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TIPS OF THE WEEK 
by Vicki Peters
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TIP OF THE WEEK #10 SMILE LINES By Vicki Peters

DISCLAIMER
Any products mentioned in the "Tip Of The Week by Vicki Peters" is not an 
endorsement of any kind.

When we tackle smile lines in our pink and white nails they don't always come 
out the way we invision them too and because of that many techs stay away 
from offering pink and white nails. I hear techs often say " my clients 
don't want pink and white nails" yet they get a French manicure which does 
not make sense to me. I think it is because we are afraid of them so we 
don't do them. I admit it can me a frustrating technique to conquer, smile 
lines take time to master and it is definitely hard work but there are some 
simple steps that can help. 

GOOD SMILE LINES / BAD SMILE LINES
A smile line should mirror the shape of the cuticle, so if you were to bend 
the nails in half they should match. That should be your goal. The sides 
should be just as high on each side and the center of the smile line be at 
it's lowest point in the center of the nail. The shape should be centered as 
the tip of a round nail should be. 

THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT
We need the right tools to make the job easier and a square brush does not 
cut it. You definitely need a pointed brush with a perfect tip to achieve a 
good smile line. The brush should come to a perfect point when submerged in 
the liquid before wiping. My preference is about a size 7 - 9 oval brush. My 
perspective on the brush I use is that it is a round brush with a good point 
with a crimp in the ferrul, which makes the brush two sided instead of 
completely round. I prefer this style of brush because I easily get a flat 
side to press the product in place and also a good point to the brush for 
wiping. You can achieve this with a round brush but you have to consciously 
reshape the brush as you work with it to flatten it out. I also prefer a 
brush that is not so long it bends as you wipe. It should have some vice to 
it but if it bends too much you won't have the control you need when pressing 
the against the white powder as it dries. 

Your white tip powder must be dense enough to get good color. Most of us 
work with medium to fast set powders and you must completely understand your 
liquid to powder ratio or you will either make a mess or can't get the 
product off the brush fast enough. The dryer the white tip product the 
denser the white color. Blue liquids and how thick the product is can play a 
part in the final color and we will discuss that later in the application 
section. 

APPLICATION TECHNIQUES
Use a 1-ball method to get the base of the white tip applied. Applying with 
several smaller balls will show with most products because not every ball 
will be the exact same consistency and you may see the difference in color. 
The key is here is having good control of your product. Understanding your 
liquid to powder ratio and knowing exactly how much liquid to use will give 
you the control you need. Too wet will make you have to chase it around and 
too dry of a ball will dry too fast not allowing you the control to press it 
in place. Now I am speaking about the average size nail, a longer one would 
take more applications. 

STEP 1
Pour enough liquid into your dappan dish so when you submerge your brush it 
is completely. Then wipe all the liquid out of the brush. Make sure your 
dappan dish is stable and will not move when you wipe up against the side of 
the dish. 


STEP 2
The dip the brush in to get the amount of liquid you need to pick up a medium 
to large size ball that will cover the tip area. Place the ball of white tip 
powder right in the center of the tip with the top edge right on the smile 
line and not over it. Wipe your brush gently to remove any acrylic in the 
tip without wiping the rest of the liquid out and bring it back to a point. 
Wiping your brush will do two things here 1- bring it back to perfect working 
order and 2- allow the acrylic to start setting up a bit so it is not sticky 
as you work with it. We tend to dig into our product too fast sometimes 
making it difficult to control, let it set for a few seconds before playing 
with it.

STEP 3
With your brush that has been brought back to it's perfect shape press the 
product into place to the left and then to the right and then gently wipe 
down to the tip, smoothing and covering the entire tip. Be sure not to press 
too hard or you will wipe the product off. 

STEP4
Re-dip your brush to moisten it, wipe the liquid out again and bring it to a 
perfect point before wiping your smile line. Hold the brush straight up with 
the tip pointing to ceiling and from the center to the left side of the smile 
line wipe and then from the center to the right side wipe. You may need to 
do this two or three times before you get the perfect shape and the product 
is set enough to stay where you wiped it. As the product dries you may want 
to wipe slower.

>From the time you picked up your product and placed it on the nail and patted 
the product into place should be about 15-20 seconds at the most. You have 
to work fast and not waste time wiping your brush, get it done quickly. The 
you should spend another 15-20 seconds wiping the smile line, maybe a bit 
more if your product has not set up too much. If your white tip powder sets 
up too fast try using a bit more liquid. 

STEP 5
Check to make sure the white product is tall enough from the side view and 
all the whites match in height. You want to build it up enough so when you 
apply the pink it meets it at the smile line and barely goes over the white. 
Too much pink will mute the color. If you use clear and pull it over the 
white tip that is not tall enough you will not get a sharp look because the 
white in thin. If you do wipe a bit of the pink over the white remember you 
are going to file the top surface and you will probably end up removing it. 

STEP 6 
Add the ears after wiping the smile line to the desired shape. Use small dry 
balls of product and wipe slowly bringing the edges right up into the 
sidewalls of the nails without going over and touching the skin. Use the very 
tip of your brush for application. Be sure to check the sides for coverage 
making sure you have wrapped the product around the siedwall enough so you 
don't file it out later.

