How long has it been since a client asked you how often they need to take everything off for their nails to breathe? Most often, our reaction is to roll our eyes and visualize the nail snorkel. Maybe we need to dial back the sarcasm and try a gentler mode of education. People have been misinformed by someone at some time and unless we give them facts in a friendly manner, they are going to continue to believe and spread those mistruths.

Attacking the idea of nails breathing may not endear you to your clients, especially if that information came from mom or grandma. (Not all bad nail information was given to our clients by uneducated nail techs or fraudulent manufacturer claims.) How about nodding and saying, “It seems like that would be a good idea, did you know, though, that the nails receive everything they need when the cells are created in the matrix?” Now you are not scoffing or belittling them or the person who gave them the information, you are simply giving them a new perspective and new information to consider.

Do you have a nail diagram anywhere in your salon? Why not keep one on hand as a canvas or on your phone or iPad to be pulled up from your “favorites” at a moment’s notice? How about a diagram as art in the bathroom that the client can study on her own time. Doug Schoon is constantly working to keep the nail diagram as up to date as possible by consulting dermatologists and nail surgeons, so make sure you are following his page on Facebook. Having the diagram handy makes it easier to point at the matrix so the client can understand how the nail is put together.

Now that you have let them know that the nail gets what it needs from the matrix, the next step is explaining that a nail coating helps to protect the nail, not to suffocate it. Everything from polish to an enhancement also adds a protective coating while at the same time adding an aesthetic element. The differences between the coatings is whether they are meant to be temporary or permanent. Polishes and gel-polishes are temporary coatings, meaning you apply, remove, then re-apply.

This does not mean a break is needed from wearing the coating. When nails become thin and weak, this is a sign of over-filing or improper removal (such as being picked or peeled off by the client), in which case taking a break seems like it helps because the damage stops occurring. It is not that the nails needed a break from the product, it’s that the damage stopped happening and the nails were able to grow out. 

Sometimes when damage occurs, it requires a hard look at ourselves and the methods we use. Do you buff the nails a little too much? Are you using a product that even requires buffing? Is it in the manufacturer’s instructions? What individual steps does the manufacturer suggest for removal, and are you doing it that way? It is much easier to point the finger at a product than take a long, hard look at ourselves and see if we are doing things the way they should be done.

What About Enhancements?

One of the most often misunderstood nail coatings is the enhancement. My understanding is that in their early days, enhancements used to yellow easily and be brittle. I would imagine, just like now, there was probably also some lifting on occasion. After a few months of wear the enhancements would need to be removed and reapplied in order to refresh the color as well as the product so it wasn’t so brittle and yellow. With today’s technology, however, if your brushes are properly stored the product shouldn’t be yellowing. And if clients are using nail oil daily, the enhancements should not be getting brittle. If you are using a good mix ratio combined with meticulous cuticle work, chances are good you will have minimal lifting.

What all of this means to you and your client is that enhancements do not need to be removed. If you are telling your clients that they need to remove their nails every three to four months and reapply, you need to ask yourself why. Is it because they are lifting, discolored, etc.? These are issues you should be addressing and fixing within your application, not ignoring and penalizing the client for with costly removal and reapplication services.

There are a few exceptions to this. They are extreme makeover nail situations — such as spoon nails, ski jump nails, and other extreme nail conditions — that will separate from the enhancement over time. There is nothing you can do to prevent the separation; it is how the natural nails grow and why the client has come to you for enhancements to make her nails look “normal.” These are the few instances in which it would be acceptable to tell the client that a new set is needed every three to five months for corrective purposes.  Make sure that you are removing the enhancements gently, as the natural nail will continue to be the foundation of your next set and the stronger it is, the better your set will last!

Hopefully this clears up some confusion about giving the nails a break and letting them breathe, in addition to giving you a new way to approach a response.  As always, comments are welcome on any of my social media!

Here is how to follow Doug Schoon:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/DougSchoonsBrain
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Where to find his books:
www.schoonscientific.com/resources-and-publications/purchase-publications