Article Published in Stylist Magazine, January 2011
As beauty professionals, basic skills provide the foundation for our services; without these skills, it’s possible that our clients could do better, even as amateurs. Before I became a licensed manicurist, I did better work than the professionals I paid as a client, and that‘s not saying much. After hours of training and years of practice, it’s our mastery of basic skills that distinguish us from our clients and our competitors.
Regardless of the service being performed, our primary concerns should be safety, quality and consistency. At a minimum, it’s our professional responsibility to protect the health and safety of our clients. Consumer protection is the reason why most states require licensing, a beauty school education, a written and/or practical examination(s), compliance with regulations, and in some states, continuing education. Without expounding on the efficacy of these requirements, let’s agree that while the intent is admirable, in practice they do little to ensure consistent quality. The same can be said for the restaurant industry; a restaurant can have an immaculate kitchen and meet the highest standards for food safety, and the food can still taste awful. Likewise, safety is only one feature, albeit the most important, of a quality beauty service.
It’s not without irony that I consider the most basic thing we do as manicurists to have the greatest potential for harm. Filing seems so simple: pick up a file, hold it against the nail and start stroking. But which file? Paper, wood, mylar, metal, ceramic or glass? A standard 7 by 3/4 inch file, a block buffer, a custom-shaped file or a drill? How coarse or fine should it be? Disposable or disinfectable? Can you really disinfect it? How do you hold it? How do you hold the client’s finger? How much pressure to apply? How fast should you file? How do you avoid the skin surrounding the nail? How do you know when you’ve filed enough? I could continue, but my point being that choosing the right file for the task and knowing how to use it safely and efficiently is critical to our work. And a special note on drills: Using a drill can’t replace our hand-filing skills any more than using a food processor can replace a chef’s knife skills.
Nothing helps develop filing skills faster than working on your own nails. Manicurists should know how it feels to have a friction burn on their nail plate, or a cut to their skin. It’s painful! Careless or overly aggressive filing can lead to serious damage, including infections. Special care must be taken, whether filing on natural nails or removing enhancement product.
While in beauty school, we students are asked to identify different nail shapes, as if we don’t know the difference between round and square. What we don’t learn is how to file the desired shape symmetrically and consistently, from the client’s perspective. That’s why when filing the end of fingernails, it’s advisable to position the client with a bent elbow and the back of the hand and fingernails facing the manicurist. To save time, shape one nail first and ask the client to approve before proceeding to the remaining nails. The easiest shape to file is a square; as long as the file is positioned perpendicular to the nail at the end and parallel along the sidewalls, it should be straight. However, when the nail plate isn’t perfectly aligned with the finger, it’s the manicurist’s job to file in such a way to make it look as if it were. For more rounded shapes, it’s better to establish the length first at the end of the nail, and then shape the sides accordingly. Filing at an angle deep into the sidewalls will weaken the structure of the nail, and can make nails, enhanced ones in particular, look as if they’re ready to launch away from the nail bed. As for nail length, it shouldn’t be judged by looking at the underside of the nails because they’re rarely the same length naturally. To compare lengths, hold corresponding fingers side-by-side and view from the top surface. The overall length, measured from the base of the nail to its end, should be consistent between matching nails (pinkie to pinkie, etc.) and in proportion to each other.
And what about nail structure, particularly after applying enhancement products? It’s not enough to create a smooth surface. For strength, nail enhancements have to be structured properly with the apex (the highest point of the arch when viewed from the side) located near the stress area and enough c-curve (the curvature of the nail when viewed from its end) to help the nails resist breakage. For a more sleek and natural look, the product should gradually taper toward the base of the nails until flush to the nail plate and taper toward the ends to avoid thickness. Ideally, proper structure should be achieved through judicious and sparing use of product more than excessive filing. (Besides, the “pile and file” approach wastes time, labor, product and money.) Once the proper structure has been achieved, it’s fairly easy and very time efficient to produce a smooth surface by applying gel top coat. This eliminates the need to graduate file grits from coarse to super fine in order to obtain a scratch-free, shiny finish. Knowing how to buff enhancement products is critical for nail competitions, but completely impractical and time consuming in the salon.
