The Delicate Question of Tipping

Yes, it's true: it is traditional to tip your salon professionals. Including the nail lady.

If you ask Ms. Manners, or Dear Abby, or whoever you go to for this type of advice, you will find that "etiquette" dictates a 15%-20% gratuity with each service and birthday and Christmas presents should be equivalent in price to one service.

If you ask me how much you are supposed to tip, I will blush and stammer and try to change the subject.

Yes. Tipping is standard in the salon industry and I would dearly appreciate it if you saw fit to slide a little extra $$$ my way to say "thank you" when I don't charge you for repairs, or when I do nail art for you anyway even though you were 15 minutes late, or when I don't enforce a policy like making you pay for a missed appointment.

I appreciate it when clients tack on an extra buck or two for my Starbucks habit or to go toward the glitter fund.

And I really appreciate the clients who take the time to do the math and actually calculate 20%.

But I also really appreciate the clients who don't tip. But keep coming back, week after week after week, and who refer me to their friends, family and co-workers. Who don't gripe about prices and occasional price increases, who understand why I have policies and why I need to enforce them. The people who respect me as a professional and enjoy me as a person...the fabulous clients who keep me in business-- whether they tip or not.

And tipping-- no matter how extravagant-- does not make up for being a lousy client or obnoxious person. I don't care if you tip 100%, it won't ingratiate you to me to the extent that it's ok to blatantly ignore my policies or treat me or my other clients rudely. No amount of money will make certain behavior acceptable and you can't buy your welcome.

And in today's salon business where most salon workers are booth renters and most salon owners are working their own booth-- the tradition of not tipping the salon owner is out of date. If the owner of the salon is the person who performed your services, then it's appropriate to tip according to standard practice.

It's a delicate topic all the way around. Some nail techs have opted to simply not accept tips at all. Some nail techs gripe about the clients who don't tip. Some-- most-- are much more concerned with whether or not their clients return happy than whether or not they leave more money than the price of the service.
It's far more important to build a happy clientele, full of loyal customers who return regularly and give positive reviews of your business and your work that perpetuates your success than it is to count on a few extra bucks on top of the price of service.

It turns out that a lot of people-- especially young people-- are genuinely unaware that tipping is a traditional practice in the salon industry.

It's always an awkward situation to find oneself in, when you learn that nail techs get tipped and you haven't been. And it's just as awkward for me when a client tells me they never knew they "should" be tipping me!

I don't want my clients to think that I judge their value to my business based on whether or not they tip-- or how much.

I hope that my clients know that I value them as people as well as clients and that I base their value on their loyalty to me, on their respect for me as a person and a professional, and on the quality of our time together during their visits to the salon. Much the way we all determine the value of the people in our personal lives-- based on the quality of the relationship.

So the answer to this frequently asked question is "Yes, it's appropriate to tip your nail lady." But most nail techs (and massage therapists and hairstylists) aren't expecting it, and would prefer a reliable, respectful, loyal client than a tip from someone who thinks it's supposed to make up for treating us poorly.

A Nail for Everyone

gel polish on natural nails

Of course I think everyone should get their nails done professionally on a regular basis; I'm a nail tech! This is what I do for a living, so it just stands to reason that I might be a little biased toward professional nail services.

But I don't think everyone needs to have fake nails. And although I do love fake nails, it's also important to note that not all "fake" nails are made of acrylic-- you have lots of options!

There's a nail service for everyone!

FAKE Nails-- also called "nail enhancements" "artificial nails" or "nail extensions"
   
Fake nails petty much means you have something over your nails that makes them longer than they are naturally. Eventually your natural nail will grow out under that product and be as long as the product over them, or you might even start out just putting a product over your natural nails without making them longer to begin with.

Making your nails longer means you have nail extensions. Just putting product over your nails means you have an overlay.

Extensions can be done by sculpting product onto forms or over tips. Tips are really common in the industry right now-- they're the plastic fake nails.

The biggest problem with tips is that there are a lot of salons that use them to cut corners and shave time off of a service. They just grab a bunch of plastic nails out of a box and glue them down to your nails without bothering to make sure the tips are the right size and shape to fit your natural nail. This means that they can break down over time because the plastic is pre-formed and wants to revert back to it's pre-formed shape and as your nails grows out, they don't always grow out together.

You get ledges at the corners where the tip is too wide or too narrow, your natural nails curls under and away from the sides of the tips... I've seen all kinds of problems. Not to mention when places use white tips to do a French manicure-- the smile line is almost always too far up the nail bed close to the cuticle, which looks like cheap work.

Tips can be done properly. It takes a little extra patience to carefully choose a tip style that fits your natural nails, and then choose the appropriate size and do some customizing if the perfect fit doesn't exist. When tips are done right, they make an excellent foundation for the product.

Tips are not where the strength of the extension comes from. They should fit to the very edge of your nail and only offer something for the product to be built onto.

The strength of the extension comes from the product and from being properly structured.

forms

Forms are usually foil-covered paper stickers that fit around the fingertip and then the product is built directly over the form. When the product is cured (hardened) enough to file, the forms are removed and the product is shaped into the finished extension structure.

I like sculpting on forms because it gives me a chance to create a more custom fit of the product to the nail.



Extensions can be made of several different products:


The most common sculpting products are acrylic (liquid and powder) and gel (a thick liquid that cures under a lamp.)

acrylic

Almost everyone who has ever had their nails done knows about acrylic: liquid and powder mixed on the brush and applied to the nail. It hardens with a few minutes.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people doing nails who aren't very good at it, and many people have had bad experiences with acrylic because of this.

