Beauty School Wisdom: The Art of the Manicure

The art of the manicure is not just about the ability to create beautifully shaped and polished nails. For clients, successful manicures also involve relaxation, bonding, and feeling special at the end of the session. Beauty college nail tech courses provide some valuable advice in this area. When you incorporate both well-honed technical skills and a calm, pleasant demeanor into your manicure routine, clients will flock to you and recommend your salon to others.

Cosmetology School Lesson: Manicure Procedures

The technical process of manicuring may include some or all of the following:

Identifying your client's base nail shape
Cutting and filing the nails
Buffing the nails
Bleaching the nails to remove stains
Using hand creams, lotions, cuticle treatments, and oils to keep hands soft and healthy
Massaging the hands for relaxation
Painting the nails with clear or colored polish
Applying acrylic or gel nails
Applying hardening treatments

Consider Each Manicure Unique

The art of each manicure can vary greatly. It depends on your client's requests for specific end results, and also on their individual skin type, nail shape, and nail health. Cosmetology school teaches you to how to deal with some nail health issues; however, you may have to refer more serious concerns to a dermatologist.

Some procedures are common in nearly all manicures. Almost all clients need their nails clipped, filed, and buffed. They need hand cream applied, too, which usually involves at least a light massage. Most customers want their nails polished with a clear coat or specific color choice.

Nail Shapes

Manicurists base their cutting and shaping procedures on one of five basic nail shapes, as taught in all nail design courses:

Squared, with no rounding
Round, usually kept very short
Oval, often considered the average ideal shape
Pointed, can look neat on thin hands
Squoval, somewhere between square and oval shapes

Your nail shape selection should be based on your client's preference, but you can offer some helpful advice using the knowledge you gained in beauty college. The nail shape should enhance the appearance of the hands. Examine the cuticle shape and ask clients about their work and recreational routines, too, before deciding on an appropriate nail shape.

Hand Massage Considerations

Hand cream should be massaged into the skin; however, always address any health issues before massaging a client's hands. Arthritic hands should be massaged extremely gently. Clients with circulatory problems should not have their hands massaged at all, and diabetic clients should have extra care taken with their cuticles.

The hands are a small but highly significant part of the body, so manicures can include an infinite array of details and considerations. When you see your client's pleased expression and lovely hands, you also see why manicurists consider their jobs one of the most rewarding in the field of cosmetology.