Sunday, January 23, 2011

Ski Jump Nails

 Not all of our clients have a perfect nails. I’d rather say most of them have some problems with their natural nails, that’s why they came to make sculptured nails.
A ski jump nail is a natural nail with a curved in nail plate and an upturned edge. As the nails grow longer, the more severe the upturned edge becomes. Ski jump nails usually have short nail bed because the free edge extension lifts away from the nail bed earlier than normal nail shapes.

First, try to shorten the nails as much as possible - all of the free edge should be missing. If you don’t, it will be almost impossible to fit the form correctly.

Imagine that this nails are not ski jump at all. Cover the hollow zone with acrylic or gel to make it like the regular natural nail. Make sure that the surface of the material is smooth.




Than, fit the form straight. Make sure that the form goes strictly parallel to the invisible line in the center of the finger (!), not the nail, as it goes up.
 


Apply the material as usual. As you see, the thickest area is not in the stress zone, as it has to be. That's why, a very ski jump nails can't be done with the length that is more than 2/3 the length of the natural nail bed.

You can also do the same thing using tips. You should place the tip to the nail and make sure that it goes straight, and then, put more as usual nail fuse, to fit the gap between the tip and natural nail.

Rebalancing ski jump nails
Backfill a ski jump nail at least every 2-3 weeks. By the time for the next appointment, the nails of the client will look a little bit ski jump again. To fix it, it’s better to use an electric drill, and file off the excess material from the free edge and stress zone. Be careful, as when the material will be thin enough, there is a possibility to break the nail.

Leave a thin layer if the material as a base. Turn the client’s hand in a opposite motion and place acrylic or gel from the backside of the free edge. Continue to add a material until you will see that the nail look strictly straight again. Using electric drill with a barrel mill to make a nice and smooth surface from the inside and also pay attention to the look of the C-curve – it has to be about 30% of the whole round, symmetrical and not too thick.
p.s. sorry for my paintings – I really tried my best in painting with mouse pad ))  

2 comments:

  1. Do you know if there is any way to get ski jump nails to grow back normally naturally?? thanks

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for the info. Do you think using ‘hawk claw nail tips or coverings’ to extend the nails would help the appearance of the nail. I’m forever trying to explain the manicurists that I want something that will make the nails appear to curl under as opposed to sky high. ... but so far no one has succeeded or really tried. Thank you

    ReplyDelete