To perfect your filing skills, I recommend consulting with nail competitors for file recommendations and procedures that will enable you to achieve great results efficiently and safely. Filing may be basic, but it’s far from simple.
By Jaime Schrabeck, Ph.D.
Monday, January 17, 2011
The Value of Competing
Article Published in Stylist Magazine, December 2010
How do you measure your professional success? The number of hours you work, or clients you have? Your net income? The warm, fuzzy feeling that comes from a service well done for a satisfied client? Whether measured quantitatively or qualitatively, much of our success is experienced in the isolation of our salon environments. No doubt, your clients appreciate your work and think you’re the best, but why not prove it? Why not put your manicuring skills to a more rigorous test and compete with the best? Participating in nail competitions remains the most objective, tangible and significant way to distinguish yourself in our industry.
Working in our individual salons, we have limited opportunities to compare and evaluate the quality of our work. Competing challenges nail professionals to perform their best work in less than ideal conditions, beyond the familiar comforts of the salon. The value of competing, and ultimately winning, goes beyond the recognition, cash prizes and trophies. Your salon work will improve greatly as you become more critical and demand more from yourself. Learning how to work more efficiently and consistently will improve both the speed and quality of your salon nails. The competition experience not only develops your skills, but provides incredible opportunities to network and market yourself to potential clients and employers.
Thousands of nails professionals work in salons, but very few challenge themselves to compete. Inspired and influenced by past champions, nail competitors strive to achieve the highest standards for workmanship while pushing artistic boundaries. They create new styles, develop innovative techniques and, most important, change our perceptions of what nails can be. The most successful competitors distinguish themselves as nail stars. If it weren’t for nail competitions, we wouldn’t know the names of Tom Holcomb, Danny Haile, Tom Bachik, Kym Lee, Carla Collier, Trang Nguyen, John Hauk or Lynn Lammers.
All nail professionals, whether they compete or not, should understand what perfect nails look like, though few will invest the many hours of practice necessary to achieve them. I’m often asked what’s the difference between competition and salon nails. Competition nails represent a standard of perfection in form, while salon nails must function in the everyday lives of clients. That being said, great salon nails exhibit most of the characteristics of their impractical competition counterparts, with the most obvious exceptions being length and thickness.
Most competitors would agree that success depends on preparation, including plenty of time for practice. As soon as possible, handle all the logistic concerns: review the competition schedule and rules, select your hand model (if needed), make your travel arrangements, pack your supplies, etc. If you have any questions about the competition, get them answered beforehand by contacting the competition director. If preparing a nail art entry in advance, do not procrastinate; use your time wisely. Your competition performance will reflect the time you invested in practicing. Do what you do best, and don’t attempt something new unless it can be perfected in time for the competition.
Typically, judges score competition nails in ten categories. One of the most important categories is overall impression. The judges must feel compelled to look at your work more closely. In enhancement competitions, judges want to see shiny nails with crisp, even smile lines, and they want to see detail and color in nail art competitions. For enhancement competitions, like Sculptured Nails, consistency and finish work are critical; each nail should exhibit the same characteristics and the quality of the shine and polish application should demonstrate attention to detail and good time management. The most successful competitors execute their work by developing their own system for application, filing and finishing. For nail art competitions, originality may be the biggest challenge; the judges want to see something unique that expresses the theme well.
Most competitors know what needs to be improved without input from the judges. However, whenever possible, it's useful to ask for feedback from other competitors and the judges following the competition. A competitor should be prepared to listen and accept constructive criticism. The goal is to improve the quality of work for the next competition, not to question the judges' decision.
