Artificial nails

Nail design is the artificial extension and reinforcement of the human finger and toe nails with the help of gel, fiberglass / silk or acrylic.

• 3.1 acrylic
• 3.2 gel
• 3.3 fiberglass

History

During the Ming Dynasty noble women have long fingernails worn in China as a status symbol, to indicate that they had to perform any manual work. In Greece the early 19th century, many ladies of the upper class empty pistachio shells have worn on the fingernails, which contributed to the slow dissemination artificially modified nails in Europe. The first use of acrylic in the nails goes back to the chemist Fred Slack, a developer of dental products supplied an injured finger nail with dental plastic due to his job and further pursued this idea because of the good result.

Method

A distinction is made between the use of nail tips ( tips) and modeling with template. First, the customer will be disinfected regardless of the method used, the hands and nails. The nails are degreased, pushed back the cuticles as with a manicure and a buffer or sanding block, dehydrator ( consisting of isopropanol and acetone ) and also often, but not necessarily, prepared with adhesive primer for the modeling.

Extension by Tips

When using these nail tips are glued with nail glue, cut to desired length and shape. To increase the strength and to get a smooth, paintable surface of the own nail and the nail tip is coated with modeling plastic. After curing, the surface is honed by hand file or cutter in shape and smoothed and finally either polished or more frequently applied a UV-curing sealant. Advantages of this method are that it is initially easier to learn and there are already Predesigned tips for specific purposes such as Frenchtips (white peaks) or patterned tips, which only need to be adapted and shortened.

Extension by template

In the modeling template with the nail technician sticks a template flush with the natural nail on which to model the extension on the nail. In the template, the appropriately chosen material is applied. The template is removed after curing and the modeled nail smoothed exactly as in the use of tips with a cutter or by hand file and sealed with gel or polish. The advantages of this method are the more natural look, which for the customer less any foreign body sensation, which, in time for the experienced nail technician savings, more flexible design options in the form such as stilettos, Edge Nails, Pipes, Fringe -Nails or all new-style to avoid forms and possible contact allergy by nail glue, which might also solve with time. The use of a under the nail to adhesive template goes back to Thomas S. Slack.

Natural nails

In the natural nails only one's own, naturally grown nail is coated with a layer of modeling plastic to protect it.

Filling / Refill

After two to four weeks of outgrown part of the nail needs to be replenished due to the static and shifted versions of the unsightly growth. These will be reduced accordingly for a constant length of the elongated nail, smoothed the transition to outgrown the natural nail and filed with the appropriate new plastic coated and in shape.

Refresh

If matted after one to two weeks only the surface, possibly the design is changed and re- sealed this is called Refresh.

Workmanship and materials

The material from which the artificial nails, in each case, a chemically acrylic, which is different from one another depending on the composition through the processing, sensitivity to solvents and, in particular in aging. However, only one type is colloquially referred to as " Acrylic Nail ".

Acrylic

So-called acrylic nails using a two-component acrylic, a fluid ( liquid) and a very fine acrylic powder set up. This system is the oldest method. It hardens after mixing the components independently, and there are also UV-cured acrylic dividend systems. The material is characterized by its high hardness, which makes it possible to process the entire nail very thin and precise and can usually all " types " are used by natural nails. Acrylic nails can be removed quickly and easily with a solvent (usually acetone). If the painted nails must always be used, otherwise the nails begin to dissolve the paint removal acetone- free nail polish remover. It is under the nail designers considered the pinnacle, as it is comparatively difficult to learn to gel system, because it needs to be processed more quickly due to the stand-alone cure, not been too hard for the modeling or to be cured in the brush. It is very well suited for particularly unusual designs such as 3-D flowers and is often used for this reason in championships. The acrylic - system is also called two-component system or a powder-liquid system. Erroneously, it is often in addition to as "powder - gel" offered by rogue nail salons at a different price. It should not be confused with the gel system described below, however, despite the misleading name. The actual Pulvergelsystem will not be applied in Germany because the method to use is very impractical and no special advantages. For this would be one after repeatedly applied in very thin layers of liquid plastic onto the nail and sprinkled with a powder.