DON'T BLAME THE PRODUCT!

If you had a bad experience with acrylic, there's a very good chance that it's not the acrylic's fault. The person who put them on may have over-filed your natural nail, used MMA, or the acrylics may have been picked or pried off-- which will tear your natural nail up. Acrylic should be removed by soaking it off.

Acrylics also don't have to be thick or long, or yellow, or gross in any way. Acrylic can be an excellent choice for a strong nail extension and it breaks this nail-lady's heart that so many people think it's bad.

almond shape gel nails with 3D acrylic flowers

But you can also build a nail extension with gel:

Traditional builder gels are thick and can be used to extend a nail over tips or forms. Gel can build a strong structure that can support the weight and length of rockstar nails and/or stilettos and duck foot shapes.

Gel is also a plastic product, like acrylic, but not exactly the same. There are some tiny differences in gels that make them more suitable for some clients-- which is why it's important to consult with your professional to determine what the best product for you is.

Dip system over white tips

Other extension products include wraps and dip systems. Wraps can actually be done without plastic tips, but usually start with  tips. Dip systems involve a building the enhancement through a series of layers of nail glue dipped in, or sprinkled with, powder, and while it's theoretically possible to build them over forms I've never seen or heard of it being done.

Wraps use nail glue and fabric mesh made of silk, fiberglass, or linen, to add strength.

Enhancements made of nail glue (Often called "resin-based" services: nail glue isn't actually glue at all, it's cyanoacrylate resin-- like Crazy Glue) are fading from popularity. The resin breaks down over time and exposure to water-- it becomes brittle and gets cloudy.

Resin-based services were often a good Plan B option for clients who are sensitive to acrylic products, but several new gel products are hypoallergenic now without the breakdown rate of resins.

Don't want "Fake" nails? No problem!

Red "French" manicure with Gel Polish

The new light cured polishes are amazing! You can come into the salon and get a manicure and have your nails polished and the polish will actually last-- for several weeks on most people!

You can't find a manicure for $3.00 anymore. A manicure takes about as long as a fill, and it doesn't make sense to charge less for the same amount of time. So I totally understand that for a long time, people didn't really want to pay $20-40 for a manicure when the polish was just going to chip off after 3 days anyway... although, honestly, I would be willing to lay down some good money for a decent hand massage, with or without polish.

There are also a variety of gel products on the market now that bridge the gap between fake nails and manicures. You could get an overlay of thin gel to add strength and structure to your natural nails. It'll still need filled, but you can often whittle down your visits to the salon to once every 3 or even 4 weeks.

traditional polish on natural nails.

And there's always the old fashioned manicure! So traditional polish doesn't last very long, so what? There is nothing like taking a minute to take care of yourself. Sit down, turn off your cell phone, and just relax. Enjoy some pampering, some conversation, and a really good hand and arm massage with calming scents from luxurious products.

A manicure isn't a miracle-- you can't spend 30 years working in the garden without gloves and expect anyone to make your hands look like a hand model from a  lotion commercial in an hour. But if you don't take care of your hands on a regular basis, it's not a bad idea to let someone else show them some attention once in a while. Have your cuticles pushed back, hangnails trimmed, nails shaped and filed, and skin moisturized. Finish it up with polish or not.

Minx

Another cool thing for your nails are appliques. Products like Minx and Dashing Diva are popping up all over the place these days. Some of these are little more than stickers, some of them are more complicated. Some are easy to apply at home-- but some really shine in the hands of a professional. Basically, appliques fall into a category somewhere between enhancements and nail art, they typically fit over the natural nail and offer temporary design and delight.

Initially I was less inclined to include them in my repertoire, but as more options come to market, it's becoming more apparent that this is a legitimate alternative to other nail products and services-- especially for a temporary fix!

tie-dye design with gel paint

And don't forget your toes! When all else fails and you just can't see fit to get your nails done, remember, all the same options for fingernails apply to toenails as well!

Professional nail care is for everyone, even if not everyone needs nails.

Waiting to Hear From Me?

It's true. I was a terrible teenager. I have always loathed talking on the phone.

Now I have a business to run, and I do it by appointment, so you can imagine that it's important for me to be accessible, especially by phone.

Every so often, I hear someone complain that it's very difficult to reach me on the phone-- or that I never return calls. And sometimes they're right... sometimes they never left me a voicemail...sometimes I got a voicemail but couldn't decipher it no matter how many times I replayed it... or no one left a name.

Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is to call a total stranger and say, "Uh, this is Maggie from the Art of Nailz... did you leave me a message?"

That is totally unacceptably unprofessional. Makes me feel stupid. Stupid enough to not bother calling you back. I am not one of those people who simply calls every number that shows up in my caller ID just to say, "you called me?"

Other reasons I may not return your voicemail: Your number didn't show up on caller ID and you didn't leave it. Or you didn't leave a number, so I call the number that showed up on Caller ID and no one there had ever heard of you... or I didn't have a name, so all I could do was say, "did someone here call about getting their nails done?"

Or I couldn't understand your message. Sometimes this is because people leave messages while they are driving... with the windows down... and the radio blaring... and someone else talking in the background.

Sometimes people leave messages while 27 children are screaming in the background.

Or possibly while you are at a major sporting event, possibly from the pit at a Nascar race? I have no idea what all that noise is in the background, but I can't understand a thing you said.

Sometimes people  leave messages while their mouths are full of potato chips.

And, sometimes, it's not your fault at all. Sometimes there's interference on the line, with the network, or whatever, and even though you left a perfectly respectable message, all I hear is a garbled, crunching noise that sounds like something out of a Stephen King movie.

