For some manicurists, nails have become the canvas on which they create art.JIM BLAYLOCK/STAFF

Nailing the look

Manicure boom has resulted in nails sure to be attention getters

Web posted January 12, 1999

 Nail salon treatments

By S. B. Crawford
Staff Writer

Women like Ms. Chester want their hands to be noticed. That's the whole point.

``Every time I get paid, I get my nails done,'' she said.

Every week, legions of women march into nail salons and beauty parlors across the nation, spending as much as $60 a pop for manicures, artificial nails and intricate, hand-painted nail art.

Once reserved for the upper crust, manicures have become commonplace. Nowadays, hands sporting a $50 nail job are just as likely to handle a Big Mac as a set of opera glasses.

Spurred on by a confluence of fashion, technology and economics, the nail business is booming.

``It has been a steady increase in the last 10 years, the last five years being the biggest -- it has exploded,'' said Gordon Miller, executive director of the National Cosmetology Association, the beauty industry's largest and oldest sanctioning group.

Treating themselves

Large numbers of women in the work force account for much of the growth in nail salons in the past decade, Mr. Miller said. Women have more money to spend and more incentive to spend that money on their appearance -- including manicures.

In Georgia alone, the number of licensed nail technicians has more than quadrupled since 1991 -- from 1,486 to more than 7,000 last year, according to Kara Jones, spokeswoman for the Secretary of State's office.

Nail salons statewide have grown from only 224 eight years ago to more than 1,300 in 1998, Ms. Jones said.

``What you see now really in the beauty industry is the creation of a whole new niche, and that is the nail salon,'' said Mr. Miller, whose organization represents more than 40,000 nail technicians and hairdressers nationwide.

Before the nail boom, manicures and artificial nails were only secondary services, rarely available at the corner beauty parlor.

Tamara Baggi creates tiny designs on nails with hair-like brushes at Maneline West Hair Studio.JIM BLAYLOCK/STAFF

``It's always been considered a more luxurious kind of thing,'' Mr. Miller said. ``It wasn't in your average small salons that you had a manicurist.''

Today's nail salons offer a variety of treatments to enhance the look and length of nails, the most common being acrylic nails.

Usually, a plastic nail is attached to the tip of the real nail, then sculpted and coated with an acrylic resin. Customers are expected to return every two weeks for routine maintenance, or ``fill-ins.''

Attention getters

Sandy Lynch, 45, has her nails done about every three weeks.

For holidays, other special occasions -- or any time she can think of a good excuse -- Mrs. Lynch spends about $60 having her nails sculpted and painted with special designs.

``For Christmas, I had a snowman and a wreath -- I had all 10 nails done with something different,'' said Mrs. Lynch. ``For my high school reunion I had a single rose hand-painted on each nail.''

Mrs. Lynch says her nails set her apart in a work environment dominated by men. Although she likes being part of the team at International Paper, she said her nails are a way of reminding herself that she is still a woman.

``This is the only thing that I do for me,'' Mrs. Lynch said. ``You just feel more feminine when your hands look nice, and nails make your hands.''

The men she knows encourage her little extravagance.

``My husband will say, `Your hands are looking kind of plain, why don't you get your nails done,''' she said.

Women with long nails have to develop new skills to handle everyday tasks. Closing jewelry clasps and negotiating buttonholes require amazing dexterity and patience.

``Sometimes I have trouble with buttons and stuff like that, but you just get used to it,'' said Tameka Hempfield, 23, whose hands, until recently, were decorated with 3-inch nails with a multi-colored marble design.

When she was a regular customer, she could spend between $30 and $45 every two weeks for new nail tips and airbrushed designs on her hands -- and feet.

``I usually just got a design on my big toe,'' she said.

But she had herself de-clawed a few weeks ago, anticipating trouble with an upcoming computer class at Aiken Tech.

``I didn't want to fail because of my nails,'' said Ms. Hempfield.

But lately, she has been rethinking her decision.

``I don't know, I think I'm going to get them back because I heard you didn't have to type that fast,'' she said.

She wants the nails for the attention they attract.

``It's fun,'' she said. `` All women like men to look at their hands.''

Not just for women

Men are not only noticing women's hands, but taking stock of their own.

More and more, local manicurists say male customers are becoming a bigger part of their business.

``We have a lot of men -- businessmen, hardworking men -- who come in to get manicures,'' said Danny Nguyen, a nail technician at Nail Pizazz on Washington Road in Martinez. ``It's good for businessmen to have a nice handshake.''

