Cuticle clipping

"Shouldn't you be clipping the flappy bits away?" my client asks (referring to her cuticles).

I have just gently pushed them back and removed the excess from the nail plate using a cuticle pusher but she can still see them, which she is not used to. And why should she be when SO many salons still perform cuticle clipping regularly despite advice against it.

Many of you are probably thinking - "Well what harm does it do?", my answer - plenty apparently!

Dermatologists explain that the cuticle is the bodies natural seal for where the nail enters the body. Break the seal and your nails and skin are suddenly vulnerable to bacteria, viruses and fungal infection.

And if the medical implications were not enough the aesthetic implications are just as bad.

While your clients cuticle may look lovely and neat the first time you do it, fast-forward a few years and their cuticles will have responded to their regular clipping by becoming thicker, harder and in some cases even splitting. In other words they will have scarred, making further removals even more tricky and making the likelyhood of an open wound all the more likely.

If you're a manicurist, nail technician or even a DIYer please think twice before clipping those cuticles again. Instead invest in a good cuticle remover/softener such as NailLux Erase Cuticle Remover which has a lovely lemony-limey scent while it whisks away excess cuticle without causing damage. It is available for £5.46 from www.salonsdirect.com