Magazine for the professional nail industry.
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HEALTH} 5 Things You Should Ask Your Nail Biting Clients, and Why Use the information you gather from your consultation with nail biters not only to decide what you should do in the salon to help them break the habit, but also to educate them on the things they should be doing at home to guarantee their success. BY ANNE SCHLEGEL We've all been there at some point. We meet a lovely new client, sit down at our table with her to have a consultation, and suppress an inner groan when we see the ragged nails and shortened nail beds of a habitual biter. Yes, it's true, badly bitten nails can be difficult to work with, but that doesn't mean there can't be a happy ending for both you and your client. With a proper consultation and good plan of attack, you can help them kick the habit for good. Begin by asking the following questions: What do you bite? This question may seem like it has an obvious answer, but many biters don't limit their gnawing to their nails. Look for signs of biting on the skin surrounding their nails, and ask if they also bite at hangnails and dry or callused skin. If they do, thicker-than-normal enhancements may be in order for a time, so they can't reach delicate skin with their teeth. Additionally, take-home products such as cuticle oils and nourishing lotions should be recommended so the skin can heal and be less of a temptation in the future. What triggers you to bite? Of course stress and anxiety are causes for nail biting, but for the habitual biter, there are usually other triggers as well. Uneven or broken nails are typically a temptation too strong to resist, and many people who have the habit will start chewing off the annoying bits without even realizing they're doing it. For these unconscious biters, it's extremely important to keep the nails in good order between salon 134 | NAILS MAGAZINE | JUNE 2013 visits. Send them home with several emery boards or buffers to keep scattered around the house and in their purses, and then encourage them to use those tools as soon as they notice a rough spot on their nails. If you're hesitant to encourage at-home filing, just remember that your client will almost always do less damage with a file than she will with her teeth! What prevention methods have you tried in the past? Most of the nail biters you'll find sitting at your table will have tried to stop at least once in their lives. Ask them about what they've tried, and if it worked for a time or didn't work at all. By learning from the past, you can help them succeed. For example, some biters will stop for a time if they're wearing polish, but when it starts chipping after a few days they're picking and chewing again. For these "light" biters a gel-polish manicure, maintained regularly, may be all the help they need. Other, more persistent, biters will stop when enhancements are applied to the nails. Finally, there are the "hardcore" biters, who will gnaw right through acrylic enhancements. For those clients, enhancements will end up causing even more damage to the natural nail as they are persistently chipped away from the nail plate. Determined biters need to have a real desire to quit the habit, follow a strict nail care regimen at home, and commit to regular visits to you, their understanding manicurist. What are your goals? Every nail biter who stops at your salon will have different reasons for being there. They may be looking to quit the habit for good, or they may just want their hands to look nice for ©ISTOCK.COM/DRBIMAGES