Nail Biz Lifting

The Business of Nails
NAIL-BIZ by the Dragon

Not Comprehensive. This page is not an all inclusive guide to nail lifting. I am not going to cover everything that everyone knows on the subject of nail lifting. I am always learning more,,, like recently I learned that a nail dehydrator is effective for about 30 minutes. I didn't know that, and there is lots more I don't know. I am also not going to attempt to teach very much about technique. You should have learned technique in school. And if you didn't learn much about technique in school, then you should be learning technique from co-workers. And if you don't have co-workers, then you should be learning technique from videos. BUT you aren't going to learn technique from reading about it from me -- technique is a hands on thing .... at the very least, a thing to learn visually. Much of your technique is going to have to be developed by you.

Magic Wand. A main point of this page will be to convince you that there is no magic wand to cure your lifting problems. What acrylics do you use? What size brush? Should I switch to Retention? Maybe I could try Tammy Taylor.

Product is not the Problem. Product is not the problem. Application of the product, yes, but not the product itself. If you are having lifting problems with Brand X, remember that thousands of other nail techs are using Brand X also, and if Brand X was the cause of lifting then Brand X would soon be off the shelves.

Find 10 nail techs who do no lift nails and you may have 10 nail techs each using a different product. Product
is not the key. Stop searching for a no lift product.

Desperation. I detect in many techs a sense of desperation. If only I could do nails that don't lift. Oh, God, this week four of my clients came back with lifting nails. I know it can obsess you. Some make half thought out statements such as, "if only I could do nails like the discount shops do".

No You Don't. Believe me, discount nails are not the solution. You may say, "but hey, the nails I see from the discount shop don't lift". I have even received email from nail techs who are very tempted to buy the imagined properties of MMA. They ask if I can tell them the names of products containing MMA because they believe that it is the use of MMA that eliminates lifting.

Discounters follow the etching school of no lift. Heavy etching of the nail surface \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ creates
a jagged surface that aids adhesion. Fact is, the use of MMA, which has a poorer adhesion property than does EMA, encourages the discounters to etch too heavily .... thus the 'rings of fire' damage ... not a good thing.

That doesn't mean that the school of etching is bad .... I etched, my wife etches, Tammy Taylor etches. You just can't etch to the point of damage. Consider this: if you etch lightly and carefully and if the nail grows out .. right, then you are not etch again and again on the same area of the nail as it grows. And eventually the etched area grows out to the free edge .. and is clipped away. But remember that the whole premise that etching is an acceptable method of nail prep is based upon the nail tech having the experience to know not to etch to the point of damage.

There is also the cleanliness school of no lift. The idea is that the cleaning prep is the key and that only the very lightest of etching may be done ... very light. Well this school of no lift works great also. Some very well know nail tech educators (whom I respect and admire) follow the cleanliness school of no lift. It is a very good school of no lift .... it isn't what we follow.... so that is the reason I am not discussing it. But don't think that I am against it ... in fact, I am in favor of the cleanliness school of no lift.

The Secret to no lift. Most nail techs with lifting problems are Newbie to the nail business. There are many thousands of nail techs out there doing nails for years. Very experienced. With very devoted and satisfied clients. And earning very good money. They have little or no lifting problems. And they learned some things alone the way to success. They learned that you barely know what you are doing until you have completed your first 100 sets of nails. They learned that you are experienced and confident and professional when you have completed your first 1000 sets of nails. They learned that the secret to no lifting is proper nail prep..

Nail Prep is the key to No Lift. I know, I know, I know that you think that you are doing a good prep. You practice, you have thought out and gone over your prep again and again. But still, the fact is that if you are encountering lifting problems,,,, then your prep probably is at fault.

Got That? The secret to No lift is PREP. Oh, it is great to also use the right chems, such as No Lift brand of primer. But the real key to success is in how you use your chems and tools.

And both schools of no lift, the etching school and the cleanliness school, can provide no lift nails.

Understand that the only reason that I am discussing the etching school, is that I am an etcher .... the cleanliness school is also great for no lift nails. The two schools of thought merely differ on which part of the prep the emphasis is on.