When I get those messages, I usually try calling my voicemail back from another line. Sometimes this works, sometimes not.

Sometimes you get the voicemail to begin with because I am up to my elbows in acrylic and glitter while my client is chatting away and I just don't have a good breaking point to interrupt the conversation and answer the phone. When you're the one on the phone, I realize this is quite annoying. But when you're the client that isn't getting interrupted-- it's quite considerate.

Making those decisions is a balancing act.

I also have to consider that-- most of the time-- the person calling will be asking about booking an appointment, which means I have to stop what I'm doing, turn to the computer, and look at the schedule.

This almost never goes smoothly. It's very rare that someone calls up and says, "I'd like to make an appointment." And then I say, "Great! My next opening is next Tuesday at 1:00 p.m., what's your name and number?" And then they say, "Awesome! That'll be perfect; my name is Nancy and my number is 123-4567."

No. Booking calls go more like this:
     Caller: "Hi, I seen your website and I was wondering how much you cost for a set of Rockstar Nails?"
     Me: "A new set of Rockstar Nails starts at $65.00 and goes up depending on how many colors and elements you want in the nails."
     Caller: "Oooooooohhhh. O...K.... So, if I wanted, like, 2 colors and maybe some rhinestones, how much would you charge me?"
     Me: "2 colors would be $70 and rhinestones will depend on how many and what size, figure about a dollar a nail unless you want to cover the whole nail."
     Caller: "Hmmmmmmmm.... ok. So when can I get that done?"
     Me: (at this point, I stop working and turn to the computer to check the schedule) "The next opening I have is next Tuesday at 1 in the afternoon."
     Caller: "Oh no, I can't do that, I don't get off work till 5. You got anything tomorrow?"
     Me: "No, sorry. My next opening isn't until next Tuesday... the next thing I have open after 5 is-- (pause while I check)-- Thursday, April 26 at 7:30 in the evening."
     Caller: "What?! You're really that booked up? You don't have anything for 5 weeks?!"
     Me: "Not after 5 p.m. Sorry. My evenings are really busy."
     Caller: "Well, what if I came in on my lunch? Could you get me done in an hour?"
     Me: "A new set takes about an hour and a half-- can you take a little extra time?"
     Caller: "Yeah, I could just say I have an appointment or somethin, that's ok."
     Me: "Ok! Then I could do next Tuesday at 1:00."
     Caller: "I take lunch at noon. Do you have anything this Saturday? I could come on Saturday."
     Me: "Sorry, I don't work on weekends."
     Caller: "Oh, ok. So you don't have any openings then?"
     Me: "I have next Tuesday at 1:00."
     Caller: "Nahhh, that won't work. I'll have to call you back."

This is not every call, but I'm not making this up. This is really how many calls go. Meanwhile, I have been sitting at the computer, checking the schedule for suitable openings for all that time... not finishing my client's nails.

It's surprising how much time it really takes to book an appointment--  or end up not booking one, as in many cases.

Sometimes I just have to figure out if I'm running on schedule enough to take that much time away from what I'm already doing. If I spend 10 minutes on the phone, I might end up running into the next client's time.

10  minutes is a big deal when it comes to a nail appointment. 10 minutes is the breaking point at which I determine that a late client  is no longer just "late" but has no-showed me. If I'm going to only give my clients a 10 minute grace period, then I owe it to them to value their time as much as my own.

Sometimes you get voicemail because I'm driving. I don't answer the phone while I'm driving. Aside from the fact that I don't think it's worth the price of the ticket, I know how annoying other drivers are when they're talking on the phone, I don't want to be like them. Also, I probably won't be able to help you if I'm driving. I can't drive, talk, and check the calendar all at the same time.

Or, you're calling while I'm on the phone with someone else. I hate call waiting. I wish I could figure out how to disable it on my current phone.

Or, you're calling at weird times-- or at least "weird" times on my schedule-- such as Saturdays or before 10 a.m. I know those are reasonable times to call most salons, but they are not in my regular business hours. And on most Saturdays, I'm off gallivanting where I can't hear the phone anyway.

Or you're calling at 11 p.m. on a Wednesday night. Or on a Sunday. If you call very late at night or one weekends or holidays, I rather assume that you're looking for the voicemail anyway. Those are weird times to call businesses.

But here's another thing: sometimes, technology just doesn't meet our expectations of it. For instance: Yesterday evening my phone suddenly chimed 7 times within an hour, alerting me of several incoming text messages.

I listened to them and thought, "Who's sending me all those text messages?" thinking that someone was either writing me a small novel.

When I put down the file to check, I discovered a number of messages had just been delivered from several people-- which made several emails, Facebook messages, and visits from people that had already happened, make sense.

Turns out, delivery was just slow. Who knows why these things happen? All I know is, if you sent me a text message before 6 p.m. yesterday, I didn't get it when you sent it.

And maybe that's what happened with my voicemail too? Because I checked voicemail as recently as yesterday... but today I have 11 of them, some of them dated as long as 2 weeks ago.

Now I have a list of names and numbers to call back and I'm seriously wondering if I should bother with the ones from 2 weeks ago? Do I call these people and say, "So sorry, just got your message, are you still interested?"

Or do I just let them fade away?

The problem with calling people and explaining that the techno-gremlins delayed delivery of their message is that the near-universal response is, "Who's your cell carrier?"

Because everyone wants to believe it's the cell company's fault. Oh, Sprint! They suck. My cousin has Sprint and her voicemail is ALWAYS down.

Or "Really? Verizon? I have Verizon and my voicemail always gets delivered on time."

Or, "Oh yeah, I have AT&T too, that happens to my voicemail all the time."

