs when doing a short free edge using white powder, end up making very thick nails and they look bulbous and not so pretty. Painting them will not only keep the free edge nice and thin, but

2. It will also allow the natural nail to grow out without you having to do a French rebalance on such a short nail. It will be easier for YOU and look nicer for HER.

Reward her (if she gets that far) with a REAL French makeover when she gets some natural nail growth going in 4-6 weeks time. I promise the result will look stunning and be less work for you at the rebalance.

 

[bexlovesnails]

hi geeg thanks for adding to the thread, but im a bit confused i might be having a stupid moment, but do you mean to do this still using the tip, the client has short fingers too, so i dont want to do it too thick so think this would be a ggod idea tooo.

 

[geeg]

hi geeg thanks for adding to the thread, but im a bit confused i might be having a stupid moment, but do you mean to do this still using the tip, the client has short fingers too, so i dont want to do it too thick so think this would be a ggod idea tooo.

Yes, still use the tip which will help to regulate the sidewalls ... then use opaque for all 3 zones. Then just paint on your French Manicure polish. This will allow you to adjust the length of the free edge as the nail grows without all the hassle of doing a French rebalance. It looks great with a really short free edge, a coat or two of Air Dry will protect the polish really well so it lasts and they will look great.

 

[Northern Nails]

Would Popits work with her using an opaque powder the painting on a french?