 |
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
| ||||||||
A manicure is a beauty treatment for fingernails and hands. A manicure can treat just the hands, just the nails, or both. A standard manicure usually includes filing and shaping of the nails and the application of polish. Some specialty manicures, such as the French Manicure, may also be offered. Treatments for hands usually include soaking in a softening substance and application of lotion.A similar treatment performed on the feet is a pedicure. The word "manicure" comes from the Latin manus, meaning "hand," and cura meaning "cure".
Various services for nails can be provided, such as the application of artificial nails such as tips, acrylics and gels. A manicurist can also apply treatments to real nails, such as filing, polishing, and painting. Fancier manicures include painting pictures or designs on the nails or applying small decals or imitation jewels.
In many areas, manicurists are regulated and must be licensed. Because the skin is being manipulated and sometimes trimmed, and because there is a risk of infection when tools are used on multiple people, proper sanitation is critical.
A manicurist prepares for a customer by ensuring that the working area and tools are sanitized and conveniently located. This might include sanitizing the working surface, such as a table top, placing clean metal implements into a jar with sanitizing liquid, and having sanitized towels and new tools such as orange sticks and emery boards arranged neatly near the working area. Soaking liquids are not reused, and all water used can be boiled or otherwise sanitized. These preperations prevent the possible spread of disease. Proper lighting is also important.
There is a wide variety of services available from manicurists, and each manicurist might have a specialty. A reputable manicurist ensures that a client knows what services are available and explains the procedures and costs.
Normally a manicure starts with the washing and sanitizing of the subject's hands, preferably with jewelry removed. Old nail polish or artificial nails are removed with chemical nail polish remover. The hands can be cleaned with soap and hot water, or by scrubbing with a bath salt and rinsing with hot water. The salt scrub has the advantage of removing dead skin cells via abrasion. The hands are then dried with a clean towel.
The fingernails are then trimmed and filed to the desired length and shape using fingernail file. Metal files can be used for rapid removal of nail material, however this can stress the nails. Professionaly, fine glass files are preferred. Disposable two-sided emery boards can also be used. These are disposable paper boards coated with emery, an abrasive. Usually one side of the board is rougher than the other.
Proper filing technique starts with the file at the outer edge of the nail, moving towards the center. This is repeated from the other side of the nail to the center. The file should not be moved back and forth in a saw-like motion.
Hands are then soaked in water or a solution to soften the skin, particularly the cuticles. If needed, a cream, oil, or chemical cuticle remover can also be applied to soften cuticles and detatch them from the top of the fingernail. The cuticles are then pushed back with a cuticle pusher. A cuticle pusher is simply a wooden stick with a flat end, sometimes wrapped in cotton. Metal implements should not be used as cuticle pushers as they can damage the fingernail matrix. Orangewood is the preferred material for its softness.
Some manicurists offer to trim ragged cuticles with cuticle clippers, but this varies by manicurist. Most believe that live cuticles should not be cut, because the cuticle acts as protection from bacterial infection. Dead, loose skin can be safely removed, however. Some customers prefer not to have their skin cut at all, even if it is dead. However, these strips of loose skin can become hangnails, which if present can end up ripping the skin, which can then lead to infection.
Fingernails are then polished with a polishing board. A polishing board is a board made of hard foam, paper, or plastic. A softer foam layer is added to each side, and fine polishing surfaces are placed on the foam. One side is for the rough polish, and the other side is split into a finer polish and an ultra fine polish to make the nails shine.
In most cases, the manicurist also applies at least one layer of nail polish, if only a simple clear polish. Some clear polish is meant to strengthen weak nails. The fingernails should be dry before sealing. For colored nails, the procedure takes longer, as the manicurist must apply and allow to dry at least three layers: the (usually clear) base coat, the color coat, and the final (also usually clear) top coat. More layers can be applied, but too many layers can dry out the nail.
Some manicurists are opposed to all nail polish, including nail polish remover, because of the chemicals used in them. These can include toluene, formaldehyde, dibutyl phthalate (DBP), or other petroleum solvents.
A manicure is usually finished with a hand massage using hand lotion or oils. What follows is an outline of a typical hand-massage session.
To begin:
For each arm:
Sometimes the hands can be dipped in melted paraffin or wax. This is meant to impart heat to the hand for the purposes of relaxing the skin and making it better able to absorb lotion, which is sometimes rubbed on the hand before submersion into the paraffin. The hand is usually dipped more than once to allow a thicker wax coat to form, making the coating stay warm for longer and less likely to break or tear prematurely.
|
||||
| View Live Article | This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License | |
||
