Katie Barnes on…young people & nail treatments

By Katie Barnes | 18 September 2018

Educator and award-winning nail technician, Katie Barnes, discusses the appropriate age for a nail treatment… As the number of teenagers and children seeking nail and beauty treatments continues to rise, techs need to ask themselves whether it is safe or appropriate to treat a client under the age of 16.…

Katie Barnes on…how to prevent allergies

By Katie Barnes | 4 September 2018

Concerns have been mounting over the number of tech allergies being reported from using nail products. It’s so important to address your working practice and products to prevent this from disrupting your career and causing further pain. An allergy builds up over time from overexposure of repetitive skin contact with…

Why lateral structure will help your nails go the distance

By Katie Barnes | 22 August 2018

Educator and award-winning nail technician, Katie Barnes, reveals why nail endurance is dependent on nail structure – and serves up advice on perfecting it… Beauty and endurance are two of the main qualities a client looks for when it comes to their enhancements. Both tech and client don’t want to…

How to achieve consistent lengths with your nail enhancements

By Katie Barnes | 27 July 2018

Educator and award-winning nail technician, Katie Barnes, serves u advice on achieving consistent nail lengths… Did you know that each nail is naturally a different length and grows at different rates, meaning it is unlikely that they will be exactly the same length at any time? Have you ever experienced…

Here’s why you shouldn’t neglect the one colour manicure

By Katie Barnes | 12 June 2018

Educator and award-winning nail technician, Katie Barnes, reveals why its important to realise your one colour polishing skills – as well as extravagant nail artistry… Seeing outrageous and eccentric nail creations posted across social media can have positive effects on the industry. It showcases the skill and imagination of techs…

How to choose the right brush for your L&P nail needs

By Katie Barnes | 29 May 2018

Educator and award-winning nail technician, Katie Barnes, offers advice on choosing the right brush for L&P acrylic needs… Alongside your technical skills, your brush is an important element for achieving good results with L&P. Sometimes, the only way to tell the quality of a brush is in its performance and…

Nail enhancements: How to check angles to ensure perfect results

By Katie Barnes | 16 May 2018

Educator and award-winning nail technician, Katie Barnes, offers tips on looking at angles to ensure a great nail enhancement result Do you ever spend a long time creating a beautiful set of nails, only to realise that they don’t look quite right once you’ve finished, but you can’t work out…

How to decide the right thickness for your nail enhancements

By Katie Barnes | 1 May 2018

Educator and award-winning nail technician, Katie Barnes, serves up tips on deciding on the appropriate thickness for nail enhancements… While nail enhancements are an enhancement of the natural nail and often extensions, the aim is still to create these to be as thin and natural-looking as possible while still ensuring…

How to identify the cause of a nail break

By Katie Barnes | 17 April 2018

Educator and award-winning nail technician, Katie Barnes, offers reasons why enhancements can break – and how to identify them The most common reason for the breaking of nail enhancements is due to wear and tear or trauma by the wearer, but a break can also be caused by unsuitable lengths…

Know when to book in the next nail appointment

By Katie Barnes | 3 April 2018

Educator and award-winning nail technician, Katie Barnes, offers advice on knowing when to book the next nail appointment – and what happens if too much time is left between enhancement services… Many techs are responsible for letting their clients go too long between nail appointments. Nail appointments should be scheduled…

How to rebuild damaged toenails

By Katie Barnes | 20 March 2018

Educator and award-winning nail technician, Katie Barnes, reveals how to rebuild toenails to get them looking tip-top in time for the summer months – with a step-by-step photo guide and nail knowledge to boot Damaged, broken or bitten toenails can be an extremely common concern, but it is something your client…

How to choose the right nail shape for your client

By Katie Barnes | 20 February 2018

Educator, former Scratch columnist and award-winning nail stylist, Katie Barnes, reveals how to select the right nail shape for your client… Nails come in a variety of shapes and sizes and everyone has fingers and nails of different lengths and shapes. Some have long, slim fingers while others have short fingers with short…

How to select the correct nail form for enhancements

By Katie Barnes | 6 February 2018

Educator, former Scratch columnist and award-winning nail stylist, Katie Barnes, reveals why knowing the differences between nail forms is so important… Form fitting can seem like a minefield and with so many different types on the market, it is hard to know which form you should be using and why. This blog will explain…

Here’s how nail competitions have helped my career

By Katie Barnes | 23 January 2018

Salon owner, educator, former Scratch columnist and award-winning nail stylist, Katie Barnes, reveals more about her journey in Nails magazine’s Next Top Nail Artist competition to inspire, excite and help you on your own competition journeys… Last week, season five of the Next Top Nail Artist (NTNA) competition, hosted by US trade publication, Nails…

How to correctly remove nail enhancements that are lifting

By Katie Barnes | 9 January 2018

Salon owner, educator, former Scratch columnist and award-winning nail stylist, Katie Barnes, reveals how to correctly remove enhancements that have lifted What is lifting? Enhancements that lift away from the natural nail show a sign of service breakdown. This can occur with any nail coating but is often more common with L&P and…