Tech Faces Sticky Situation

Nail technician Debbie Ward’s client didn’t tell her how important her upcoming manicure was when she scheduled the appointment because she didn’t want to make Ward nervous. Ward was nervous anyway when she learned that client Tina Gamaza’s hands were going to be featured in a commercial for Post-its that would run at Wal-Mart stores.

“Tina has elegant, slender fingers, so I’m not surprised she got a hand modeling job,” says Ward. The commercial’s director had a very specific look in mind for his model—a French manicure with short, round nails. He even paid for Gamaza to have her nails done professionally and for them to be retuned to their usual long, square shape afterwards. To look good on video, Ward sculpted the nails as you would for a photo shoot—thinner and sleeker than traditional salon nails. “It took me two hours and I was a wreck, but the director said they looked great,” she reports.