Changing the Industry, One Customer at a Time

It never ceases to amaze me how little even regular salon customers know about nails. I am constantly surprised by what the average salon patron mistakes for a good nail or a decent pedicure. If only customers knew what to look for, it would bring up the quality of nail care across the country. I know we are constantly admonishing you to “educate your clients,” but the reward will be certifiably smarter customer who won’t put up with shoddy work and who will educate her friends who will in turn educate their friends, and so on. So here’s a curriculum for educating your customers about what makes a good nail.

A good set of acrylics, whether on tips or sculpted, can almost fool the average person into thinking they’re real. Not every nail tech does pink-and-whites, so not every client has seen the naturalness that can be achieved with custom-blended powders. The majority of clients still ear polish over their acrylics (good polish adhesion is the reason so many clients like acrylics in the first place).

You can stop a nail biter. With regular manicures, an at-home maintenance program, and a compassionate nail technician, clients can stop biting their nails and even grow them out. And it doesn’t have to entail smearing their nails with something foul-tasting.

It’s a beauty treatment: it shouldn’t hurt. Explain to the clients that you use an electric file, for example, to speed the process of nail shaping but also for her comfort.

Clients have to realize that as much as they want you to shave that ugly callus off their heels, you are not allowed to. If it means keeping a copy of the state board regulations at the pedicure station, do it. Do not be bullied into breaking a rule that could cost you not only a pricey fine, but potentially your license.

Polish should cover the entire nail and there should be no polish on the cuticle or skin. The capper to any great manicure or pedicure is perfectly applied polish. That’s what the client sees, that’s what everyone else sees, so that is what must be flawless. Practice your technique so that you can achieve complete coverage without needing to swab up after yourself with acetone.

If you can get these simple lessons across, your client won’t be ready for her own degree. In nail technology, but she’ll be armed with a few critical basics about what separates you from the pack. Keep talking to her and she’ll keep talking about you.