Point is: cell phones are not perfect. No matter who your carrier is, you will occasionally have issues with them. For the record: I rarely have problems with my carrier.

Then, last week, there was a lot of hubbub about the solar storm. I don't really understand solar storms or how they affect satellite operations-- or any other technology. But apparently they do. And apparently we had a pretty big solar storm a few weeks ago.

Maybe that's why so many voicemails were lost in the ether.

But whatever the reason, I'm looking at a list of 11 messages that I need to return. And I thought I'd blog instead.

The "Perfect" Nail

I was really nervous about doing a nail for an article called "the perfect nail." That's a very tall order, and technical skill is not as much my specialty as artistic interpretation. Still, it got me to thinking about what a perfect nail should be, who gets to decide when it is, and how to tell when you've done it:

Being tasked with creating an example of "the perfect nail" was stressful, knowing that my work would be used as that example and published where it will be scrutinized as such by my peers; I have visions of nail techs all over the world reading the article and looking at that nail thinking, "Who the hell did that nail and where do they get off thinking they know how to do a 'perfect' nail?!"

On one hand, the "perfect nail" has very  much been defined for me-- and the entire industry-- by sculptured nail competitions that set forth specific criteria to be met in order to achieve an ideal that has been preconceived for us. That concept is very finite and clearly spelled out. I think much of the industry's own idea of the "perfect nail" is based on the competition paradigm.

On the other hand... I started thinking how "perfect" applies in real life. It's so subjective. Some people love sharply squared nails, some people loathe them. Take, for instance, the growing popularity of the flared nail. More and more, I find myself coming to terms with this trend and learning to appreciate it for its own beauty. So, as demand for the look grows, I've decided that if that's what's going to be the trend, then at least I can do them as well as possible. So I'm working on making my flares stand out as at least still having technical skill behind them; with straight lines and clean edges. I can definitely look through photos and see the difference between well-done stilettos and nails that are simply filed to a point, and now I find myself also looking at photos of nails and telling the difference between nails that flare because they suck and nails that flare because someone took the time and effort to create an artistically flared nail.


Ultimately, our clients are the ones who determine "perfection." And I am fortunate to have an eclectic clientele that allows me to practice many different styles, and that drives me to keep an open mind regarding these ideals so that I am able to see the same perfection in a sleek stiletto or a extravagantly flared duckfoot: square, squoval, oval, almond; pink and white, rockstar, 3D, natural nails and even distressed manicures-- "perfect" is in the eye of the beholder, and it is achieved each time your client leaves the salon in love with her nails, and returns to have you do them again.

Cover Artist



Nails Magazine, April 2012: cover by Maggie Franklin
this is my mounted and preserved copy.


It might be safe to say that it is every nail artist's dream to do the cover for a trade magazine.

Here in the US, we have Nails Magazine and Nailpro Magazine to feed the obsessions of the professional nail industry. Abroad, magazines such as Nailure (Russia) and Scratch (UK) capture my attention and make me drool... sadly, the cost of an out of country subscription is a tad steep so I have to drool over the photos and articles online.

I have been blogging for Nails Magazine since 2008 now. I hope to keep this sweet gig for several more years (crosses fingers) mostly because it's a super fun blog to write, and also because being able to say that I'm a "professional blogger" is to girls what being a professional video game player is to boys.

But, in 20 years of doing nails, and 20 years of subscribing to both the US trade magazines for the nail industry, I had never been invited to do the cover nails of either, despite my obvious superior talents and personality.

Ok. Well, I looked into it many years ago: the thing is, the mags don't really reach out and invite people to their cover shoots.

The magazines tend to work with local artists (both magazines being headquartered in southern CA,) with artists who represent major product manufacturers or have connections with one. They offer those coveted cover shoots to the winners of competitions, or nail artists who are already accustomed to working on professional photo shoots.

This means that it's not uncommon to see the same artists credited for the covers over and over again.

For one thing, that can get boring. I've seen year after year of covers and when you use the same talent over and over again, it shouldn't be a surprise that the covers start to look like you're using the same talent over and over again.

Another thing that I came to understand from the git-go is that the cover art is rarely entirely representative of the cover artist: The magazine editors are the ones who put the magazines together and they are often the ones who conceive the issue's theme and tone. So when they select an artist to do the cover, it's less about showcasing that artist's style and talent than it is about hiring labor to bring the editors' visions to fruition.

I don't particular think this is the way it ought to be-- not for the magazines that serve the nail industry! These are supposed to be OUR magazines, about US, and OUR trade-- getting the opportunity to do the cover nails for should be all about the cover artist! The editors should select the artist, say, "You'll be doing the July issue, wow us!" And then the artist should come in, guns ablazing (metaphorically speaking) and get to show off!

This should be that artist's chance to really do something amazing that illustrates their individual style.

But it isn't-- at least, not usually.

But knowing this never dampened the hope that I would someday get the chance to do the nails for a magazine cover. It's a pretty fancy feather for the cap of a nail tech!

Several years ago, Nails Magazine started doing a cover competition. This might be the closest thing a cover artist really has to being able to go wild and do whatever they want. You do the nails, you set up the photo shoot, you get really high quality photos, and you enter them in the contest. Originally, the magazine editors chose the winner and the photo appeared on the January issue of the magazine.

I'm proud to say that it was actually one of my blog posts that helped to further the concept of the "reader-written" January issue combined with the cover contest so that now the readers are the ones who determine the winning photo for the issue each year (after the editors narrow it down to the top 10 finalists.)

But I've never entered the cover contest.

Why?

