Do you and or your clients struggle with lifting/retention issues during the winter months? Each season brings its own challenges as a nail technician, summer with its heat spikes and colours being affected and winter with retention issues but why does this happen in the winter?
Lifting is much more common during the cold months due to dehydration. Ever noticed how dry your skin can get? Well your nails are also affected in the same way. There are several reasons why this happens:
1. Cold Air: Cold temperatures can strip moisture from the skin, leading to dryness. The air outside is often drier, and when exposed to it, your skin can lose its natural hydration.
2. Low Humidity: Winter typically brings lower humidity levels, both outside and inside (due to heating). When the air is dry, it draws moisture out of your skin and nails, causing them to become brittle and dry.
3. Indoor Heating: While heating helps warm your space, it also decreases indoor humidity, further contributing to skin and nail dehydration.
4. Hot Showers or Baths: In cold weather, people tend to take longer, hotter showers or baths, which can strip the skin of its natural oils and lead to dryness.
5. Less Sweating: The body sweats less in the winter, which can result in fewer natural oils being produced to keep skin and nails moisturized.
To help combat skin dryness you (or your clients) may want to consider implementing these steps:
- Using a humidifier indoors
- Wear gloves outside
- Apply moisturiser to your skin and oil to your nails regularly
- Drink plenty of water
How does colder weather cause issues with retention?
1. Slower Curing: Gel nails require UV or LED light to cure and harden properly. If the gel is too cold, the curing process may slow down, causing the gel to not fully cure. This can result in weaker adhesion to your natural nail and increase the risk of the gel lifting or peeling off prematurely.
2. Nail and Gel Contracting: Cold temperatures can cause both your natural nails and the gel to contract. If the gel shrinks more than your nail, it may lead to separation at the edges, increasing the chance of lifting.
3. Dehydration of the Nails: Cold, dry weather can cause your nails to become dehydrated and more brittle. This makes them more prone to damage, including lifting of the gel polish. The nail can, in essence, curl away from the gel.
4. Sudden Temperature Changes: Transitioning between cold outdoor air and warm indoor environments can create temperature fluctuations that stress the gel nails. These changes can cause the adhesive bond between the gel and the nail to weaken over time.
Top tips for reducing lifting in the winter:
- Perfect Prep: Ensure that your preparation of the natural nail is in-depth, paying particular attention to the cuticle area and sidewalls where dead skin cells can gather. You want to create a “grippy” texture for the nail enhancement to adhere to. If you don’t already, consider upskilling to use an e-file and don’t add to the dehydration by using products such as acetone or dehydrators after prep.
- Concentrate on the Base: The base layer is what is going to anchor the enhancement to the natural nails, in regards to adhesion, it’s the most important layer. Spend extra time applying this step, ensuring good contact between the brush and natural nail. The first layer of gel you apply to the nail should be thin and not simply “floated” onto the nail. We want to ensure that the gel gets into the etches you have created. Again pay attention to the cuticle and sidewalls.
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The Right Lamp: Ensure your gels are achieving an appropriate cure. You can do this by ensuring you are using the correct lamp for your system and curing the gel for the recommended time period. Always check your lamp is in working order and remember lamps do need to be replaced on a regular basis, bulbs don’t last forever.
- Tuck in the Free Edge: finish filing the free edge can be the savior of a set of short nails with a structure layer on them or square-shaped nails. Once your treatment is finished (before or after the top coat) file the free edge at an angle where the nail file is angled under the free edge. This helps to “tuck” the natural nail behind the gel and ensures that the gel wears rather than the natural nail. Gels can shrink during the curing process which can result in the natural free edge sitting past the gel.
- Client Aftercare: give your clients the best advice for looking after their nails and ensure that they are aware that how they look after them will impact how long they last. The most important thing in the winter is moisture, so apply moisturiser and oil regularly.
- Set Expectations: advise your clients of the perils of winter for nails and that their nails might not last as long for reasons out of your control. Apply a “prescriptive” approach to each client and recommend more regular appointments where necessary, clients may need to come every 2/3 weeks rather than every 3/4.
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Acclimatize your gel: try and keep your gels at an ambient temperature, this will reduce fluctuations in temperature as well as make the gel easier to work with. If you work from a cold space and struggle with keeping the space at an ambient temperature, consider a Thermo Pro to keep your gels at their optimal temperature of around 20 degrees centigrade.
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Consider using different types of gel: your clients may experience poorer retention if you are not using the right type of gel for their nails. There are more options than builder gel available and using the correct system for each client will increase the longevity of the enhancements. Some client’s nails may require more flexibility, in which case a rubber base may be more appropriate, whereas some may need added strength and less flexibility so hard gel may be more appropriate. Not one thing will work for everyone.
Its always important to take a holistic approach when looking at retention issues and understand that, whilst you may be doing everything absolutely correctly in your prep and application, sometimes environmental factors out with your control may be affecting how long your client's nails are lasting.