As an international judge and past Nailpro Competition Director, I have the privilege of interacting with the most passionate professionals in the nail industry. I’m truly inspired by the dedication of competitors to the craftsmanship and artistry of nails. Our status continues to improve in large part because competitors have tremendous influence as educators, mentors, consultants and manufacturers.
By Jaime Schrabeck, Ph.D.
How do you measure your professional success? The number of hours you work, or clients you have? Your net income? The warm, fuzzy feeling that comes from a service well done for a satisfied client? Whether measured quantitatively or qualitatively, much of our success is experienced in the isolation of our salon environments. No doubt, your clients appreciate your work and think you’re the best, but why not prove it? Why not put your manicuring skills to a more rigorous test and compete with the best? Participating in nail competitions remains the most objective, tangible and significant way to distinguish yourself in our industry.
Working in our individual salons, we have limited opportunities to compare and evaluate the quality of our work. Competing challenges nail professionals to perform their best work in less than ideal conditions, beyond the familiar comforts of the salon. The value of competing, and ultimately winning, goes beyond the recognition, cash prizes and trophies. Your salon work will improve greatly as you become more critical and demand more from yourself. Learning how to work more efficiently and consistently will improve both the speed and quality of your salon nails. The competition experience not only develops your skills, but provides incredible opportunities to network and market yourself to potential clients and employers.
Thousands of nails professionals work in salons, but very few challenge themselves to compete. Inspired and influenced by past champions, nail competitors strive to achieve the highest standards for workmanship while pushing artistic boundaries. They create new styles, develop innovative techniques and, most important, change our perceptions of what nails can be. The most successful competitors distinguish themselves as nail stars. If it weren’t for nail competitions, we wouldn’t know the names of Tom Holcomb, Danny Haile, Tom Bachik, Kym Lee, Carla Collier, Trang Nguyen, John Hauk or Lynn Lammers.
All nail professionals, whether they compete or not, should understand what perfect nails look like, though few will invest the many hours of practice necessary to achieve them. I’m often asked what’s the difference between competition and salon nails. Competition nails represent a standard of perfection in form, while salon nails must function in the everyday lives of clients. That being said, great salon nails exhibit most of the characteristics of their impractical competition counterparts, with the most obvious exceptions being length and thickness.
Most competitors would agree that success depends on preparation, including plenty of time for practice. As soon as possible, handle all the logistic concerns: review the competition schedule and rules, select your hand model (if needed), make your travel arrangements, pack your supplies, etc. If you have any questions about the competition, get them answered beforehand by contacting the competition director. If preparing a nail art entry in advance, do not procrastinate; use your time wisely. Your competition performance will reflect the time you invested in practicing. Do what you do best, and don’t attempt something new unless it can be perfected in time for the competition.
Typically, judges score competition nails in ten categories. One of the most important categories is overall impression. The judges must feel compelled to look at your work more closely. In enhancement competitions, judges want to see shiny nails with crisp, even smile lines, and they want to see detail and color in nail art competitions. For enhancement competitions, like Sculptured Nails, consistency and finish work are critical; each nail should exhibit the same characteristics and the quality of the shine and polish application should demonstrate attention to detail and good time management. The most successful competitors execute their work by developing their own system for application, filing and finishing. For nail art competitions, originality may be the biggest challenge; the judges want to see something unique that expresses the theme well.
Most competitors know what needs to be improved without input from the judges. However, whenever possible, it's useful to ask for feedback from other competitors and the judges following the competition. A competitor should be prepared to listen and accept constructive criticism. The goal is to improve the quality of work for the next competition, not to question the judges' decision.
As an international judge and past Nailpro Competition Director, I have the privilege of interacting with the most passionate professionals in the nail industry. I’m truly inspired by the dedication of competitors to the craftsmanship and artistry of nails. Our status continues to improve in large part because competitors have tremendous influence as educators, mentors, consultants and manufacturers.
By Jaime Schrabeck, Ph.D.
