How to Distinguish a Good Nail Artist From a Non-Professional

Many women remember the elaborate hand dance and the trick to place freshly-painted nails under cold water to get them to dry faster. Nowadays, most women opt for professionally-done manicures and nail polish that lasts for weeks. While some can do this at home, others have been lucky enough to find a trusted nail technician who knows the importance of safety during the manicure process. For those who haven’t yet found a trusted professional, keep reading to make sure that your nails stay in good hands.

Bright Side wants to make sure that all of our readers stay safe so keep reading to know what to look out for the next time you get a manicure.

Disinfected tools

The disinfection of tools is a matter of your safety. A professional nail technician will always be able to tell you about the process of disinfection and sterilization of the tools they use.

• Tools should go through all stages — disinfection, pre-sterilization cleaning, and sterilization.
• After disinfection, tools should be stored in ultraviolet sterilizers. A manicure kit can also be stored in sterile disposable bags that should be opened in front of you.
• Pay attention to whether or not the nail technician has disinfected both their and your hands, the working place, and the nail files before starting the process — the latter shouldn’t have any traces of a previous client’s nails.
• Disposable gloves should always be worn.

Removing gel polish

Many beauty salons charge extra to remove the layer of old nail polish, but this procedure isn’t always done correctly.

• A nail technician shouldn’t remove gel polish with a usual nail polish remover or acetone.
• When getting rid of gel polish with the help of a Fraser, it’s forbidden to remove the nail polish layer up to the nail itself. A professional nail technician always removes gel polish until its base, after which they polish the nail with the help of a file so as not to damage it. If you are not sure whether your nail technician has good qualifications, it’s better to ask them to use a remover in this situation.
• Professionals use only a special remover that is used to soften a slightly filed layer. After this procedure, gel polish can be easily removed with the help of an orange tree stick.
• It’s also forbidden to scrub gel polish with the help of a metallic pusher. This procedure can damage the structure of the nail and cause it to grow unevenly.

Materials

High-quality tools are usually quite expensive and that’s why some salons choose to buy those of a lesser quality.

Pay attention to:

• When getting a classical manicure, your nail technician should apply a special remover to the cuticle instead of placing your hands into warm water.
• If you have paid for a service “manicure with Shellac coating,” the nail technician should apply gel polish of this exact brand — not of any other that costs less.
• The nail technician shouldn’t mix the nail polish base and the top from different manufacturers. Their components may not combine well.
• Nail polish or long-term coating shouldn’t have an expired shelf life.
• At the end of the procedure, the nail technician should apply lotion to your hands.

Manicure

Nail salons offer their clients different types of manicures. No matter which type of manicure you prefer, pay attention to the quality of the work.

• If you have very thin cuticles, a professional nail technician will insist on a hardware manicure. First of all, it reduces the chances of harming the skin, secondly, the cuticle becomes thicker and rougher after a classical manicure.
• When performing a hardware manicure, a nail technician should firstly lift up the cuticle with a pusher, and only after this, remove it with a Fraser. Otherwise, a client might end up having deep traces on their nails that will be noticeable when the nail grows longer.
• The tools for a classical manicure should be well-sharpened, otherwise, a client might get cuts and agnails.
• Good beauty salons don’t use metallic nail files. Moreover, they don’t file natural nails with very coarse files, the abrasiveness of which is less than 100 grit.

Coating

The way a nail technician applies nail polish to your nails says a lot about their professionalism.

• It’s forbidden to make the nail smooth so that the gel polish stays longer. This trick will help your manicure last for several weeks but it will harm the beauty and health of your nails in the future.
• No layers of the coating should overlap the cuticle, at the same time, the gaps between the cuticle and the polish layers shouldn’t be too big.
• All gel polish layers should be coated properly. Pay attention to whether the nail technician applies gel polish to the edge of the nail. If not, your manicure won’t last long.
• As a rule, modern nail technicians refuse from using ultraviolet when drying the coating and give their preferences to LED lamps. They aren’t as harmful to the skin and nails.

What are your ways of assessing a good nail technician? Please tell us about them in the comments!