I apply the white tips to all ten nails at once. It keeps me focused and 
allows the white to be dry before applying the pink. If you apply the pink 
right after the white you can press it too hard and smoosh that perfect smile 
line you just worked hard to apply. After applying the white tips, pour out 
the liquid you used and pour in fresh liquid for the pink. Most of the 
liquid you used may be milky from the white powder which will mute your pink. 

STEP 7
Apply the pink or clear powder to all ten nails. 

APPLYING OVER TIPS
If you prefer to work with tips instead of sculpts prep your tips and blend 
them. I prefer to cut my wells out and in doing so I place the cut out area 
right on the natural smile line if I am not blending. However I learned a new 
trick in a competition I hosted in Portland, OR, recently. Cut the tip wells 
out, shape them and place them below the smile line on the free edge and 
blend more. I say to blend because you want a smooth line. Then apply your 
white tip powder above the tip smile line at the natural nail smile line and 
wipe as if you were working on a sculpt not paying attention to where the tip 
edge meets the nail. It is more work but the end result in good. 



SOME TRICKS TO MAKING SMILE LINES EASIER

Some techs wet the nail plate before applying the white tip powder. The 
reason is to make the product flow better and I see this in nail competitions 
all the time. However I would not suggest it in the salon. Eventually that 
nail plate will be overexposed to the liquid and cause problems later, 
including pocket lifting in the center of the nail. When applying liquid and 
powder products we should never get the skin or nail plate wet. Using large 
brushes and pressing the product on the sides of the nail with the belly of 
the brush makes contact with the skin at the sidewalls and cuticle areas. 

Wiping your smile line with another brush and a cleanser product is the safer 
way, however time consuming switching brushes and dipping into another dappan 
dish with the cleanser in it. It can be done comfortably when you are used 
to it so if this is a method you prefer put it right into your systems as you 
work and it will become easier.

Cutting the smile line out with a tip is another trick I have picked up in a 
nail competition. Place the white tip product on the nail and let it set 
about 60%-75%. You must use a full welled tip with a nice rounded top edge 
that will resemble the shape of the smile line you want to achieve when 
turned upside down. Size the tips to fit each nail and set them out on your 
table. With the tip you have already sized out to match the nail, apply the 
white tip powder on one nail. When the product is dry enough dip the edge of 
the tip's contact area (holding it with the tip's edge up and the contact 
area towards the table (another words upside down) into the dappan dish of 
liquid monomer. With the tip wet but not dripping, like you would a cookie 
cutter, place the rounded edge of the top of the tip at an angle, in the 
white tip powder where you want the smile line to be Cut out the smile line 
by pressing the tips edge into the white tip powder and cutting out the white 
product. Wipe it away from you. If the product is too wet you may have to 
use a new tip and do it again, so practice and know your product when it is 
dry enough to do this perfectly. You may want to finish the smile line for 
a more perfect shape by wiping it with your brush after cutting it out with 
the tip. Sounds complicated but it really is simpler that building a smile 
line and wiping it into shape.

CUTTING BACKFILL SMILE LINES
This is another challenge and takes practice. And believe me there days we 
do killer smile lines and days when we look at our work and wonder what came 
over us! Backfilling is one of the most difficult techniques we perform. I 
use a large medium carbide back fill bit. I like it because it is about 45% 
the size of a regular barrel bit, I can cut and remove the product without 
having to switch its, which saves me time. 

You will want to make three cuts. Starting on the right side of the nail, 
from the highest point of the ears section holding the bit with the top edge 
at a 45% angle make the cut about one 1/3. Curve the cut from the top of the 
ear to about 4 O'clock on the smile line. Turn the nail so you can view it 
from the profile and cut the next third flat across the bottom of the smile 
line. Then turn the nail so you can view it from the top and angle the last 
1/3 from the 8 O'Clock position up the left side to the top of the left ear. 
Rock the finger to meet you as you work. 

You can also use the French Fill bit the same way or a regular barrel bit. 
Which bit you find more comfortable to cut with is what you should use. Bits 
are preference, there is no one bit everyone should use for cutting smile 
lines. 

The idea of cutting a smile line into the nail for backfilling is to make a 
wall that you can use to press the product right up against when replacing it 
on the tip. If you cut smoothly enough there may not be a need to wipe the 
smile line with your brush.

I have seen backfill smile lines cut with diamond bullet bit held flat on the 
nail and curved around in a back and forth motion to create a smile line. And 
one of the best backfills I ever had was done with a large tapered rounded 
tip titanium carbide barrel bit. A smile line was never cut. The tech held 
the bit at an angle from the smile line area of the nail to the tip making 
contact from above the smile line to the tip thinning out the entire tip of 
the nail as you would if you were hand filing. She replaced my white tip 
powder as if she was doing a new sculptured nail.