From Nail Girl (or Guy) to Nail Professional
Article Published in Stylist Magazine, November 2010
After years of hearing consumers casually refer to either me or another manicurist as “my nail girl,” I’ve heard enough. That kind of job description ranks somewhere between pool boy and cleaning lady. Nail girl? Every time I hear that term, I’m so tempted to ask, “How do you refer to your dentist? And your gynecologist?” You get my point.
It’s a given that being a manicurist usually doesn’t engender much respect. Perhaps this explains the imbalance of power that many manicurists experience in their client relationships. Rather than being treated as a respected nail professional, a skilled individual who’s paid accordingly to provide service, many manicurists tolerate being treated as a subservient nail girl (or guy). While assuming the role of obsequious manicurist may seem harmless, or even necessary to build a clientele, this attitude of inferiority can have unintended consequences for your business. Ultimately, it will give your clients the sense that they can tell you what to do and how to do it, thus trivializing your work, minimizing your education and undermining your professionalism.
As you might imagine, I don’t play this role in my salon, and wouldn’t recommend you do it either. I feel so strongly about the lack of respect that I developed a class titled, “I’m Not Your Nail Girl!” The class focuses on the 5 biggest mistakes manicurists make:
Being incompetent. Realizing we all start somewhere, it’s the progress you make, particularly after being licensed, that sets you apart. Developing your skills and knowledge not only improves the quality and efficiency of your work, it gives you the confidence to charge more and be more selective about your clients. However, if you don’t have the aptitude and inclination to do professional-quality work, find yourself something else to do.
Refusing to learn. This is even more inexcusable than being ignorant, enough said.
Failing to follow through. Know your limitations and don’t make promises you can’t keep, like guaranteeing how long polish will last, or that artificial nails won’t break. You don’t control how your clients treat their nails. And don’t overextend yourself; for example, attempting to complete within an hour a service that normally takes 90 minutes is sure to frustrate/disappoint someone.
Lacking discretion. The beauty business is based on relationships: with clients, colleagues, other businesses, manufacturers, etc. As tempted as we are to connect people to others, resist the temptation and keep it to yourself. The best advice I could give would be to compartmentalize the interactions you have to protect yourself from sharing, whether intentionally or not, information that you shouldn’t.
Being cheap. Using your thumb nail instead of a metal cuticle pusher? Toilet paper instead of nail wipes? Reusing files when you know better? Clients will realize quickly how invested you are in your business, and they should not be questioning where their money goes.
A transition is the process of changing from one condition to another. The most significant transition a manicurist can make? From being considered just a nail girl/guy to being respected as a nail professional. Your long-term success in the beauty industry depends on it. These are my 5 best recommendations for polishing your image and becoming more professional:
Enjoy your work. Doing nails is hard work; it can be both physically demanding and emotionally draining. We cannot afford to have a bad day technically, or be in a bad way emotionally. Our clients expect and deserve to have their services provided competently with enthusiasm. Your passion for doing nails will help you overcome the most challenging nail problems and manage the most difficult clients.
Be efficient. From scheduling appointments to providing services to ordering products to paying your bills, every activity related to your business should be accomplished as efficiently as possible. Don’t waste your time, money or efforts without asking yourself if you’re making the most of your resources.
Do the right thing. Knowing what you should do, and actually doing it, earns you respect. Follow all applicable laws, understand product chemistry, provide safe, quality services every time, claim all your income, pay your taxes, respect the privacy of others, support your coworkers, clean up after yourself, etc.
Value yourself and your clients. Whether you’re a new licensee or a seasoned veteran, you control how others perceive you. Present yourself as a professional committed to a lasting career, rather than a temporary job, and discover that clients will be more willing to commit to you. Long-term client relationships, based on mutual appreciation and respect, should form the foundation of your business.
Share your knowledge. Educating clients demonstrates that you care about their health. Educating other manicurists demonstrates that you care about the health of our industry. Nail professionals would benefit from more collegiality; it’s in our best interests to encourage each other to be the best professionals we can be.
By Jaime Schrabeck, Ph.D.
