How to Minimize Problems With Acrylic Nails

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By annvans
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This article is designed to help nail technicians with managing acrylic nails on their clients. Learn some tips to help prevent breakage of acrylic nails.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Step 1

First thing when going to do a fill, you should check to see if any acrylic is lifting. If it is, you should clip it off and file it down so that there are absolutely no parts left lifting from the nail at all. Brush off the nail with a nail brush and apply some anti fungal and the primer. Apply the acrylic so that there will be at least 1/16th inch of acrylic left on the cuticle area, the sides, and the tips AFTER the filing is done. You may have to put the acrylic on kind of thick if you file the nails heavy.
Step 2

When you go to file the nails, make sure that you leave that 1/16th inch on the sides of the nails. You can use your hand file so that it does not file the acrylic right back off the sides by turning your file under like you are filing the under part of the nail on the sides. This is important if you are having problems with the nails breaking at the sides where the nail bed ends. Always making sure that you have a 1/16th inch of acrylic on the nail tips will be safer than anything thinner. If your client wishes to have really thin nails, you can explain to them that they could crack and break if they are too thin.
Step 3

If you are having problems with the acrylic breaking at the very end of the nail on an overlay on a clients real nails, you may want to turn their hand over and look to see if their real nails are separating from the acrylic on the tips. If so, you can clip that off and fill it in as you would the part by the cuticle. Sometimes that happens when people have their hands in water a lot or that they have an oily nail bed. Shortening them on a regular basis helps this too.
Step 4

Always look for white spots in the acrylic that can indicate there is a lift. White spots in the acrylic may be a spot where dirt or water can get between the acrylic if the client happens to crack the side of the nail. Always get those out if possible. You should be able to judge if the white spot is going to let dirt or water under the acrylic.
Step 5

When filing the nails, always look at them from the sides, from the nail tip, and curl the finger under to look at the nail that way. Looking at them from all directions can help you file them much better.
Step 6

If lifting is a problem, the nails could be too long. Shorten them if they are really long. Some clients will have oily nail beds. Using good quality products is very important. If you find that you are having problems with a lot of your clients nails lifting, you may want to check to see if you are applying the acrylic with the right consistency. Also, your primer should be kept clean. Make sure you do not contaminate your primer with any kind of oil. The nail should always be clean when applying primer. Make sure that your primer brush has not gotten oil on it also. Sometimes primer may get old and get particles in it. You may want to get a new one if you think it could be the primer.
If you are having problems with the plastic nail tips falling off easily, check the Resources section of this article for my article on how to apply nail tips with acrylic instead of glue. For some people, this helps a little with breakage.

Comments

rakhib said

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on 11/28/2009 GR8 post.5* and a recc

HollyC said

on 9/28/2009 Nice read on how to minimize problems with acrylic nails! 5*

on 7/9/2009 These are good tips for people who choose to go acrylic. Personally I stick with natural with the exception of a major event. These tips just may make acrylics more desirable in the future though. Thanks!