SHADOWS
Oh where do these little shadows come from anyway? The elude us and drive us 
nuts, especially in nail competition. There are several reasons for shadows 
but don't confuse shadows with swirling or marbelizing.
If you use a product with an extreme blue liquid you may experience what I 
call swirling. Competitors prefer a clear liquid in competition for this 
purpose. The bluing agent in the liquid causes this. So blue it enhances 
any inconsistant liquid to powder application, even if you do it in one ball. 
If the liquid is extremely blue and you work wet the swirling will be more 
prominent than when you apply the white tip powder much drier. These 
companies claim there is just as much white pigment in the white tip powders, 
and I believe them, however their educators who I have seen apply their 
products without the swirling have mastered the application of their white 
tip powder, where we have not. It can be a sensitive application process. 
But again, you can see the swirling, most of your clients don't. 

Shadows appear for several reasons.
You wiped your smile line holding the brush incorrectly. Wiping with a brush 
that is not held straight up but towards the client will make a cavity in 
the edge of the white smile line that looks good until you apply the pink and 
the pink fills up the cavity muting the crispness. 
Applying the white powder on the lower edge of the natural smile line. The 
only way I can describe this is when you have a new full set that the edge of 
the white smile line has grown to the perfect spot right on top of the 
natural smile line. This is such a precise point that the next day they 
appear slightly grown out and you can actucally see the edge of the natural 
free edge through the pink acrylic now. Your natural smile line is 
actually clear. If you apply the acrylic to the top of the natural smile line 
or above on the nail plate and wipe the smile line so it is very sharp, you 
will not have a shadow. If you apply the white powder to the bottom of the 
smile line you may have a shadow. 
Another reason for shadows is a shadow with the pink over the white. Going 
back to making the white tip powder tall enough when you apply it when 
looking sideways will stop this from happening. If you don't place the white 
perfectly on the smile line and make it not tall enough, you will have to 
pull the pink over the white tip to make the arch you may need for shape and 
support. The pink fills in thicker over the shite and makes a pink shadow. 
Make sure the edge of the smile line is straight up and down and bring the 
pink high enough to meet the white instead of pulling it over. 
The same thing happens to me when I rush through a set of white tips with 
pink and white over them. If I don't pay good enough attention to making the 
smile line of the white tip powder cover the edge of the white tip I applied 
at the smile line area the pink will fill in and mute my smile lines ruining 
the crispness I had with the white tips. So I always use clear over white 
tips when in a hurry so I avoid this happening. 

HARMONY & BALANCE
We are artists and we need to be more cosmetic in our thinking when we do a 
new set. There are so many ways to fudge the shape of a nail nowadays with 
tips and colored acrylic that we can always produce a nice set of nails even 
on the most challenging natural nails. I hate to see a new set with white 
tips that are set up so high on the nail plate there is hardly any pink. 
There is no excuse for that anymore. Harmony and balance should come into 
play when creating nails. It is like having the right haircut - it just fits. 
The strength of any nail is in the product, not the tip or form. Cut those 
tip wells out and place on the very edge of the free edge to stretch the look 
of the natural nail or blend them invisiable. Place the white tip powder 
lower than the free edge and use a muted pink to fake the size of the nail. 
Perfect for that client that wants long nails when she has short nail beds.

Design the smile lines the same way. If someone has a short nail bed wipe the 
smile line lower in the middle - right down to the natural free edge and 
higher on the sides. Stretch that shape for all you can get. When a client 
breaks a nail so low with no free edge when you repair it make sure the size 
of the white tip matches the others. Never make the white longer than the 
pink, that is the rule for good harmony and balance. 

Each smile line should be approximately the same size. By applying the white 
tip powder on all ten nails at the same time you can focus on the size 
consistency as you apply. The index, ring and middle fingers should match 
with the pinky and thumb in proportion. 

Working within a system when applying your white powder and wiping smile 
lines will help you design more consistent smile lines. Practice makes 
perfect and if you would like to see some perfect smiles lines watch a nail 
competition. Don't talk during your smile line application, concentrate. 
Talking is for when you file. Are smiles lines really more work? Yes at 
first, at least until you make it part of you're routine and get better at 
it. Set aside an extra 15 minutes per client when you first start until you 
get your time down and don't expect perfect smile lines for months. And be 
sure to establish at the beginning of the appointment that the client is not 
going to wear polish before you do all that work "showing her your smile" 
lines!! 



WORKING WITH FORMS
Forms are challenging enough but when applying the white tip powder on a form 
you have to be good control of your product because the form is slightly 
slicker than a tip can be and your product can run a bit more. Place the 
white tip powder slightly below the natural smile line and press your product 
in place staying within the desired lines of the form extension. Those lines 
are there for a reason so use them to make your application easier. Press 
the powder up over the form edge to the desired smile line placement and 
wipe. It is similar to applying over a tip however you need slightly more 
control over what you are doing because it is easier 

DISCLAIMER
Any products mentioned in the "Tip Of The Week by Vicki Peters" is not an 
endorsement of any kind.

Vicki Peters 
"When you stop learning your career ends and your job begins"
Visit my new web site: http://vickipeters.com 

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