AboutMaggie Franklin Expertise Professional Nailcare: nail enhancement chemistry and technique, mancuring and pedicuring. I am not qualified to give medical advice or make medical diagnoses.
Experience I am a professional nail technician with 17 years experience in the professional beauty industry. I am licensed in the states of California (license #M120766) and Colorado (license #8611.)
I have been an active member of the online mailing list at Beautytech.com since 1999 where I network with 100s of nail industry professionals around the world.
Over the last 15 years I have accumulated several advanced training certificates, including the coveted Creative Nail Designs Master Nail Technician status, and personal training by Tammy Taylor, Tom Bachik, and Tom Holcomb.
I briefly joined the competition circuit in 2002, taking first place in the second annual Strut Your Stuff Online competition in the Enhancement 2 category. In 2009 I have decided to make time in my schedule to get back into competition by joining "Team Pink," the competition team captained by current world champion nail technician, Lynn Lammers.
I boast several contributions to articles that have appeared in both Nails and Nailpro magazines, including a brief stint as a Nails Magazine Help Desk contributor and now I write a semi-weekly blog for Nails Magazine while continuing to attend tradeshows and continuing education events.
Organizations Nail Tech mailist list at Beautytech.com
Publications Nails Magazine. Nailpro Magazine. Blogging for Nails Magazine since September, 2008: http://blogs.nailsmag.com/maggie/
Education/Credentials CA license #M120766. CO license #8611. CND Master Nail Technician. Tom Holcomb Academy. Personal training with Tom Bachik. Two day advanced training with Tammy Taylor. AEFM certified for use of electric file. HRTE (High Road to Education) in San Jose, CA 2009.
Awards and Honors 2nd Annual Strut Your Stuff Online competition, 1st place in Enhancement 2. Member of "Team Pink" competition team 2009. 3rd place, Novice tip-and-overlay relay at IBS Las Vegas, 2009.
Question QUESTION: I recently had an acrylic nail wrap done for the first time. I am wondering what the steps are to do this and the supplies needed are. I want know if this is a good wrap to do.
ANSWER: Good question. I've never heard of an "acrylic nail wrap" myself so it would be really helpful if you could explain to me what they did.
My knowledge of products and services would lead me to conjecture that an "acrylic wrap" would consist of laying down a piece of silk or fiberglass mesh like we use for wraps, then putting down an overlay of acrylic.
Quite frankly, that would be redundant, since the acrylic is plenty strong enough to be used as an enhancement on it's own and there's no need to add the fabric mesh. Which has me concerned that someone has found yet another way to create a service that leads consumers to believe they are getting something new and improved so they will pay more for a service that isn't worth it. (sigh)
However, it's possible that instead of using acrylic as the primary component of the wrap, that they used a resin based product and simply called it acrylic.
Was there a fabric mesh involved? Did they overlay the mesh with a powder and liquid product like acrylic? Or did they overlay the product with a thick resin that was cured with a brush on or spray on activator? Or did they apply a resin and then dip your nail into powder?
I'd really like to better understand how this service was performed. But overall, if they used acrylic, then no; this isn't the best "wrap" to have done since the wrap part doesn't contribute significantly to the strength of the enhancement. You might as well just have regular acrylic applied.
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QUESTION: Ok...I think I used the wrong word. I guess what I meant was an acrylic enhancement. There was no mesh involved. There was a powder and a liquid. What is the name of the liquid? After it is placed directly on the nail. What are the steps for an acrylic enhancement ?
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Answer I'm going to apologize in advance, because I realize that the internet makes it difficult sometimes to interpret a person's tone of voice and I want to assure you that I really really really don't mean to come off as sarcastic here but; I'm not sure I understand why you would need to know the steps for performing an acrylic service if you've been to a salon and had one performed whether ON you or in front of you?
The liquid portion of a powder and liquid system is called "monomer," the powder is "polymer." When you mix the two parts together you get a moldable substance that is used to sculpt the enhancement. Once the two parts are mixed together you have to work fairly fast in order to get it where you want it before the polymerization process progresses to the point where the product is no longer pliable.
If you are looking for explicit directions on doing acrylics so that you can do your own, I highly recommend following the manufacturer's directions that will come with any product kit you purchase. You can purchase acrylic products from any beauty supply that is open to the public (unless you have a professional license, which opens up the possibility of professional suppliers as well,) Sally's Beauty Supply is one national chain that is usually well known.
Every manufacturer has slightly different directions and will recommend a different process and that you use different accessory products-- primer, dehydrator, nail plate cleanser, etc. It's best to follow the manufacturer's recommendations for working with their product.
Beyond that, and years of experience and continued education, there really isn't anything to applying acrylic other than what you see when you observe a pro in a salon: etch, prime, dip, dip, place, pat, brush, file, buff, polish.
