Nail treatment is the initial stages of a manicure both at home and in a beauty salon. The procedure differs depending on the type of manicure: edged or unedged, hardware, preparation for applying gel polish or working with nails affected by the fungus.
Tools and Materials: List
How to properly handle nails at home? First you need to prepare all the tools and materials that may come in handy during the manicure process. Shops today offer a huge selection of hand care products. For independent manicure, you may need:
- nail polish remover;
- nail files;
- wooden sticks to move the cuticle;
- manicure scissors or tweezers;
- cuticle oil;
- softener;
- cotton pads;
- steam bath;
- cream for hand skin care;
- hand scrub;
- hydrogen peroxide;
- brush with natural bristles;
- nail polish;
- base coverage (base);
- lacquer fixer (finish);
- waffle towel or cotton towel.
Secrets of choice: nail polish remover
It is better to choose a nail polish remover without acetone, which negatively affects the nail plate, although it quickly rinses off the old coating. With frequent use of the product with acetone, the nails begin to exfoliate and fade. To minimize harm in the liquid (in fact, it may not be liquid at all, but a gel or cream), various nutritional and moisturizing components are added. As part of some products, you can find vitamins A, E, group B, essential oils, extracts of medicinal herbs, mineral ingredients (calcium) that protect the nail plate from brittleness and delamination.
Nail file, wooden sticks and scissors
It is better to get a glass file. The tool does not act so aggressively on the nails and does not provoke delamination. Polishing files may come in handy. Such are made in the form of a parallelepiped. Coverage and number on each side are different. You need to polish your nails in turn (depending on the number of the face). The procedure should be carried out no more than once a month.
Often, disposable orange sticks are used for manicure to move the cuticle. Orange tree has antiseptic properties, wood has a dense, but at the same time very soft texture, absorbs moisture well. The length of the stick varies from 9 to 18 cm, the average thickness is 3-5 mm. There are options with rubber tips, but the use of such a tool for nails is much lower.
Wooden sticks can be replaced with metal tools made of high-quality medical steel. They are reusable, easily disinfected and can fulfill all the functions of an orange stick. But you need to use the tool very carefully, because a metal spatula can seriously damage the nail plate. Therefore, it is better to use models in rubber tips.
The size of manicure scissors or special tweezers is chosen from the convenience for the woman herself. It is advisable to purchase a tool made of quality steel from well-known manufacturers. Such scissors will have to be sharpened very rarely, and there will be no problems with manicure.
Cuticle, oil and scrub remover
Cuticle remover, oil, scrub, cream and cotton pads are available at any cosmetic store. You can use home remedies: baths with salt and oil or oil massage. Oils are used cosmetic or essential. The most useful are coconut, almond, avocado or tea tree oil. With the softening of the cuticles, fruit acids, which are sold in a pharmacy, can do a great job.
Tooling in the cabin
How to properly handle nails at home? Any high-quality and safe manicure begins with the processing of tools, and not with the preparation of the nails themselves (steaming and so on).
Processing of manicure tools in beauty salons involves several stages. First, an antiseptic is rubbed into the skin of the hands to destroy pathogenic or suppress temporary microflora. How to properly handle tools for trimming nails? All instruments (except for disposable ones, which must be packed in individual packaging) are immersed in a disinfectant solution in an open or disassembled form.
After disinfection, the instruments are inserted into the kraft bag and placed in the sterilizer. The instrument should be stored in a UV sterilizer with bactericidal lamps. Before use, manicure tools are again sprayed with a disinfectant solution from a spray bottle.
Disinfection at home
At home, the processing of files, tweezers and scissors is carried out before the start of the procedure and after the end of the manicure. If this is a personal manicure set, then just wipe the tools with a cotton pad, richly moistened with hydrogen peroxide or alcohol. If you are doing a manicure at home for several clients, then to comply with all the rules of disinfection and sterilization, you should purchase a compact sterilizer.
Of course, the procedures can be performed in the old fashioned way: the instruments are boiled, and then they are calcined in the oven in sealed bags. Poor-quality scissors and tweezers can become dull or bend during such handling, but medical steel products can easily withstand all procedures.
Additionally, you need to treat the hands of the master and client with an antiseptic solution. Such treatment is provided only in the process of preparing healthy nail plates for manicure. In the presence of a fungus, instruments are disinfected differently.
General safety rules
How to properly handle fingernails, hands and tools so that the manicure process is safe? The process of sterilizing instruments is described in detail above, but there are several more rules that should be followed for your own good.
All actions must be done very carefully and leisurely, because you can cut yourself or the client. It is worthwhile to ask the client in advance whether the capillaries are close to the surface of the skin. If so, then it is worth recommending unedged manicure in order to avoid injuries.