If you choose to be an etcher. Etching can be great for preparing the nail for the product. Probably the real reason that the discount shops have such great no-lift success. Only too many of them overdo it. So don't go out and buy an electric file and then use it like a drill ...... too easy to over etch and damage the nails. But, yes, I hold the believe that many new nail techs out there don't etch the nail properly. Grab that #100 file and rough up the surface of the nail ,,,,, evenly.

AND primer. There are a lot of variations on applying primer. Apply it sparingly and don't get it on the skin. I have heard many techs say that they apply the primer and let it dry to chalky white and then apply product. And I know of other nail techs that once the primer dries to chalky white, will apply a second drop of primer and immediately apply the product on top of the wet primer.

THEN there is that all important area of the nail up near the cuticle. I am not going to describe how to apply, dab, and smooth product there. If you are having problems, then you need to SEE it done.
And there are all kind of minor items to discuss like what meds a client may be taking and like do certain ingredients of some lotions tend to encourage lifting ect ect ect .... but I already told you that this page is not going to be a comprehensive guide.

In fact I think there are better guides to no lift at the web sites of some of the educator nail techs that I mentioned and also via the links found at www.beautytech.com and so on and so on...... I'm just here to make a couple of simple basic points that you either accept or you are never going to go any further on the road to no lift.

IN FACT, NO 1, if you are a new nail tech, you have probably chosen a 'system'; Tammy Taylor, or Light Elegance, or whatever. Remember that if the product or the system that you are using cannot produce no lift nails, then, look, they would be off the market, they would not sell.

SO...secret is: follow the instructions for your product. The key is the prep. Some products require different prep. If you think that you prep correctly and your nails lift .... then accept this statement: Your prep is probably not correct.

And another thing. And this is what I believe, and some people may really strongly disagree with me. If you are one of the people using the little tiny brush to apply 4, 5 , 6 tiny balls of product....... and you are patting and pushing and spreading and stroking and doing if forever and forever on just one single nail. Now don't get all in a huff .... I'm not using this as an insult, but as an example .... that I believe that all those different areas of different balls of product now on top of the nail each in different stages of setting/curing ... well to me, I can't see how that can be helpful to creating a no lift nail. I have no proof. Just think about it.

BUT the real summary is that Talk doesn't teach prep. I didn't learn nails from a book, my wife taught me. My wife didn't learn nails from a book, her friends taught her. I see so many techs asking to be told how to cure their lifting problems ...
well....
if you didn't solve it in school, or in the textbook, or by watching a video (I swear by Tammy Taylor videos).
then you should now learn it the right way ..... have someone show you.

Listen ... I'll tell ya something. I had stopped doing nails and my wife wanted to add uv gel nails to her skills. Now she has no acrylic lifting problem. But the gels lifted. She was frustrated and angry and she had me read everything about gels to her and she was making phone calls and getting advice over the phone from her many girlfriends for two weeks. No success.

And finally a girlfriend said drive over to my shop tonight and I'll show you and she did and no more uv gel lifting problem. Solved.

Now I don't use the words Vietnamese and American on the message boards anymore cause it just seems to drive some people crazy ... but this is my web site so here I will.
Vietnamese techs work in groups.... at the shops .... all chatting and being with each other all the time and they learn from each other. A Vietnamese tech at a shop is not going to have lifting problems cause the other techs are going to help her.
American techs usually work alone ..... they have a lifting problem and there is no one to help them. You really really need to have someone help/show you.
So believe two points a least of what I have said on this page .... one is that prep is the key ... and two is that talk doesn't teach prep.

But no more asking me if I know where you can buy MMA. It is not the MMA, it is THE PREP. The procedure. The technique.

I AM GOING TO ASK RIGHT HERE, FOR ANY EXPERIENCED NAIL TECH WHO HAS A GUIDE TO LIFTING PROBLEM AVAILABLE ON A WEB PAGE ..... TO PLEASE EMAIL ME THE URL OF YOUR WEB PAGE. AND I WILL PLACE LINKS RIGHT HERE AT THE END OF MY PAGE THAT THE NAIL TECH WITH LIFTING PROBLEMS CAN CLICK ON AND BE TAKEN TO YOUR HELPFUL INFORMATION ON LIFTING. EMAIL ME AT kennoetzel@aol.com.

Tammy Taylor presents her 12 step method for acrylic nails	www.tammytaylornails.com
Educational site for nail professionals	www.nailsplash.com

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