Oddly enough-- because I wanted my first cover to be at the request of the editors. I wanted them to want me to do the cover.

Maybe it's an ego thing? I wanted to do the cover, but I wanted to do a cover shoot too. I wanted the whole experience. And I wanted it to be because I had earned the exposure and respect in my industry to warrant enough celebrity to get invited to do a cover shoot.

Let me tell you right now-- if this is the way you choose to go about pursuing a goal, it is going to be a long, hard ride!

Nevertheless! Shortly after the 1st of the year, I received a phone call one afternoon from editor Tim Crowley of Nails Magazine.

I was in the process of rockstarring up Brenda's toes and I tried very hard to sound totally nonchalant on the phone while I was doing my happy dance when Tim said he was calling to ask if I could come do the cover nails.

First I was ecstatic. Then terrified. Then nauseous. Then I spent a week battling the impulse to run away and hide under a rock.

Not only would I be doing the cover nails, but also the nails that would accompany an article called "the Perfect Nail."

*Gulp!* "Perfect" nails is not my forte! I do stunning nails. I do creative nails. I do fabulous nails. I do artistic nails. I do nails that my clients love... but "perfect" to a nail tech (especially one who competes) is a different animal altogether than what you might envision!

Nothing like making my first professional photo shoot a horrifying experience! LOL!

But I didn't run away and hide. I drove to Torrance (a 3 hour drive-- I actually lived there briefly in the late 90s,) I got up early in the morning and arrived for my photo shoot around 8 a.m. ( and we all know that my personal clock has no A.M.!)

I was totally prepared for a high-pressure day of creating nails according the editor's vision, on a professional hand model, working with editors and art directors and models and photographers in a setting that is totally new and alien to my daily work environment. I had myself all psyched out to remember that I was not the top of these food chain, that I was merely there to get the job done according to the needs, desires, and time restrictions of a crew that has experience doing this stuff.

Which turned out to be a lot like when I psyched myself up for my state board exam! (Best advice I can give anyone who is headed for their CA State Board of Barbering and Cosmetology licensing exam is that it is NOT as scary as you've been led to believe!)

In fact, my first photo shoot with Nails Magazine was very relaxed. And I wish I'd been prepared for that.

I did not have to rush. I could have taken more time to get my bearings. I could have taken more time to talk with the editor, the art director, and the photographer about the nitty gritty details of the process outside of just doing the nails. So many things that I didn't consider when I sat down with my model.

I knew I would most likely be the only one on the set who hadn't done this before (and I was right,) I didn't want to get in anyone's way by needing someone to hold my hand during the process. I wanted to be independent and be ready to just do what was needed of me-- I could have relaxed and asked for a little hand holding, just a little.

Overall, it was a great experience. I had fun. I met awesome people. I learned a lot about how Nails Magazine does a cover shoot, and I hope that I get the opportunity to use what I learned to do it better the next time.

I have not seen the cover yet. I saw the photos that were taken, and have an idea of which shot will be chosen, but I have to wait with everyone else till the April issue comes out to see the final result-- after the photo editing!

The nails that I did are not indicative of my style, the don't look like the nails in my portfolio, they are largely the manifestation of Hannah's vision (editor of Nails Mag,) but they are beautiful, they were fun to do, and I think they fit into the theme of the cover and will look beautiful in print.

Currently, I am awaiting the arrival of the March issue-- which I believe is the one with the "perfect nail" article in it. I am terrified! I repeatedly made the art director assure me that she had mad skillz with Photoshop and would make my less then "perfect" nail look perfect in print!

my photo shoot crew

The Groupon Debacle



I don't have good photos for this post, so here are some
awesome tie-dye rockstar nails.

 The professional networking forums that I frequent have been alive lately with talk about Groupon-- and its various clone companies-- and how it works, or rather, totally fails to work, for small businesses like salons and salon professionals.

Upon hearing so many negative-- and we are talking about vehement, spitting, cursing, angry negative here-- personal accounts of how devastating a Groupon-like deal can be for a small business, I, naturally, was skeptical.

I balk at any input on any subject that seems too one-sided. But in the case of this subject, many of the stories I heard came from people that I have known and respected professionally for many years. These were first-person accounts of how these deal sites personally affected them.

I had to admit... it's difficult to look at the information as it appears on the surface and then look at your friends and your peers and tell them they should have known better.

So. I have spent the last few days researching from a lot of different angles. And now I'm left feeling sort of unsatisfied and disgruntled.

I really need to write a comprehensive article aimed at fellow professionals within my industry, but I try to write this blog for consumers.

So here is what I'd like you to know about these "deals" if you are going to purchase them and redeem them.



hand painted camoflouge nail art

 Small businesses offer discounted deals because they want to attract more customers. So, if you see a great deal-- whether it's for a coffee shop, a salon, or a car wash-- that business ran that special in hopes of getting new customers. New regular customers. They hope that you will redeem your half-off a latte deal and also buy a bagel. Or redeem your half-off spa pedicure and also buy a matching manicure, or a bottle of lotion, or-- even better-- book another spa pedicure (and hopefully a matching mani) before you leave. Or that you will redeem your half-off luxury car wash and opt to buy the "buy 10/get 3" package deal.

At the very least, they hope you will have a great experience with the business and recommend them to your friends, leave a positive review on Yelp or Google or Merchant Circle, etc; follow the business on Twitter, like them on Facebook, sign up for their mailing list.

What they do not want is to be bossed around by self-centered deal-hoppers who saunter into the business like the business owes them something... at least, not more than the deal they purchased.

