Why do artificial nails chip and how to avoid it?

In the previous article, we examined in detail the causes of chipping on natural and gel polish-coated nails , and today we are talking in detail about artificial nails and nails reinforced with hard materials.

Ellada Lutsenko , Ukrainian champion in modeling and nail design, European champion in modeling, judge of Ukrainian championships (Art Drive Nails School of Manicure, Odessa)

Wrong architecture

For this reason, dear ones, it’s time for me to write a book. In a nutshell: balance is everything.

Solution : I have a detailed online course on nail modeling, after which all questions disappear and the extension time is reduced to one hour.

Weak natural nails

Next in the ranking in terms of chipping frequency are weak natural nails. Cracks and then chips in the natural nail bed area are possible due to thinning nails.

Remember the dessert marshmallows covered in chocolate. Imagine that marshmallows are a fingernail and chocolate is an artificial material. So, if you bend a marshmallow, the chocolate breaks, leaving a layer of marshmallow on itself. Let’s transfer this experience to nails: a soft nail does not provide a stable platform, and a hard artificial material, with a slight blow or squeeze, breaks off the remnants of the thin layers of the nail plate. All this action takes place, as a rule, with terrible pain and bloodletting.

Manicure: Ellada Lutsenko

Solution : shorten your nails as much as possible and leave on them a thin layer of the most elastic material in your arsenal. The so-called “biogel” is just it (although I have always protested against the prefix “bio”). And be sure to wait until your nails grow completely!

A small addition: gel polish is not suitable for this purpose. It is intended to be worn for a short period of time. When the base layer is renewed, the already thin nails become thinner again.

The same story will be observed at long lengths. In this case, I mean an extension edge that is longer than the length of the natural nail bed. You can’t do without knowledge of architecture here. The principle of leverage works. There is only one way out - the longer the nails, the shorter the intervals between corrections.

Peeling of artificial material

Another common cause of chipping is the detachment of artificial material from the free edge of the natural nail. Here we again have to dive into architecture.

The artificial material grows along with the natural nail. If the natural one peels off from the free edge, the attachment area to the nail becomes even shorter. Here the apex seems to have grown together faster, sort of like a montage. Chips are more likely because the highest point of accumulation of material has long been outside the nail plate.

Style: Irina Shabliy

Makeup and hair: Anyuta Malinovskaya

Photo and manicure: Ellada Lutsenko

Solution : prohibit the client from cleaning with toothpicks, pins, etc. between artificial and natural nails under pain of punishment. A brush and citric acid or peroxide cope with this task with a bang.

One more point, I’ll just give it to you. After filing the overgrown natural nail from the inside out, cover the reverse side with a non-sticky topcoat. It will prevent the natural nail from becoming saturated with moisture and swelling and will prevent peeling after complete drying.

Still have questions or want to chat further? I invite you to my Instagram account . By the way, on my page I regularly conduct live broadcasts on similar topics. You can also watch them on my IGTV. Grateful and generous clients!