Manicuring and Pedicuring

Nail anatomy and growth

Four structures answer most of the anatomy questions.

The MATRIX PRODUCES NEW NAIL CELLS. Everything that goes wrong with the shape or surface of a nail plate traces back to something that happened at the matrix, which is why the anatomy is worth knowing before the disorders.

The LUNULA is the VISIBLE WHITISH HALF-MOON at the base of the nail — it is the part of the matrix you can see through the plate.

The EPONYCHIUM is the LIVING SKIN at the base of the nail that SEALS THE MATRIX. That word "living" is the whole point: it is a seal against infection, and it is never cut.

PTERYGIUM is different, and the two are constantly swapped. Pterygium is SOFTENED AND GENTLY PUSHED BACK, NEVER CUT.

What MAY be trimmed with a cuticle nipper is ONLY DEAD TISSUE, such as a LOOSE HANGNAIL. Nothing living, ever.

A fingernail takes approximately FOUR TO SIX MONTHS to grow out completely. That number is what makes sense of the disorder questions — a horizontal ridge is a dated record of something that happened months ago, and a client asking how long until damage grows out has a real answer.

SHAPE is a durability question as much as an aesthetic one. A SHORTER, ROUNDED OR OVAL SHAPE is generally most durable for a client who works with their hands, because there are no corners to catch and less length to lever against the bed.

Disorders, diseases and when to refuse

The exam does not ask you to diagnose. It asks you to sort what you see into two piles, and the sorting rule is whether there is ANY SIGN OF INFECTION OR INFLAMMATION.

MAY BE SERVICED:

• ONYCHOPHAGY — bitten nails. Damage, not disease.

• ONYCHOLYSIS — the plate has SEPARATED FROM THE BED AT THE FREE EDGE, WITH NO SIGN OF INFECTION. The qualifier is doing the work; separation plus infection is a different answer.

• LEUKONYCHIA — WHITE SPOTS, usually caused by MINOR TRAUMA TO THE MATRIX.

• HORIZONTAL RIDGES — a past interruption to growth at the matrix.

DECLINE AND REFER TO A PHYSICIAN:

• A toenail that is THICKENED, DISCOLORED AND CRUMBLING at the edge.

• Any sign of INFECTION or INFLAMMATION in the nail or the surrounding skin.

• An enhancement that has LIFTED with a GREEN DISCOLORATION visible underneath — remove the enhancement and refer. Green under a lifted enhancement is not a stain and it does not get covered over.

NEVER, IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCE:

• CUTTING OUT THE CORNER OF AN INGROWN TOENAIL. Decline and refer to a physician or podiatrist. This is a small, specific, apparently trivial request, and it is squarely outside the license.

WHAT IS EXAMINED, AND WHEN: before a manicure begins, examine THE NAILS AND THE SURROUNDING SKIN, for disorders or infection. The surrounding skin is the half people skip, and it is where paronychia shows first.

And HOW you decline is itself an exam answer. A visible contagious condition is handled PRIVATELY AND COURTEOUSLY, with a REFERRAL TO A PHYSICIAN — not announced across the salon, and not explained by naming what you think it is, which would be diagnosing.

Manicure and pedicure procedure

The MANICURE ORDER is asked directly and is worth memorizing as a sequence:

REMOVE POLISH → SHAPE → SOAK → CUTICLE CARE → BUFF → POLISH.

Shaping comes BEFORE soaking, because a soaked nail is softer and files unevenly.

FILING a natural nail: FROM THE OUTSIDE CORNER TOWARD THE CENTER, IN ONE DIRECTION. Sawing back and forth separates the layers of the plate at the free edge.

TOENAILS are different, and the difference is the point: filed STRAIGHT ACROSS, WITH THE CORNERS LEFT SQUARE. Rounding a toenail's corners is what encourages the nail to grow into the flesh — which is the ingrown toenail you are then not allowed to cut out.

POLISH: a BASE COAT goes on the natural nail before colored polish. Polish is applied in THREE STROKES — ONE DOWN THE CENTER AND ONE ON EACH SIDE.

PEDICURE:

• WATER TEMPERATURE is TESTED BY THE OPERATOR and then CONFIRMED COMFORTABLE BY THE CLIENT. Both halves — your test protects a client who cannot feel the difference, and her confirmation protects one who can.

• Work ONE FOOT AT A TIME, with the OTHER KEPT WARM IN THE BASIN.

CALLUS CARE carries a FLORIDA-SPECIFIC PROHIBITION: a CREDO BLADE OR RAZOR-TYPE CALLUS SHAVER IS PROHIBITED in a Florida salon. Reducing a callus is done with files and abrasives, never with a blade. This is one of the two questions in this domain where the Florida answer differs from a national textbook.

MASSAGE — a hand and arm massage is OMITTED when there is INFLAMMATION, INJURY OR BROKEN SKIN in the area, the same rule that governs facial massage.

HOME CARE advice: MOISTURIZE REGULARLY and WEAR GLOVES FOR WET OR CLEANING WORK. Repeated wetting and drying, plus household chemicals, do more damage to natural nails than anything done in the salon.