When you receive a “wound” in the fight for the beauty of the nails, the cut should be treated immediately. This is not a tragedy. If all manicure tools are sanitized according to the SES rules, and the wound is immediately treated, then you can not be afraid to become infected with something dangerous.
Cutting Tools
It is usually treated with alcohol or hydrogen peroxide, but such antiseptics thin the blood. Professionals use hemostatic fluids that quickly stop the blood and do not interfere with the quality application of varnish. A cotton swab just need to be moistened in a solution and applied to the wound for a few seconds.
From surgery, gynecology and dentistry, Vagotil, Gemostab, Kapramin and Enoji successfully migrated to the nail industry. You can use medical glue that stops bleeding well.
“Vagotil” gives an instant effect, but can stain the skin in icteric color. “Hemostab” not only stops the blood, but also anesthetizes. “Capramin” does not cause allergies, does not stain the skin and does not have a specific smell, and the box has a very convenient pipette for dispensing.
Nail treatment with trimmed manicure
How to properly process nails? First you need to prepare and disinfect all the tools that you may need. Then you should remove the remnants of the old varnish with a cotton pad and liquid (it can be a gel or cream) to remove.
The next stage is the bath. Warm water and a special filler are poured into a plastic bowl. This can be a shower gel or liquid soap, essential oils, lemon juice (softens the cuticle and facilitates its removal) or sea salt (helps strengthen nails and disinfects). If there are scratches or peeling, you should not use sea salt, it is better to replace it with a decoction of chamomile.
The bath should be taken within five to ten minutes. After the hands are wiped with a soft towel or blotted with a paper towel.
Next, remove the cuticle. How to properly handle nails at home? To do this, you need an orange stick and nippers (tweezers). With the tip of a wooden stick, gently push the cuticle to the edge of the nail plate, and then use a pair of cutters to cut it so that the cut is free of burrs. At this stage, you need to do everything very carefully. Inaccuracy can cause infection. Any cosmetic oil or emollient is applied to the site of the removed cuticle.
How to properly process nails at home next? The next step is the form. It is best to abandon the use of scissors, limiting only to a nail file. Nails need to be filed in only one direction so as not to damage the plates. The file is held at a slight angle. Processing is carried out from the edge to the center of the nail plate.
The form can be absolutely any. Focusing on personal preferences and fashion, which changes every season. Oval shaped nails that protrude 3-4 mm beyond the edge of the finger always look aesthetically pleasing. Short nails make the fingers visually shorter and thicker, and too long are simply uncomfortable.
A nail file should be chosen 15-20 cm long, 1.5-2 cm wide. This is the most convenient tool. It is better to use soft, because metal lead to stratification of nails. For home manicure, it is enough to purchase one universal file.
The technique of performing unedged manicure
How to properly process nails with unedged manicure, and what does such a procedure generally provide? Unedged is suitable for those whose vessels are located close to the surface of the skin, and the cuticle is thin and delicate. The main difference from the cut manicure is that the cuticle is not cut. It is removed using a special tool.
Steaming the skin of the hands before unedged manicure is not necessary, but no one canceled the processing of tools. How to handle nails on the hands? It is necessary to give the nails the desired shape with a nail file, and then begin the removal of the cuticle. To do this, a special composition is applied to the skin, which dissolves the dead cells. After a few minutes, it remains only to move the cuticle back and carefully remove the dead skin with an orange stick. The remnants of the product are cleaned with a towel or paper towel.
How to process the skin around the nail further? Use nutritious oil. The product must be rubbed with massage movements throughout the nail surface and into the skin around the nails. Before applying varnish, the surface must be degreased. Traces of oil should not remain at all, because otherwise the varnish will lie unevenly. The colorless base protects the nails from pigmentation and allows the varnish to last as long as possible.
Application of colored nail polish
Colored varnish is applied in a thin layer. The procedure must be repeated after a few minutes, so that the first layer has time to dry. The final stage is the application of a topcoat or an additional shine. This will allow you to keep the manicure in good condition longer. It’s best to buy a product from the “two in one” category, that is, one that is both a fixative and a base, and gives shine.
Many professional masters recommend applying varnish not immediately after the manicure, but the next day. The fact is that the steamed nail plate eventually takes the usual shape, and the varnish sets earlier. So between the marigold and the varnish an air gap forms. Because of this, all the beauty breaks off literally the next day. And if you paint your nails a little later, then the varnish will last 5 days.
Hardware manicure: tools
How to handle nails with a manicure machine? This is a device similar to a small milling machine, on which you can install different nozzles. The technique for performing manicure differs only in that dead skin is not removed with hand tools, but with a mechanical device.
The machine for hardware manicure can be equipped with diamond mills, ceramic or silicon-carbide. Diamond is the most effective and expensive, perfectly solve the problem of unevenness and provide its prevention. Ceramic are used for problem areas, well suited for pedicures. Silicon carbide milling cutters are the cheapest and most affordable, but are considered disposable and must be disposed of after the procedure.
