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Week 1: Let's Educate Our Clients

Nails should not require a Tylenol or a Band-Aid.  Sore, red, swollen skin around your nails following a service could be an indicator of something gone wrong. Make sure your nail professional can show a current license with her name on it and explain disinfection procedures to you. Make sure she uses new or clean tools and files every visit and finishes a pain-free service every time! #IAMLICENSED

Week 2: Single-Use Implements

Did you know that the wooden stick used in your manicure or pedicure is a ONE-TIME-use disposable item that you should be seeing get tossed in the trash at the end of your appointment? Whether it is long or short, orangewood or birchwood, it is not disinfectable and therefore must be disposed of after use on ONE salon guest. #IAMLICENSED

Week 3: Disinfection Liquids

When you see a jar or container of disinfectant liquid in a salon it should ALWAYS be clear and free of debris, no matter the color of the liquid. All tools should be scrubbed with soap and water then rinsed before being placed in the disinfectant, otherwise it will be contaminated and rendered ineffective. Tools should be disinfected before use on EVERY single salon guest! #IAMLICENSED #FingerNailFixer #NAILSmagazine

Week 4: Foot Files

When receiving a pedicure in a salon, all tools used on you should be properly cleaned and disinfected for YOUR service. This includes the foot file. Your foot file should have an abrasive surface, NOT a blade or the look of a cheese grater. Callus should be smoothed, never completely removed. This is for your health and safety. #IAMLICENSED #FingerNailFixer #NAILSmagazine

Week 5: Marketing Buzz Words

Don’t be fooled by words like organic, vegan, and chemical free. Dog poop and poison ivy are organic, would you like a massage with them? Everything except light and electricity is a chemical. Even water is a chemical! This means we drink a chemical, wash with a chemical, and have said chemical in our bodies. Read past the marketing lingo before judging professional salon products. #IAMLICENSED #FingerNailFixer #NAILSMagazine

Week 6: Nails Don't Breathe

Nails DO NOT breathe. They receive all of the nutrients or oxygen they need from your blood, which supplies them to the matrix. The matrix is what produces your nail cells! Nail coatings, including regular polish, actually protect the nails! #IAMLICENSED #FingerNailFixer

Week 7: The Truth About Nail Damage

Nail damage is caused by improper application, removal, or treatment of nail coatings and not by specific products. Today’s technology demands sophisticated products that do not damage natural nails, this means YOU should demand an educated professional interested in partnering with you to care for the natural nail; in the salon for their part, and at home for yours. #nailtruth #IAMLICENSED #FingerNailFixer

Week 8: Don't Shave Before Pedicures

To avoid any possibility of infection, pedicure clients shouldn’t shave their legs within 24 hours of their service. #IAMLICENSED

Week 9: UV Lamp Safety

According to Dr. Robert M. Sayre, Ph.D., of Rapid Precision Testing Laboratories, one of the creators of the SPF rating system: “UV nail lamps are safer than natural sunlight or sunlamps.” Nail lamps with LED bulbs or fluorescent bulbs both emit UVA-1, the safest part of the ultraviolet spectrum, according to Dr. Sayre. #IAMLICENSED

Week 10: No Magic Products for Healthier Nails

“The nail plate’s upper layer and nail surface are very resistant and prevent most substances from absorbing at all. This is one reason why a healthy natural nail plate is a good barrier. Only water and certain naturally occurring oil-soluble substances such as squalene can penetrate easily through the nail plate.” — Doug Schoon  #IAMLICENSED

Week 11: Don't Buff Ridges

Ridges on the nails are actually not ridges, instead they are rows of missing nail cells where the matrix has either aged or been damaged and can no longer produce them. Natural nails should NEVER be buffed smooth in the presence of these grooves as it will thin them down and make them more likely to split or break. #IAMLICENSED

Week 12: Soaking the Nails

Did you know that soaking your nails in a bowl of water or acetone will make it more likely that your manicure will chip or peel? Some salons feel forced to allow the soaking due to guest complaints. For the life of your manicure, request NOT to soak! #IAMLICENSED #FingerNailFixer

For even more wisdom from Holly, click here.