After years of hearing consumers casually refer to either me or another manicurist as “my nail girl,” I’ve heard enough. That kind of job description ranks somewhere between pool boy and cleaning lady. Nail girl? Every time I hear that term, I’m so tempted to ask, “How do you refer to your dentist? And your gynecologist?” You get my point.
It’s a given that being a manicurist usually doesn’t engender much respect. Perhaps this explains the imbalance of power that many manicurists experience in their client relationships. Rather than being treated as a respected nail professional, a skilled individual who’s paid accordingly to provide service, many manicurists tolerate being treated as a subservient nail girl (or guy). While assuming the role of obsequious manicurist may seem harmless, or even necessary to build a clientele, this attitude of inferiority can have unintended consequences for your business. Ultimately, it will give your clients the sense that they can tell you what to do and how to do it, thus trivializing your work, minimizing your education and undermining your professionalism.
As you might imagine, I don’t play this role in my salon, and wouldn’t recommend you do it either. I feel so strongly about the lack of respect that I developed a class titled, “I’m Not Your Nail Girl!” The class focuses on the 5 biggest mistakes manicurists make:
Being incompetent. Realizing we all start somewhere, it’s the progress you make, particularly after being licensed, that sets you apart. Developing your skills and knowledge not only improves the quality and efficiency of your work, it gives you the confidence to charge more and be more selective about your clients. However, if you don’t have the aptitude and inclination to do professional-quality work, find yourself something else to do.
Refusing to learn. This is even more inexcusable than being ignorant, enough said.
Failing to follow through. Know your limitations and don’t make promises you can’t keep, like guaranteeing how long polish will last, or that artificial nails won’t break. You don’t control how your clients treat their nails. And don’t overextend yourself; for example, attempting to complete within an hour a service that normally takes 90 minutes is sure to frustrate/disappoint someone.
Lacking discretion. The beauty business is based on relationships: with clients, colleagues, other businesses, manufacturers, etc. As tempted as we are to connect people to others, resist the temptation and keep it to yourself. The best advice I could give would be to compartmentalize the interactions you have to protect yourself from sharing, whether intentionally or not, information that you shouldn’t.
Being cheap. Using your thumb nail instead of a metal cuticle pusher? Toilet paper instead of nail wipes? Reusing files when you know better? Clients will realize quickly how invested you are in your business, and they should not be questioning where their money goes.
A transition is the process of changing from one condition to another. The most significant transition a manicurist can make? From being considered just a nail girl/guy to being respected as a nail professional. Your long-term success in the beauty industry depends on it. These are my 5 best recommendations for polishing your image and becoming more professional:
Enjoy your work. Doing nails is hard work; it can be both physically demanding and emotionally draining. We cannot afford to have a bad day technically, or be in a bad way emotionally. Our clients expect and deserve to have their services provided competently with enthusiasm. Your passion for doing nails will help you overcome the most challenging nail problems and manage the most difficult clients.
Be efficient. From scheduling appointments to providing services to ordering products to paying your bills, every activity related to your business should be accomplished as efficiently as possible. Don’t waste your time, money or efforts without asking yourself if you’re making the most of your resources.
Do the right thing. Knowing what you should do, and actually doing it, earns you respect. Follow all applicable laws, understand product chemistry, provide safe, quality services every time, claim all your income, pay your taxes, respect the privacy of others, support your coworkers, clean up after yourself, etc.
Value yourself and your clients. Whether you’re a new licensee or a seasoned veteran, you control how others perceive you. Present yourself as a professional committed to a lasting career, rather than a temporary job, and discover that clients will be more willing to commit to you. Long-term client relationships, based on mutual appreciation and respect, should form the foundation of your business.
Share your knowledge. Educating clients demonstrates that you care about their health. Educating other manicurists demonstrates that you care about the health of our industry. Nail professionals would benefit from more collegiality; it’s in our best interests to encourage each other to be the best professionals we can be.
By Jaime Schrabeck, Ph.D.
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