Businesses do not want one-hit-wonder customers who try to get more than the deal they purchased; who try to use multiple coupons all at once, who try to use coupons that have expired, or try to use an already-redeemed coupon again.

That makes you a crappy customer for any business. And if you are a crappy customer already, do not spout off about how the "customer is always right" on top of it. That was a slogan attributed to Harry Gordon Selfridge, that is largely associated with Marshall Field and Company from the early 1900s and it is not the axiom that customers would like to believe it is.)

Nevertheless, it's my opinion that the consumer should not be burdened with any more responsibility for the fiasco that Groupon has been for small businesses, than to be a considerate and ethical customer overall. And that applies to all of us as consumers, and not just in cases of redeeming coupons and gift certificates.

But what many consumers don't know, is how Groupon works. Most people think that when a business runs an offer with Groupon that Groupon takes a percentage of the price and pays the merchant the rest.

Well, you're right.



Miner Ed: local high school,
El Diamante mascot--
I can do other high schools too.

 What you may not know, is that the percentage of the price that Groupon takes is 50%. Which means that if you get a certificate for $20 worth of food from a local diner that only costs you $10, the diner gets $5 and Groupon gets $5.

So any deal you get on Groupon (and this split is very common, so the math applies to most of these types of deal sites) means that the business that offered the deal is only getting 25% of the regular price.

So what? Right? A lot of people argue that businesses run "loss leader" advertising all the time. These businesses knew that they were going to be taking a loss on these deals when they agreed to the offer. So why should the customer feel bad about buying the Groupon, right?

Well. I don't really think you should. I'm just saying-- go into it aware of exactly how big a discount this really represents to the merchant. And be a polite customer.

You know what? Be a polite member of your community. At all times. It's just one tiny thing you can do to make the world a better place.

OK. So anyway: I would totally be with you on that whole "loss leader" thing except that what's happening is that small-- and by "small" I really mean "tiny" like neighborhood cafes and salons-- businesses are finding that they negotiate to run a deal and then Groupon runs the deal and they sell like 1,000 of the certificates!

OMG!

Now... there are a lot of tales on line from retail businesses that explain how Groupon was a bad idea for them, and then these business owners go on to say that they think these deals would work better for service-based businesses like salons.

No, No, No.



angel wing nail art on rockstar nails.

 It's true that the bulk of the price of a service-- like a set of nails-- is for labor. The cost of product is pretty low. But I don't just have to cover the cost of the acrylic, cotton pads, file, buffer, that I use to create the nails; I also have to make sure that I make enough money to pay for my rent, my utilities, my insurance, my advertising, etc. AND that's just the money that I have to make to stay in business! On top of that amount of money, I also have to make a living! The amount of money that I need to take home, so I can pay for my car, my car insurance, my rent/mortgage, utilities, groceries, etc-- you know, the reason we work.

So, as a tiny business owner, I effectually have to cover 2 salaries: one to pay for the business, and one to pay for my life. In the long run, just because I am a service-based business does not really mean I have a significantly lower overhead than other types of businesses.

OK. So a set of nails costs $50 (basic pink and white acrylics here at the Art of Nailz.) If I did a Groupon deal for a set of nails, you'd be able to buy a set of nails for $25. I would get to keep $12.50 of that, and Groupon would get $12.50.

By the way-- it takes an hour and a half to do a full set of pink and white acrylics.

That means I'd get $8.33 per hour. Yes, that is less than I need to cover my expenses.

When a business runs a standard "loss leader" promotion, they carefully calculate what it'll cost them, how much they can afford to lose, and then control the promotion so that it doesn't bankrupt the business.



stars on rockstar; is that "double rockstar?"

 But when a salon runs a Groupon deal for a $25 set of nails and they only get $12.50 and it takes 1 1/2 hours AND Groupon sells A THOUSAND of them-- well... the problem is that it'll take 1500 hours to redeem all those Groupons! It would take one person, working 40 hours a week, 37.5 weeks to do all those sets! And she still has to work in her regular customers who are still paying full price-- you know, the customers who represent a profit, which means it'll take more than a year to redeem all the Groupon deals sold. Which is one of the factors that many small businesses have run into, and one of the things customers don't understand that leads to angry, demanding customers, and weary, equally angry workers.

Maybe, in a large salon with enough technicians, being tasked with redeeming 1,000+ deals would represent less of a disaster. But several of the salon workers who are running these ads are small salons with fewer than 5 technicians available at any given time to provide services, and I see even more ads that are run by sole operators. That means, just one person, to redeem hundreds of services that run in the red and still do enough services in between to keep the rent paid.

In many cases, the Groupon ads (or Living Social, Daily Deals, etc etc) are wildly successful. They really do sell hundreds, or even thousands, of certificates. And on top of that, most of those certificates sold actually get redeemed-- or attempt to get redeemed.

We're used to advertising that sees very little return. Like, you might get one or two customers for every 1,000 copies of your ad that get seen. So when a Groupon deal suddenly opens a flood gate of new clients trying to get in all at once, it can be a big surprise and businesses can be caught unprepared.

Suddenly, you realize that you may have wanted 20 new regular clients (mind you, I do nails, I tend to speak from the perspective of a nail business, I should think that a local cafe might be delighted to have 250 new customers) and you may have time in your schedule to accommodate 5 to 10 of those new clients in any given week. But now you have 800 rabid fans clawing at your door insisting on redeeming their deal in the next 48 hours.

Yes. It's true. Many, many, small business owners are bad at math. Or at the very least, lazy at it.



Savannah: neice, polish duster.

 Almost every story I have heard or read ultimately comes down to, "that was stupid, why would you do that?" Even my 13 year old niece came to that conclusion when I tried to explain what I was writing about today. And she does not pay attention to my business ramblings very intently.

