How to pinch the nail

Questions and answers.

What kind of applications should be pinched?
Sculptured acrylic/gel, acrylic on tips.

Why should we pinch the nail?
 Proper pinching of the nail enhancement makes the perfect architecture of the nail and gives it elegant esthetic look. But the main function of pinching is strength and durability.
Half cylinder construction is much more resistant to deformation that the flat one.

The curve of the lower arch (sometimes called C-curve), or the concave is measured in percents of the whole circle. 50% means half of the circle, and 30% is almost one-third.
For salon nail enhancement it is recommended to make 25-35% concave.
For competition nails it is required to be at least 40% and above.

But the main thing in pinching is that it should be properly done!

Excessive pinching can cause cracks and onycholysis!

Onycholysis refers to the detachment of the nail from the nail bed, starting at its distal and/or lateral attachment.

How should I pinch the nail correctly?

Catch the moment
When the product is almost polymerized but it is still a bit soft, than this is the right moment to start pinching. You should start to pinch the nail right from the place where the artificial extension edge begins. You can’t pinch the nail in the area where there is a natural nail bead underneath. If the client feels pain, that means you’re doing something wrong.
Pinching should NOT HURT!

What should I use for pinching?
You can use your thumbs (if you got enhancement on it) or special pinching tools. The main thing is not WHAT you use; it is about HOW you use it. Pinch the nails gently, always control the look-and-feel of your clients, and stop pinching if it causes pain.

To sum it up, pinching the nail gives it excessive break-proof resistance and nice elegant look. But improper pinching will cause exactly the opposite.
So, please, make sure that you have enough qualification to pinch the nails and not to hurt the client. Proper education and training courses can help you with that, ask your tutor to show you the technique of nail pinching.

On the picture above you can see the nails that are not pinched. They look wide and kind of heavy-weight.

Square the circle

Some of my art work.

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 ))  

Watermelon design (step-by-step)

This simple design can be easily done using both acrylic or gel.

 


Sanitize both your hands and your client’s hands.
1. Fit the form. Using Purely Pink Masque Powder camouflage the natural nail plate.

2. With Red powder form the Technail Color collection sculpt a free edge of the nail in oval shape.

3. Place the small bead of Bold White powder from the new color powder collections right next to the red one, creating the same curve smile line, exactly as it goes on a watermelon.

4. Place the same small bead of the Grass Green powder, and make a new smile line again.

5. Gently pinch the nail.

6. Using black acrylic paint, make a small dotes as a seeds in a watermelon

7. Using dark green acrylic paint make waves on a green part of the free age exactly like it goes on a skin of a watermelon. Cover the entire nail with a Totally Clear powder.

8. File and shape the nail
9. Don’t forget to cover it with any kind of Top Coat – Airshield from the inside of the nail, as it has a semi-translucent red color, it will make look more natural.

10. Cover the entire nail with any kind of Top Coat.

The Watermelon design is done!

I hope you enjoyed this online workshop and if you got any questions about the technology, directly e-mail me on a.luksha @ tristar77.ru

Welcome to the magical world of nail art!

My name is Anastasia Luksha.

I live in Moscow, Russia. I work as an art-director of studio Nail Couture and also as an Educator of different programs, such as nail sculpting acrylic & gel, nail design, competition training and more.
Since 2007 I’m NSI (Nail Systems International) Expert Educator, certified instructor for Entity Beauty, Supernail Professional, Efexclusive.
In 2010 I passed a test for Hand & Nail Harmony Ph.D.

My professional experience started in 2004, when I went to my first nail class and began to work as a nail-tech. In 2006 I decided that I want to grow more, so I started to take part in nail competitions.
Some of my competition achievements:
2007 I won a bronze medal in acrylic sculpting nomination at the 2nd European Nail Competition that took place in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
2nd place in 3D Nail Design on International Championship “Golden Hands of the World”. Kaliningrad, Russia.

But the most significant achievements are the victories of my students, which I’m so proud of.

I’ve started to train my students for the nail competition only at the end of 2009, so sine that time we already got:
5 fifth place medals;
12 bronze medals;
7 silver medals;
2 gold medals;
1 bronze Grand Prize in the total score nomination.

As I live in Russia, most of my students are, obviously, Russian. Also I’ve learned students from Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Romania, Poland, USA.
Some of them come to my studio Nail Couture in Moscow, and also I’ve hosted classes in other studios in Russia, Poland.

If you would like to organize a class in your city, don’t hesitate to contact me directly by e-mail (a.luksha@tristar77.ru).

If you feel like you want to learn something new and to improve your skill in nail sculpting or nail design – You Are Welcome to join us!