Hold the tool vertically and avoid angling it; otherwise, your nail edge will be uneven. Move the drill across the end of the nail in a straight line with strong, but not hard, pressure. The electric file should not be used to form the nails. To form your nails, always use a hand file.
What is the best way to do a portable manicure?
To begin, select the bit you want to use and place the metal end into the Trim Portable Manicure System’s cavity at the top. There’s no reassuring click or snap to let you know it’s securely secured. Gently press down until it won’t go any farther. Then, to start the device, press the button and make sure the bit spins freely.
Next, bring the bit to the nail’s surface, depending on your planned purpose. Work the bit over the nail’s surface with little pressure and steady movement. The Trim Portable Manicure System’s weak motor, however, causes it to stop and skip, which is dangerous. Beyond that, you won’t be able to accomplish anything without variable speed.
The Bits
Two light shaping bits, one (awkward) emery bit for filing and shaping, one buffing bit, and one metal bit advertised as a cuticle pusher are included in the set of five.
These fine-grain bits softly polished the surface of the nail but did nothing to shape it, making them largely ineffective as shapers.
Emery Bit Shape is difficult to define, but you can see it (the pink bit) in the image above. I tried using it in both a manicure and a pedicure, but there isn’t enough substance behind it to make it beneficial.
BitUseless is being buffed. My nails did get a sheen from it, but it was inconsistent. The motor was unable to buff the nails to a sheen due of its frailty.
Bit of Metal
This part purports to be for pulling cuticles back, and it is the only one of the group that is genuinely useful. In truth, it works well for shaping and filing nails, as well as eliminating overgrown dead cuticle and levelling out the nail bed. It isn’t buffing, but that isn’t a problem.
The Bottom Line
Don’t fall for it. I’m not disappointed for $8 and my low expectations, but I wouldn’t recommend the Trim Portable Manicure System to, well, anyone. If you’re searching for anything similar, you should check into a more powerful tool.
Why does the electric nail file cause so much pain?
The friction of the bit on the nail causes the burning feeling. Make sure you’re not going back and forth with it; instead, go in one direction, lifting the bit off the nail at the end of the stroke, and returning to the side of the nail you started on. Because you’re using sanding bands instead of carbide, you can be applying more pressure than you know. Carbides are more aggressive and require less pressure, whereas sanding bands require a little more.
The best advice I can give is to enroll in an e-file class so you can witness these tactics in action and pick up some pointers.
Laura Campos of Gainesville, Fla., has 19 years of experience as a nail technician and is a master certified electric file technician.
Use an e-file on yourself to determine how much pressure is required, and warn the client before you begin that they should let you know if they are uncomfortable. They’ll appreciate it and instead of sitting there dealing with it, they’ll tell you when they’re feeling something. This will demonstrate to them that you are concerned about their well-being. It’s a significant advantage in their eyes, believe me. Donna Schur, of Huntsville, Texas, is the proprietor of Nails by Donna.
What do the different colors on nail pieces mean?
In fact, the color of your burr determines how coarse it is. To put it another way, grit refers to how “rough” your burr is. Colors are an easy way to tell the difference. Yellow is X fine, Red is fine, Blue is medium, Green is coarse, Green is extra coarse, Black is super coarse, Yellow xx coarse, and Pink is killer 3X coarse. These colors are determined by international convention and will remain consistent in the future. This is crucial to remember when learning about Efile bits and how to use them.
Are Electric Files Harmful to Nails?
I wrote last week about the misconception that gel destroys your nails (it doesn’t). The majority of persons who report nail degeneration following gel paint or enhancements do so because they used an electronic file incorrectly (or, e-file for short).
But it’s also a myth. E-files do not harm your nails in any way. In the preceding statement, the essential terms are inappropriate use.
E-Files AREN’T Bad, Either!
“When I go to the salon, I tell them they can’t use ‘that drill,’ on me!” you’ll see on the internet.
The safest way to use an e-file is to use it correctly. It’s safe and effective, as long as the correct combination of bits and speed is utilized for the job: prepping the nail plate necessitates a totally different set of parameters than prepping an augmentation for a fill. Unfortunately, in many salons, a one-size-fits-all strategy is employed, which is ineffective.
It’s also a terrific technique to speed up the service because hand filing takes so long. It’s kinder, but it’s not as effective.
Why Service Speed Matters
You, the client, will benefit from a faster service because you will be out of the salon sooner. Even though you enjoy your visits to the salon, your time is valuable!
What’s the best way to grind thick toenails?
For particularly thick and uneven nails, the ClipPro Toenail Clipper is the best consumer nail clipper we’ve discovered. Its mouth expands to a width of nearly 1 inch, and the blades’ tops are slightly bent to fit around your nails. It’s simple to operate and produces a clean, smooth cut. For thick nails, only use professional quality toenail clippers like these. Fingernail clippers should not be used to thin thick toenails. It’s usually more painful because the nippers don’t cut these thick nails very properly, so you wind up biting at the nail with them.
For the best results in thinning and reducing thick nails, follow these steps.
- Soak your toes for five to ten minutes in warm water. This will help soften the nail and make cutting the thick nail easier.
- Shorten the nail: If the nail is extremely long, use the ClipPro nail clipper to shorten it. The ClipPro opens wider than most clippers, making trimming thick toenails much easier. You can also use the ClipPro to trim the nail from the top if it is extremely thick.
- To thin the top of the big toe nail, use the Large Sapphire Cone Bit (Figure 7) provided with the PediNova Electric Nail Grinder to grind the thicker nail from the top while the nails are still damp. Apply slight pressure and grind it thinner until it reaches the desired thickness or becomes heated. If it gets too hot, take a break and continue later or the next day. Continue to grind a bit each day until the nail has returned to its original thickness.
- Use the Long Sapphire Bit (Figure 5) that comes with the PediNova Grinder to thin the sides of the big toe nail.
What exactly is a Russian manicure?
A Russian manicure is a procedure that involves delicately removing extra skin and dead cuticle surrounding your nail bed with an electronic file. The technique is also known as a “E-File manicure” due to the use of an electronic file.
The electronic file buffs away the superfluous skin all the way around the nail bed with fine pieces. This skin is often manually wiped away with a much more abrasive file in a conventional manicure. Even worse, in a traditional manicure, the cuticles are frequently manually chopped off with nippers.
Using an electronic file, the Russian manicure technique allows your nail technician much more precision in how much and how carefully excess skin is removed.