But there are a few more factors at play: for one thing, businesses with employees and/or independent contractors (common in the salon industry) who don't get a say in the decisions that the owners make about advertising. And alleged accounts of shadiness on the part of Groupon sales reps.

If you agree to run a deal, and you HAVE done the math, and you decide it would be a good thing for your business IF you can limit the number of deals that get sold-- say, you have 3 people working in your salon, so you decide 100 deals is all you can afford to do. OK. Then what happens when your sales rep tells you that's "totally doable," sends you the contract, all is set and ready and then, an hour before the deal goes live, you get a call that says, "Oh, by the way, we decided to sell 2500."

Well. I don't know what happens if you say, "Oh hell no!" Because I haven't heard any account of people doing this. I hear a lot of accounts of frightened, intimidated business owners who are afraid to tell Groupon "no" at the 11th hour.

And maybe for good reason. Because according to one source and his analysis of the merchant agreement, the contract includes a pretty harsh non-compete clause. Basically, it says that once you sign the contract, you can't do any other online promotions until your deal has run... even though the contract also says that Groupon doesn't actually have to run your deal.  The wording is very broad. It doesn't list any specific examples of what Groupon considers to be an "online promotion," which means that you could be considered in breech of your contract if you so much as Tweet a special in the meantime.



I have a lot of polish and a lot of glitter.

 That's a pretty convincing argument to not hold up the running of your ad.

Accounts of sleaziness aside, there's also that issue of the workers. What happens when your boss comes in one morning and says, "Hey! Guess what? We're running a GROUPON ad!"

What happens when you're a salon worker who gets paid on commission? And now you are expected to redeem 60 quarter-priced spa pedicures in a week? That the salon didn't profit from at all?

I got news: 60% of Nada, is Nada.

Some salon owners out there have found themselves in this "I wish I'd done the math first" conundrum and are doing all they can to step up and pay their work force the standard commission that they would make on regular price.

Some of them think absorbing the losses should be a team effort.

Some of them are looking for new team members now.

The truth is, small businesses have flourished over the centuries, even though their proprietors weren't good at math. Or didn't understand things like "loss leaders" and "yield management." And the fact that small business owners have continued to be successful, year after year, generation after generation, across a vast variety of markets and industries, proves that maybe math isn't as important to running a business as people with business and economics degrees want to believe.



The view from the salon, can't beat it!

 On the other hand, when you get caught in the pinch because you didn't do the math, it's best to just own up to the fact. Don't try to blame someone else and say they took advantage of you when all you had to do was say "no."

If you expect sympathy for not being able to stand up to the pressure, then don't go giving your teenagers any of those "resist peer pressure" or "just because all your friends are doing it" speeches when you can't lead by example.

If you buy Groupon deals, be kind to the business and it's employees. They might unexpectedly find themselves in over their heads. And be ethical, don't try to pull a fast one by trying to use the same deal twice or fudge the fine print. And buy a bagel, or a bottle of lotion.

One thing I learned from all this reading is that Groupon-- at its core-- started with a very noble goal in mind. They specifically wanted to promote small, local businesses. Not to take advantage of them, but to help promote them within their communities.



local business: the Art of Nailz, visit :-)

 Groupon still does that. The deals that you receive are tailored to your community. Those are local businesses, those are your friends', and your neighbors' businesses. At its heart, these deal sites give you an opportunity to participate in your community and build relationships with those businesses.

Hopefully, these deal sites will modify their business models in the future so that they offer a realistic advantage to the truly tiny business owner.

In the meantime, you are bound to start seeing a LOT more grassroots attempts at swaying your attention away from the shiny ad copy in your daily email, and toward genuine opportunities to support local business.

Like Re-using Q-Tips

One of the recurring themes that you're bound to notice throughout my ranting, is that the State (no matter which state) does not care about how well we do nails... or hair... or make up... or waxing. Licensing has nothing to do with skill or talent, and everything to do with consumer safety.

Now, government regulation of the cosmetology industry (and other industries) is another matter entirely that deserves not just its own post, but possibly its own server entirely! But I think its important for the public to understand that just because someone holds a license to do nails, doesn't mean they are any good at doing nails!

But despite my feeling that this is a very important thing for people to know and understand-- it isn't the primary point that I'm planning on addressing today.

Today I want to talk about disinfection practices in salons. We are supposed to have them. Maintaining a clean work area is vital to practicing our art in a manner that is safe and healthy for our clients and ourselves. And part of being clean and safe is being sure to disinfect the tools we use.

Now-- there are some exceptions, such as sculpting brushes and the brushes that are inside nail polishes. Occasionally a group comes along and tries to get over zealous with the germaphobia thing and, so far, it keeps getting overturned by experts who come forward to produce all the necessary charts and graphs to show that these things don't pose health threats under normal use.

So don't sweat that stuff. There is such a thing as being paranoid and worrying about nail polish brushes is on that list.

What you should be looking at though are things like cuticle nippers and pushers; nail files, buffers, drill bits, pedicure tubs, and anything that gets used to smooth calluses on your feet-- and if one of those things is a razor blade, then you should freak out and run away! Because razor blades are not legal for use in salons in most states-- and are generally a bad idea overall.

I live and work in California, so what I know and how I practice is largely based on California's rules and regulations. All states are different, so make sure you look into your specific area.

Here in Cali, we are required to disinfect our implements and surfaces using a "hospital grade, EPA-registered" disinfectant.