Gel

Gelnägel as nails are to be processed by the gel technique referred to. The gel consists of a UV reactive acrylic gel, which cures under UV light. Due to the comparatively simple handle, in Germany it is the most widely used method of reinforcement and extension. The nail technician owns an own curing device, in which the customer puts his hands with the previously modeled with gel nails. The gel hardens in a few minutes under heat. Since this is the gel to a relatively "soft" material, it is usually suitable for more soft natural nails. In the liquid gel particularly well colored gels and other embellishments like crystal stones, dried flowers and inlays can be incorporated, as the modeling gel long period processable in the curing device to insert. Most gels are resistant to solvents, and must be milled for removal, but there are also variants ( Soakable gels) that can be removed in spite of the UV curing, such as acrylic.

Fiberglass

Today, people no longer have the usual fiberglass system, in which applied and sealed by a Resinklebers textile strips, usually fiberglass or silk to in multiple layers. This method is however still sometimes used to repair cracked natural nails and give them the necessary stability. There are also UV gels with integrated glass fiber particles, the so-called Fiberglasgele that are very often used as an independent Aufbaugele and compared to the normal UV gels have a higher stability and durability.

Nail art

The decoration of the finished nail is called nail art. The simplest variant is the French manicure, in which the nail tip from natural to bright white, the rest is made ​​of transparent or slightly milky material. Is also often used colored acrylic top coat, the several weeks stays shiny due to its hardness and is referred to as "Permanent Nail Polish ". However, there is for the creativity of the designer and the customer no limits, the nails can be pasted over, provided with an airbrush design, decorated with colors and glitter and be brought into many extravagant forms. A nail technician may have a nail art but also make it look as if it were a completely natural nail. For this reason also carry increasingly more men who are fingernail Kauer, artificial nails, to have such beautiful hands.

Distance

After removing a modeling of the natural nail underneath thin and soft because the keratin of the nail plate had no contact with the air to cure, also the nail has been so slightly roughened prior to modeling, which can weaken thin nails anyway. Even after removal of the modeling of the nail is by grinding a few months particularly susceptible to bacterial colonization. After three to four months, the nail has its state prior to the modeling completely restored.

Hazards

In a hygienically faultless processing of the nail, it is possible to become infected with a nail fungus or a different nail disease. Also an excessive filing the nail into the nail bed increases the risk of infection. In addition, allergies may be caused by the materials for nails that show up with a skin rash or swelling of face and hands ( hinhein up in the 1970s, these were primarily caused by methyl methacrylate, which has since been replaced by other methacrylates ).

A suitable for nail extension material should have a certain hardness to achieve a long lasting impression, visually attractive, but at the same time break at hazardous overload before the natural nail is torn off. Since contradict both of these requirements, a compromise is usually chosen in which this breaks through modeling of the nail in a suitable material thickness in case of overload at the fingertip. However, it is unavoidable that in unfavorable angle levered in extreme cases, the nail and thus the nail plate is damaged. This may subsequently lead to the fact that the growth of the nail is affected ( wavy regrowth, etc.). Therefore, start with a modest extension inexperienced bearer of a nail modeling.

In possibly unnoticed slight withdrawals of the natural nail can grow very quickly by the warm, moist environment germs. In particular, people who work in occupations in which hand hygiene is important (for example, kitchen staff, medical staff, nursing staff, etc.) should take acrylic nails distance as the likelihood of bacterial colonization is higher due to the violation of the nail than with natural nails. These activities typically the painting and wearing of artificial nails by the hygiene standards of the employer is prohibited. So it says in the " Recommendation on the prevention of postoperative infections in the surgical area " of the Robert Koch Institute: The members of the surgical team must have short and round cut fingernails and must not wear artificial fingernails.