French manicures
French manicures are designed to resemble
natural nails, and are characterized by natural pink
base nails with white tips. French manicures were one
of the first popular and well known color schemes.
French manicures may have originated in the
eighteenth-century in Paris but were most popular
in the 1920s and 1930s. One updated trend involves
painting different colors as the tips of the nails
instead of the basic white. French tip nails can be
made with stickers, stencils or with a basic toothpick.
Traditionally, nail polish started in clear, red,
pink, purple, and black. Nail polish can be
found in a diverse variety of colors and shades.
Beyond solid colors, nail polish has also
developed an array of other designs, such as crackled,
glitter, flake, speckled, iridescent, and holographic.
Rhinestones or other decorative art are also
often applied to nail polish. Some polish is
advertised to induce nail growth, make
nails stronger, prevent nails from breaking,
cracking/ splitting, and to even stop nail biting.
ECT NAIL
Now you’re ready for step three, chem-
ical preparation, says Halpern, in which
you would apply a prep product to de-
hydrate and cleanse the nail plate. These
products are usually formulated with
ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, and isopro-
pyl alcohol. Halpern explains how the
combination of the three ingredients
work: “Once they come in contact with
the nail plate, they draw out moisture
and oil like a sponge, evaporating them
off the nail plate and leaving a cha lky
white finish. By doing this, the primer
doesn’t have to fight moisture and oils
to do its job. There are many theories
on how primer works, says Halpern.
“What
we
do
know,
though,
is
that
the
acrylic
application
creates a stronger bond when you
use primer than when you don’t.”
With primerless acrylic systems, nail
prep is especially important because
primer is not being used to clean,
dehydrate
and
prep
the
nails
before application. Therefore, the nail
technician must be sure to use other prep
products to insure a sanitary, adhesive bond.
With primerless acrylic systems, nail
prep is especially important because
primer is not being used to clean, dehy-
drate and prep the nails before application.
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