Why Your Nail-lady Won't Do Flare Nails



Nails by Allison Nicole

  First off, let me start by pointing out that I DID NOT DO the nails in these photos. Both photos are captioned with the names of the artists-- I believe Allison works in Atwater CA, but I'm not 100% certain about that.

Also, both of these artists are awesome. And they both do some wicked-ass nails and have built a reputation for rockin a look that many self-respecting nail techs simply refuse to offer...

Why?

Why would a nail tech absolutely put their foot down and flat out refuse to do something? I mean, other than something that's unsafe or illegal?



Nails by Jamie Rena Melchor; Oakhurst, CA



Well, my friends, welcome to the "duck foot" flare nail trend.

We hate these things.

Obviously, not all of us hate them, for instance, the two fine artists featured in the photos have obviously chosen to downright embrace this style, and have developed quite a following for it too.

But the thing is, you ought to understand, is that most of us worked our butts off to learn how to NOT do nails like this!

Ok... the "duck foot" nail is an extreme style. It's kinda obvious that someone went out of their way to make these nails flare... but we've all seen nails that flare that you're just not sure if it's on purpose or not, right?

That is what we learned not to do. Most of us who learned to sculpt nails on forms spent hours, days, weeks, years, learning to sculpt a nail with perfectly parallel sidewalls to gently tapered.

Believe it or not, there actually is a standard for what is considered "technically perfect" structure. It's a large part of the judging criteria in sculptured nail competitions. And letting those free edges flare out is the exact opposite of what they are supposed to do!

So, when you spend so much time learning not to do something, it can be downright maddening when your client walks in and asks you do that thing on purpose!

OMG! It makes your head spin! Here we've spent decades associating flared-out tips with crappy workmanship and you WANT your nails to look  like that?

And so there are a LOT of nail techs who just flat out refuse. They have drawn a line and said, "hell no."

And that's fine.

On the other hand, there are plenty of techs out there who have decided to rock the flare.

And why not? Fashion trends come and go, and nails are just a part of that process. Believe me, in 10 years you'll be looking at those duck feet nails in your photos and laughing at yourself for ever thinking they were "cool." And five years after that, they'll be back in again.

I have to admit. I have a hard time loving the flare. For lots of reasons, most notably that they are inherently structurally unstable. They are out of balance, with more weight off the nailbed than on it, and with that weight spread out over so much space, flared nails are a disaster waiting to happen. Too much free edge to get caught on things, leading to more lifting and breaking.

But women have always loved bad science when it comes to their nails. I'm not likely to change your mind with all my technical info.

So don't be surprised when you walk into the nail salon and your nail tech tells you that you've lost your mind when you request this look.

On the other hand, if you're a nail tech who refuses to take the opportunity to prove that the flare can be pulled off with exceptional technique and style-- don't be surprised when your clients tell you that you've lost you're mind for refusing to keep up with the times.

Either way... I've decided to go with it. Life is short and fashion should be fun... and there is nothing like the feeling I get when a client truly loves the nails I've done for her. So if she loves flares, then all I can do is rock those flares!