Enhancements, and the monomer Florida does not allow

METHYL METHACRYLATE (MMA) is considered UNACCEPTABLE FOR USE IN NAIL ENHANCEMENTS. This is the second Florida-relevant prohibition in the domain and it gets tested directly by name. MMA bonds too aggressively to the natural plate and does not release, so removing an MMA enhancement takes the nail with it.

A NAIL FORM is a TEMPORARY BASE ON WHICH TO BUILD A SCULPTED EXTENSION — it is removed once the product has cured, unlike a tip, which stays.

A FILL or REBALANCE is APPLYING PRODUCT TO THE NEW GROWTH AREA of a grown-out enhancement. It is not a fresh set and it is not a repair.

REMOVAL: acrylic enhancements are removed by SOAKING IN THE APPROPRIATE SOLVENT UNTIL THE PRODUCT SOFTENS. Never by prying, clipping or forcing — the product is stronger than the natural plate, so anything that separates them by force separates layers of the nail as well.

LIFTING is the most common enhancement complaint, and the cause is nearly always preparation: OIL OR MOISTURE LEFT ON THE NAIL PLATE before application. The product cannot bond to a film of oil.

And lifting has one consequence that changes the answer entirely. If an enhancement has lifted and a GREEN DISCOLORATION is visible underneath, REMOVE THE ENHANCEMENT AND REFER THE CLIENT TO A PHYSICIAN. Moisture trapped under a lifted enhancement is the condition that produces it, and it is not covered over with a fresh application.

ELECTRIC FILES: the principal risk on the NATURAL nail plate is that HEAT AND OVER-FILING CAN THIN THE PLATE AND DAMAGE THE BED. That is a thinning injury the client will not feel until it hurts, and it is why drill work on the natural nail is the part of the service that needs the lightest hand.

Implements, the table and the foot spa

The porous/non-porous rule decides everything here, exactly as it does in the sanitation domain.

• A METAL CUTICLE PUSHER is CLEANED OF ALL DEBRIS and then IMMERSED IN DISINFECTANT.

• A PAPER-BACKED NAIL FILE is DISCARDED after use on a client. It cannot be disinfected through.

There is one exception worth knowing because it looks like a violation and is not. If a CLIENT BRINGS HER OWN NAIL FILE and asks that it be used, IT MAY BE USED ON THAT CLIENT AND RETURNED TO HER. It never touches anyone else, so the reuse hazard the rule exists to prevent does not arise.

The MANICURE TABLE is CLEANED AND DISINFECTED between clients, with a FRESH TOWEL LAID DOWN.

LOTION is taken from a large container WITH A CLEAN SPATULA OR FROM A PUMP DISPENSER — the same principle as every other multi-use product: nothing that touched a client goes back in.

FOOT SPAS get the most specific rule in the domain, and it is worth understanding rather than memorizing. A foot spa is CLEANED AND DISINFECTED AFTER EVERY CLIENT, WITH A DEEPER CLEANING ON A SET SCHEDULE. The deeper cleaning covers the SCREENS AND JETS, and the reason is that DEBRIS COLLECTS BEHIND THEM WHERE DISINFECTANT DOES NOT REACH.

That trapped organic matter is what has caused documented outbreaks of skin infection traced to pedicure spas — which is why the answer to "is disinfecting the basin enough" is always no, and why a hot rinse and a visual check are not substitutes. You cannot disinfect what you cannot reach.

VENTILATION is particularly important at a NAIL STATION because MONOMER VAPOR AND FILING DUST ARE INHALED ALL DAY BY THE OPERATOR. As everywhere else in the salon, the person at risk is the one who is there every working day, not the client who visits for an hour.

The vulnerable client, and the two Florida prohibitions

DIABETES is the client factor this domain tests, and the reason is specific: REDUCED SENSATION AND SLOWER HEALING MAKE SMALL INJURIES SERIOUS. Both halves matter. Reduced sensation means she will not tell you that the water is too hot or that a file is cutting in — which is exactly why water temperature is TESTED BY THE OPERATOR before it is confirmed by the client. Slower healing means a nick that would be nothing on another client can become an infection that does not resolve.

That single fact is behind the extra caution: no aggressive callus reduction, no cutting of living tissue, careful pressure with any implement, and a lower threshold for stopping.

The TWO FLORIDA PROHIBITIONS in this domain are worth separating from general good practice, because a national textbook may not carry them:

1. A CREDO BLADE OR RAZOR-TYPE CALLUS SHAVER IS PROHIBITED in a Florida salon. Callus reduction uses files and abrasives.

2. METHYL METHACRYLATE (MMA) is UNACCEPTABLE for use in nail enhancements.

And the SCOPE boundary, which appears here as it does in every domain: CUTTING OUT THE CORNER OF AN INGROWN TOENAIL is declined and referred to a PHYSICIAN OR PODIATRIST. Note the referral names a podiatrist specifically — this is the one place in the cosmetology exam where a specialist is the natural destination.

What all four have in common: they are the moments when a client asks for something small, the tool is right there, and the answer is still no.