There are different options for nozzles. The reverse cone is used to process nails in front of a French manicure, a spherical bur is needed to remove small growths and cracks. A cylindrical tool is used to shorten nails, remove gel polish, create a design and other procedures.
Using a drum, roughened areas are removed, thick nails are trimmed or the growth line is aligned. Polishers are made of plastic or silicone in the form of a rounded cone. According to reviews, even for home manicure you need to purchase four types of nozzles.
Nail treatment machine
How to properly treat nails with a manicure machine? You do not need to steam them, because the procedure is carried out only on a dry nail plate. The speed is set at a speed of up to 10,000. The machine must not be pressed or pressurized during processing. First, it is advisable to practice on silicone tips.
So, how to properly handle the nails with the apparatus? The cuticle first moves to the nail hole with an orange stick. In this section, you can use the drums of medium hardness. Removal of dead cells on the palms and fingers is performed using spherical burs. Trapezoidal or cylindrical cutters can give the nail plate the desired shape.
Next, how to properly handle the nails with a machine? Now you can start polishing. This is quite difficult for beginners: you can not bring the edge of the polisher to the nail to avoid scratches, you can not hold the tool in one place for longer than one second. Then it remains to remove dust and nail residue, grease the skin around with oil and apply varnish.
Gel Polish Technology
Many women choose a gel because this coating lasts longer and prevents the nails from breaking. But how to properly process the nails before applying gel polish? First you need to give the desired shape, align the free edge of the plate and thoroughly clean from dust. If the nails exfoliate, then you need to treat with a finely abrasive nail file. Before coating, you can do a manicure, but the surface of the nail should be dry and fat free.
How to properly process nails before gel polish? The top layer of the nail plate is removed with a coarse buff. The surface should remain matte. Do not press hard on the tool so as not to damage the nail. The dehydrator then removes the remnants of the nail, dust, grease and moisture. After treatment, do not touch the nails with your fingers.
Before applying the base, it is worth covering the nail with a primer so that the adhesion of the gel polish to the nail plate is more durable. Be sure to use a primer for thin or brittle plates, the presence of delamination. Then a base gel is applied, which creates a bond between the natural nail and the artificial material at the molecular level, and also protects the plate from coloring pigments.
The layer should be made as thin as possible. The base is dried under an ultraviolet lamp in one minute, when using an LED-lamp only ten seconds are enough. Color gel is applied in a single layer for translucency. If you apply two or three layers, the color will be saturated. But in any case, you need to try to make the layers very thin. After each layer, the nails are dried under a lamp.
To fix the coating, a finish gel is required. If you poorly dry the finish, then shine may be lost. At the final stage, it remains only to remove the dispersion layer from the surface of the nail plate using a special fluid.
Pedicure
How to handle toenails? With pedicure, the nail plate is processed in the same sequence as during the manicure. First, the skin is steamed, then you need to trim the nails and cuticle. When pedicure treatment is required: care for the skin of the feet, chapped heels and corns. How to treat toenails is understandable, but what to do with rough skin?
Dead skin is removed with a pumice stone, but first you need to steam your feet in a warm bath for 10 minutes. Scrubs and peels help to get rid of coarse particles.
But the neglected situation cannot be corrected with an ordinary pedicure. To remove cracks and hardenings, apply a nourishing mask, wrap the legs with cellophane and put on warm socks. It is recommended to leave the mask overnight, and in the morning wash your feet and grease with a nourishing cream. The result will appear only after a few procedures.
Nail fungus: processing rules
How to handle nails with fungus? This disease requires a long and systemic treatment. Fungal infections remain viable after washing or cleaning by conventional means, a person becomes dangerous to others and even to himself, because without proper treatment, relapses are guaranteed.
To remove the fungus, you need to regularly carry out compresses, baths, use pills and medicinal varnishes. How to handle fungal nails? With a sterile instrument, the nail plate is first treated with a file, and then with antifungal ointments.
For procedures, you can use “Chlohexidine” in the form of a ready-made solution (1%). With a cotton pad, you need to carefully wipe the shoes from the inside, the insole, all the tools for manicure and pedicure. Socks need to be boiled in a special solution or treated with a pharmacy antimycotic drug.
Mycosis treatment products
How to handle toenails in the presence of fungus? You can use the pharmacy “Miko-stop”, “Miramistin”, “Desavid”, “Line” and the already mentioned “Chlorhexidine”. Miko-stop spray is suitable for emergency disinfection. “Miramistin” - this drug for use in a large number of cases is used including for processing shoes. “Desavid” is available in the form of a solution and spray. It can be applied after removing the nail. “Line” is used on household items, but shoes must be dried after processing.