Your client comes in for a set of liquid-and-powder enhancements before an upcoming cruise. She leaves your salon looking great, but while on the cruise she breaks one of her nails. She goes to the salon on-board the ship but the nail tech there applies product much thicker and in a different color than yours. Your client is OK for the rest of the cruise but when she comes back she asks you to make it look like her other nails again. What do you do?
We asked Bonnie Rios, an education ambassador for CND who works at Julie Johnson Salon in Riverside, Calif., to walk us through her technique of fixing a client’s acrylic nails.
Before you begin any repair service it’s important to look at what needs to be done so you can formulate a plan on fixing the problems. Here, we see a nail that has three key flaws to correct.
> The nail is much wider and more square than the others.
> It has a flat smile line and is much thicker through the apex.
> Let’s not even discuss the difference in color.
The first thing I did was use a hand file to taper in the sidewalls and shape the free edge. Next, I focused on reducing the bulk throughout the body of the nail by using single-direction strokes going from the center of the nail to the outside edge. I continued using single direction strokes to thin out the free edge and used gentle, curved strokes around the cuticle line. As you can see in the photo, I reduced the bulk down almost to the natural nail. This step removed the flat smile line and different-colored product too.
Remember to prepare the nails for reapplication by performing a mini-manicure. This ensures the nail plate is clean and dry and ready for product adhesion. I used a medium-wet bead (per manufacturer’s specifications), and applied my brush at an angle to create a deep smile line. I did the same with bead two to build up my apex for strength, and I also used a custom-blended color for zones two and three.
I take my time to sculpt with my brush to reduce filing time. When I finish filed here, I followed the same steps I used when I was reducing the product. I started with a 180-grit file and went finer as I brought the nails to a high shine.
As you can see, the nail matches its mates again. It is properly tapered with the free edge matching the smile line, and the custom-blended color matches perfectly so my client can leave happy.
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