Nail disorders

The manicurist is not a doctor, thus she will do/ not do your nails in the following conditions:

1) Beau's line (horizontal ridges)
- Possible causes:
* too much buffing (with white block esp) * illness
* health conditions (pregnant)
- Can still do mani/pedi, but manicurist will give u ridge fillers/ acrylic extensions

Blue nails (nails bluish at lunala)
- Possible causes:
* Lack of oxygen in blood stream (weak heart/ poor circulation)
- Mani proceed as normal, but with darker nail polish

Injured nails/ Bruised nails (dark purplish clots underneath nail plate)
- Possible causes:
* injury
- Can still do mani, but with darker colors

Eggshell nails (weak whitish nails, that curve downwards)
- Possible causes:
* Illness/ lack of nutrients
- Will do acrylic nails

Longitudinal furrows (vertical ridges across nails)
- Possible causes:
* cogenital, or illness such as psoriasis, arthritis
* can end up in onychorrhexis nails if not taken care of
- Use ridge fillers/ acrylic

Hang nail (cuticle split)
- Possible causes:
* Dryness
* Frequent soak/dry/soak in water
* May become paronychia nails if not taken care of
- Use paraffin soak to treat, but if it's bleeding, don't go for mani

Spoon nails (thin, soft, spoon shaped nails)
- Possible causes
* iron deficiency
- use acrylic

Lamella Dystrophy (flaking/peeling of nail layers)
- Possible causes:
* Chemical damage
* Too dry
- Will use hardener

Leukonychia (white lines/ spots underneath nail plate)
- Possible causes:
* Don't know....(maybe by injury)
- Manicure as per normal

Onychauxis (overthickening of nail plate)
- Possible causes:
* past trauma
* Fungal infection
- if it's a fungal infection (got smell, turns black...) we won't do the manicure

Onychocryptosis (ingrown nails)
- Possible causes:
* Tight shoes
* Incorrect shaping of nails
- If there is no infection, we will trim out the ingrown areas.

Onychophagy (nail biting)
- Possible causes:
* Ask the nail biters....
- Acrylic extensions

Onychorrhexis (vertical split in nails)
- Possible causes:
* End result of badly taken care furrows
- Acrylic

Paronychia (swelling and bleeding of flesh around nails)
- Possible causes:
* Poorly taken care of hang nails
* Fungal infection
- pls. see doctor

Pterygium overgrowth (excess cuticles)
- Possible causes:
* neglect and never go mani
- Trim out the dead skin

What to consider when shaping nails? And common nail shapes

When deciding on a nail shape, consider your lifestyle, your occupation and of course, your preference.

3 general shapes and nail structure
(1) Normal
- A gentle C-curve
(2) Flat nail
- flat and thin nail plate, prone to breakage
(3) Claw nail
- Very thick (looks super sturdy, but is not)
- Tends to grow and hooks down. (The part which hooks down likely to snap)

5 types of nail shapes
A) SQUARE
- used mainly in competition
- straight side walls, sharp corners
- strong structure, due to the sidewalls
- not suitable to short nails/ clients' with stubby fingers (cos square shaped nails look heavy)

B) SQUARE ROUND
- similar to square, except rounded corners
- also a very strong shape
- suitable for long nails

C) ROUND
- has side walls but instead of square free edge, free edge is rounded
- suitable for all types of nails/ fingers

D) OVAL
- side walls filed in, with rounded free edge
- suitable for shorter nails, cos not much support at side walls
- also suitable for clients' with fan shaped nails
- gives a more delicate and elongated look

E) POINTED
- weakest of all the 5 shapes
- side walls are filed in and free edge is filed to a point
- only suitable for short nails

Sterilization, Disinfection, Sanitisation and Hygiene

Important steps prior to ALL manicures/ pedicures/ nail services.

LEVEL 1: STERILISATION
- What does it do?
* Hospital grade sterilisation for all metal implements
* Kills all bacteria, fungus, virus, and fungus spores
- For?
* Cuticle pushers, cuticle nippers
- What you ca use
* Autoclaves (121 deg heat for 15mins or 134 deg heat for 3 mins)
* Chemical Sterilisation (Barbicide solution in water - ratio of 1:10) for 10 mins (soak)
- Warning
* very drying and damaging to skin, cannot use the implements directly onto customers' skin.

LEVEL 2: Disinfection
- What does it do?
* Similar to sterilisation, except spores are not killed easily
* Use for non-metal items that cannot be soaked
- For?
* Files, Cuticle sticks, Nail brushes
- What you can use
* Alcohol (minimally 70% alcohol content)
* Heat in UV Box (but may not be useful for irregularly shaped objects)
* Bleach (but smelly)
* Iodine (not smelly, but stains)
- Warning
* also very drying on skin

LEVEL 3: Sanitation
- What does it do?
* Prevents spread of diseases from clients' and/or manicurists' hands/feet
- For?
* Skin
* Also include emptying of biological wastes after every treatment
- What you can use
* Sanitising spray/ foot soak

LEVEL 4: Hygiene
- General cleanliness of manicurist (hair, nails, skin, etc)