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