Most disinfectant is purchased in concentrate and must be mixed with water according to directions to create a liquid that is strong enough to kill fungus, bacteria, and viruses. One of my biggest pet peeves in my colleagues is that they tend to mix their disinfectant too strong. I don't know if they think leaving it so concentrated will kill more germs, or if they think it'll stay stronger longer so they don't have to change their disinfectant as often, or if they just like the color better if it's not so watered down.

Whatever their thinking is-- it's wrong. Mixing disinfectant concentrate to anything other than it's recommended strength either produces a watered-down liquid that doesn't have the strength to kill anything, or it produces a mixture that's so strong that it corrodes metal implements, stains nylon and plastic ones, wastes disinfectant, and is harder to wash off and could lead to skin sensitivities.

Disinfectant should be somewhere in the neighborhood of Windex in color-- except for the disinfectants that aren't blue. There are some pink ones, some purple ones, and some green ones. All of the ones I'm familiar with should be clear (never cloudy) and you should be able to see through them if they are mixed properly. None of them should be so dark you can't see light through them.

Also, the liquid should be CLEAR. NOT cloudy. Cloudy means it's been too long since it's been changed and it's killing power has been compromised.

Yes, disinfectant has finite kill-power. There's a point where the germs can overpower the disinfectant and the liquid ends up becoming an incubator for more germs. That's why it's important to change the disinfectant regularly.

I change mine daily. California says I have to change it daily or whenever it becomes visibly cloudy. I reason that changing disinfectant about every 10-15 clients seems like good math under those requirements. But I keep a relatively small jar for my implements so when it gets too full to hold another brush, then it's time for a new batch.

Some nail techs have chosen to go above and beyond and are using autoclaves to fully sterilize their metal implements-- to date, I don't believe any state requires this. I know Texas tried it, but last I heard they'd decided to put it off.

Sterilization is a big deal. Autoclaves are pricey, and the implements must be sealed into little airtight pouches-- which can't be reused. So, if you find someone who sterilizes, that's pretty cool! It means you've found someone who REALLY takes safety seriously! BUT just because someone doesn't sterilize, doesn't mean you aren't safe.

Surgeons have to sterilize because their implements are designed to get inside your body, where the slightest hint of bacteria could be a serious threat, tattoo artists (good ones) sterilize their tools because their tools are designed to break the skin-- again, where even ordinarily benign bacteria could cause problems.

But nail services should never break the skin. And, under normal circumstances when the tech is following proper protocol for disinfection-- even a rare, occasional mishap should be easily treatable with some peroxide and a bandage. And a cut during a nail service should be rare!

So, here's what we have to disinfect: anything that touches the client. That includes metal implements like nippers and cuticle pushers, as well as nylon manicuring brushes, our drill bits, files, and buffers.

And none of those things can touch another person until they've been disinfected!

If it can't be disinfected according to the State's requirements, it has to be thrown out! NOT put in a bag or a box with your name on it and saved just for you. THROWN AWAY.

Currently, things that must be thrown away include the cotton that's used to take off your polish (duh, right?) and files, buffers, and those little sandpaper bands that some of us use on our drills. Those things cannot be disinfected! They are "single use" items and they go in the trash after your service is complete.

If you remind me that you want them, I will happily let you take your file home with you for personal use...but you cannot bring it back! I can't use it again. It's dirty. And the state has declared that it can't be reliably disinfected. Even if I put it in the disinfectant and it doesn't fall apart-- because of its porosity, there's a very likely chance that the disinfectant couldn't kill the cooties.

I always say that reusing these things is like re-using Q-tips. It's not, exactly, but I need to use an analogy that people really understand!

And here's something else to consider: Remember when I said it wasn't OK to put your personal implements into a container that gets saved just for use on you?

I have heard a lot of people tell me that they've been a salon where their nail tech did that. I've heard a lot of people say they really thought that was a good idea.

Well, it's not.

For starters; here in California, it's still illegal. Because CA requires all those things to be disinfected every time, even if they only touch one person. It still has to be cleaned properly between uses. And files and buffers still can't be disinfected to the State's satisfaction-- the State does not care who the implements are used on, it cares how many services the implements are used for.

But think of it this way:

At the end of the day you go home and change your clothes, right? Maybe you keep you clothes on till you put on your pj's, maybe you strip down your chones and sleep in them and change them the next morning, whatever your personal routine is-- when you take off your panties at the end of the day, do you fold them back up and put them back in your dresser drawer so you can wear them again later in the week?

Or do you put them in the laundry to be washed before you wear them again?

Why? Why would you need to wash your underwear before you wear it again? I mean, it ONLY TOUCHES YOU, right? So if it only touches you, how does it get dirty?

Uh huh... see my point? The same people who are totally disgusted by the thought of wearing the same pair of panties twice without washing them in between, are the people who think it's totally cool to leave their nail files and buffers in an box on a shelf somewhere for two weeks at a time, slowly festering and breeding vast colonies of whatever cooties were on their nails, the nail technician, the sink, the table, the doorknob, their keys, and everything else they touched that day... and two weeks before that...and two weeks before that... and two weeks before that...etc.

So that's why you want to make sure that your nail file, buffer, sanding band, and any other paper-based implements are BRAND NEW everytime you get your nails done. And that's why you want to make sure that you nail brushes, nippers, pushers, etc have been disinfected between every use.

And that's why I won't use your personal implements if you bring them in. I don't know how you store them, and I certainly doubt that you disinfect them properly between uses.

No sirree, don't bother bringing your own files and nippers and such with you here! I only use tools that I can be sure of.

And, frankly, if you can't trust the salon you go to to do right by the state requirements and your health and well-being, then you need to find a new salon anyway.