Forget immediately: 9 popular myths in the work of a manicurist

Tatyana Yurganova , founder and director of the Space Nails training center, author of articles in professional publications for nail artists (Ukraine, Russia), expert at the magazine “HAND & nails + Nail Service”, multiple competition winner, competition coach, judge on the field of the Ukrainian Championship, speaker at specialized conferences, developer of proprietary techniques in manicure, nail design and modeling, chemist, biologist (Odessa)

Many myths are brought to masters by clients, and some misconceptions are born due to a lack of understanding of the technology of the procedure, ignorance of the composition of materials and the process of their interaction with the nail plate. Are you ready to forget about them once and for all? Go!

Myth 1

“If you don’t seal the ends when working with gel polish, the coating will chip faster.”

Lie! Surely every master has noticed that after two weeks of wearing gel polish, the ends wear off and the natural nail is exposed, but clients go on like this for another week, or even two. Creating additional thickness on the free edge, on the contrary, will increase the likelihood of chipping.

Proper preparation of nails, as well as the use of high-quality materials, will protect the master and client from chipping much more than layering the material on the end.

Myth 2

“The more you file down the nail plate, the better the artificial material will wear.”

Lie! This gross mistake is still made by professionals of different levels of training - from beginners to old-timers in the nail industry. The nail plate consists of 100–125 layers of onychoblast cells, and the coating lies on the first 15–20 layers, and if you cut them down, then no material will hold on until the entire plate has grown together, and this will take 3–4 months.

It is also important to use the correct abrasiveness of files and buffers for natural nails from 180 grit, which remove only 2-3 layers of the nail plate, in contrast to 100 grit files, which remove 5-7 layers in one movement of the file along the surface of the nail.

Myth 3

“After applying gel polish, you should not wet your hands for 2–3 hours (4 hours, 24 hours, etc.)”

Partially true. After polymerization by the coating for 48 hours, the bonds in the molecular network are still being completed, but this does not mean that water can cause any harm. Of course, you shouldn’t get carried away with hot water, taking a bath, or steaming your hands, but washing your hands immediately after the procedure is not only possible, but also necessary in order to remove the remnants of all the chemicals that were used in the work.

Myth 4

“You cannot mix gel polishes with each other, especially from different companies”

Lie! All gel polishes have, if not the same, then very similar formulas and get along well with each other. The master can safely experiment, creating unique shades from the existing tones in the palette. In the coating system, the base and top play an important role, and the colors can be any, including mixed ones.

Myth 5

“If you accidentally cover your nails with a base coat instead of a top coat, the client will not be able to wear the coating.”

Lie! In a hurry, it is easy for a master to confuse two identical jars and cover the nails with a base instead of a top, or vice versa. But nothing bad will happen; the client spends the promised two weeks with this coating. There may be some fading of the colors underneath the base as it does not contain UV protection, but overall you will be fine. Next time be more careful.

Myth 6

“It is forbidden to cover natural nails with gel paints”

Partially true. There are two types of gel paints - with and without a sticky layer. If we cover our nails with paint without a sticky layer, then most likely it will chip off the ends very quickly, since this is a non-plastic material. If the gel paint is flexible and plastic with a sticky layer, then you can safely cover your nails with it.

But the gel paints themselves were created for drawings, their pigmentation is very high and problems may arise in the work, so it is better to use gel varnishes intended for coating.

Myth 7

“Nails periodically need a rest from coating or nail extensions ”

Lie! The part of the nail on which the master applies polymers is completely dead. The nail plate is nourished exclusively through the nail root and nail bed, which is abundantly penetrated by blood vessels. And the coating polymerizes on the surface with a dense film that does not let anything through and does not penetrate deep into the nail.

An analogy can be drawn with a filling on a tooth: we don’t remove it so that the tooth can rest, do we? If you follow the technology for working with polymers, and also adhere to the time frame for wearing gel coatings, you will not need rest.

Myth 8

“Coating “under the cuticle” harms the skin around the nail and the nail plate”

Partially true. The pursuit of modern masters for a very deep manicure and “under the cuticle” coating has nothing to do with health and nail care.

There are clients who do not have a natural “pocket” where gel polish can be placed so comfortably after a manicure, and there are masters who try to create this “pocket” artificially (with a pusher, cutters), which very often leads to inflammation and deformation of the nail plates and other problems.

In itself, applying gel polish as close to the cuticle as possible does not harm the client; on the contrary, it does not grow so quickly, because the body is given a signal that the entire perimeter of the nail is closed and protected. Only an illiterate master can do harm, so be sure to approach each client individually and improve your skills.

Myth 9

“The statement that gel polish can only be worn for 2-3 weeks maximum is just a marketing ploy by manufacturers and a trick by material sellers”

Lie! It is no secret to masters that all gel coatings adhere to the surface of the nail plate due to the fact that the base molecules combine with the polished dry cells of the nail in the first 2-3 layers. If the gel polish is not renewed for longer than expected, the material adheres even more tightly to the surface of the nail and begins to dry out the nail plate, and the coating does not keep up with the flexibility of the natural nail and detachments appear. And this is fraught with thinning of the nail plate, so it is necessary to strictly adhere to technology and explain the rules to clients.