Clear the Air: Dealing with a Client with Bad Breath

Of all the essential items sitting on top of your nail table, perhaps the most vital is that little container of mints. After all, when sitting face to face, bad breath can be a workplace hazard. “I go nuts with clients who come in with major smoker’s breath,” says Casey Raimer, owner of The Art of Nails in York, Pa. “That’s when I offer up the cute little basket of mints I keep on my workstation.”

“If they don’t reach for one on their own, I usually pop one in my mouth and offer them one at the same time,” says Diana Tingle, an Oviedo, Fla.-based nail tech tutor, who keeps a variety of wrapped mint candies on her table. “Most of the time that does the trick. If not, having one in your mouth will usually mask the smell.”

The best way to address this sensitive issue is as a friend, says Linda Green of Gene Juarez Salons and Spa in Seattle. “You would want a friend to let you know if you had spinach on your teeth or toilet paper stuck to your shoe. It’s the same with bad breath.” To make clients more comfortable, she suggests you share a similar situation that happened to you and explain you were grateful when a friend intervened.