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TIPS OF THE WEEK 
by Vicki Peters
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TIP OF THE WEEK #18 
CUTICLE CARE By Vicki Peters

This week's tip of the week on cutting cuticles has been an active subject 
recently on the list. 
To cut or not to cut? That depends. When I wore my nails natural I used to 
get weekly manicures by a tech named Tracy Kennedy in Torrance, CA, who 
consistently cut my cuticles during every manicure. She also gave me a 
waterless manicure way before it's time. My nails and cuticles never looked 
better and she never cut me because she was skilled at what she was doing. 
However, when I gave a manicure, I didn't cut cuticles unless they were 
sitting up screaming to be cut. Some clients just expect us to cut them while 
others would be appalled. 

I believe the cuticle can be cut safely and there are a few tricks to it. 
First, if you are not working with disinfected cuticle nippers, do not even 
go there. If your client sees you taking the nippers right out of the 
disinfection solution or out of a container marked disinfected - your clients 
are going to feel 100% comfortable with you cutting their cuticles. 

Another thing to think about is having nippers specifically for cuticles. I 
have two pair, one for acrylic and the other for cuticles. This way my 
cuticle nippers are always sharp and they never pull the skin when trying to 
cut. When you first purchase a pair of nippers they are usually very sharp, 
so break them in a bit. One slip and you have your client bleeding!

Be sure to always push the cuticles back before cutting. It plumps them up 
and gives you a clearer vision of what work needs to be done. When I soaked 
the nails in water I always fussed and fussed with the finished manicure 
because I was never happy with the way the cuticles looked after completing a 
manicure. I felt I got a nicer, finished quality to the nails and cuticles 
when I didn't soak the nails and the cuticles were in better condition, not 
having to cut them as much. Part of the manicure is to re-hydrate. Soaking 
the nails in water swells the nails and actually pulls the moisture out. With 
cuticle creams and lotions you are conditioning the nails and cuticles. 

Communicate with your client before the start of the manicure and ask what 
she would prefer. If she has horrible cuticles and you want to cut them, then 
you should explain the procedures as well as your sanitation procedures to 
her so she will be more comfortable about cutting. If she is adamant about 
not cutting her cuticles, respect that decision and do other things to 
condition and remove instead. Explain to the client that the results of the 
finished manicure may not be as good. 

There are so many options for cuticle care. Let's start with the Blue Cross 
cuticle solvent you were all talking about. It has been around longer than 
even me! It somehow dissolves the cuticles a bit. Read the label and 
understand the ingredients. It is a sloppy out of date cuticle product, 
however many like using it. Exfoliating is also an option. Use a gentle 
exfoliator on the cuticles and rub in. I prefer a cuticle cream that 
dissolves, some have AHA in them and you have to be careful when someone is 
sensitive. Some cuticle products are very greasy and will not penetrate the 
skin and just sit on top, some are very oily and some cuticle oils are good 
to use as well. Do not use a mineral oil based buffing oil as it too does 
not penetrate the skin and is should be used for buffing artificial nails. 
Choose a natural nail cuticle oil by the natural ingredients such as jojoba, 
lavender, grape seed, almond oil, etc. 




The trick is to leave the cuticle product on after rubbing them into the 
cuticles for a minute or two. I would put the cuticle cream on and rub it in, 
apply lotion to the hands and put them in warming mitts. Once you remove the 
hands from the mitts, push the cuticles back, do the massage and cleanse the 
natural nails. Then take a look at what you have there as far as cuticles, 
and if needed, cut them.

What do you do if you make them bleed????
First, don't panic, second, cleanse the bleeding area and throw away the 
cotton or pad you used to cleanse. Position the hand with the fingers 
pointing to the ceiling and try to raise the hand above the heart to let the 
blood flow back towards the heart not to the finger. Once you get the 
bleeding under control take some fast drying glue - preferably thin glue - 
like 5 second glue, place a drop right on top of the bleeding and let dry. 
Do not touch the tip of the glue container to the bleeding area and if you do 
either throw it away or give the glue to the client. You cannot use it on 
any other clients safely. Once the cut has healed the glue will naturally 
fall off.

For those of you who think using glue to stop the bleeding is not good, 
remember that all glues and resins are cynoacrylate and cynoacrylates are all 
are antimicrobial. Surgeons use a more pure form of the same glue we use for 
surgery all the time. Once the glue hits the air it starts to dry and cannot, 
I repeat, cannot get into the blood stream. It dries too fast to flow. So it 
is totally safe as far as I am concerned, and I have been doing it for 20 
years. 

Another issue of cutting cuticles is the issue of HIV, AIDS and Hepatitis. 
You need to know the truth about it. First of all if you have not read Doug 
Schoon's first book HIV/AIDS & Hepatitis by Milady, which was written 
specifically for the salon, you're missing the boat. Nothing, including 
blood can live on metal implements or files after ten minutes. And unless 
you become blood sisters when you cut someone, there is no risk. You have to 
transmit blood from one blood stream to another to catch HIV or anything else 
for that matter. So both of you have to have an open cut somewhere in order 
to transmit it. What you need to know about Hepatitis is that it travels, 
and HIV and AIDS do not. 

So the bottom line is if you practice safe sanitation 100% of the time, you 
and your clients are not at risk. Another thing to remember is that you 
cannot ask someone if they have HIV or AIDS before their manicure. If you 
refuse service because they do (instant lawsuit!) so my advice to you is if 
you plan on cutting cuticles assume every client has HIV just to be safe.

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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