One of Mr. Nguyen's more notable clients is music legend James Brown, he said.

``Every time he is in town he comes to visit us,'' Mr. Nguyen said, pointing to a photo on the wall that shows him working on the right hand of the smiling Godfather of Soul.

But plenty of men with lower profiles indulge in manicures, said Deby Spradly, a manicurist for 11 years who currently works at Southern Accents Day Spa in Martinez.

Many wives give their husbands manicures as gifts for birthdays and anniversaries, Mrs. Spradly said.

``They love it,'' she said. ``When they walk out the door they say, `Now I know why women do this.'''

A more traditional manicurist, Mrs. Spradly prefers natural-looking nails and hand tools over the more extravagant nail art involving airbrushes and drills.

Her prices are higher, but her service includes perks like a hand massage following every manicure.

But many people are in a hurry and prefer the high-volume, lower-priced salons that populate strip malls everywhere, say industry experts like Mr. Miller of the cosmetology association.

``One of the reasons that some of these lower-priced salons have been able to use the price structure they have is that they can get the work in and out more quickly,'' he said.

The price for beauty

Most nail specialty salons charge about $25 for an initial nail job and about $15 for follow-up appointments about every two weeks.

``A lot of so-called experts would say that just like anything else, you get what you pay for, and that the quality of work in those lower-priced salons is not as good,'' he said. ``In a better salon you certainly tend to get a more relaxed service, they tend to do hand massages and arm massages -- they just take more time.''

Some have pointed to the low-cost nail salons as hazardous or even dangerous to public health because of perceptions of lax hygiene standards, Mr. Miller said.

``Sanitation is really important because they use sharp implements,'' he said. ``When you start cutting away the cuticle or cutting away the skin, the chance for blood is very real. It is very easy to poke somebody, and if the implement you are using has not been properly sterilized from the person before you, the transmission of something like Hepatitis is very easy to happen.''

But state regulators say complaints about sanitation in nail salons are rare.

``We don't really get a lot of that,'' said Ms. Jones, of the Secretary of State's Office. ``We have inspectors that do spot checks to make sure there is proper sterilization, that the licenses are displayed, that there is a photo with the license and that everybody working is licensed.''

More often violations have more to do with proper licensing than improper sanitation, she said.

Low health threat</B>

As long as sanitation standards are observed, there is little danger, said local dermatologist Larry Pierce.

``If their nail hygienist wears gloves, uses either disposable or heat sterilized instruments, they are no more a threat to them than shaking hands with somebody at church,'' Dr. Pierce said.

Problems can arise for women who have artificial nails and jobs that require them to work in water, he said.

Water under the nails is an ideal breeding ground for nail fungus, which can cause the loss of the natural nail if left untreated.

``After awhile, your nails get loose, they get disheveled and they come off,'' he said.

New treatments can take care of the fungus but it can take many weeks, he said.

Tamara Baggi, a nail technician at Maneline West Hair Studio, believes a new product from Germany may reduce the ill effects of artificial nails.

The new Light Concept nails use a coating that doesn't damage the nail like acrylics, and is resistant to most chemicals and water, said Mrs. Baggi, who has been encouraging her customers to move away from the acrylic nails. She believes the new product is healthier for long-term use.

Mrs. Lynch recently switched to Light Concept nails, and likes them better. She says her new nails are stronger and require less maintenance.

Long and short of it

Mrs. Baggi has been in the nail boom from the beginning. The 33-year-old Augusta resident began nail work in California over a decade ago. Today she specializes in intricate, hand-painted nail art -- creating tiny designs on nails with hair-like brushes at Maneline West Hair Studio.

Her customers range from teen-agers to middle-aged businesswomen to exotic dancers.

``The dancers say when they have their nails done up like that their customers tip better,'' she said.

Her youngest customer is 12. She was brought in by a concerned mother who wanted her little tomboy to start acting like a lady.

Mrs. Baggi set the girl up with artificial nails, and her pleased mother drops her off every two weeks.

``It's worked. She's stopped climbing trees and busting boys' lips,'' Mrs. Baggi said.

It is the younger women who favor the 3- and 4-inch nails, Mrs. Baggi said.

As for her own 11-year-old daughter Felishia, she will have to wait.

``I told her she couldn't have artificial nails until she was 16,'' Mrs. Baggi said.

Nail salon treatments

Artificial nails:

Plastic nails applied to the tips of natural nails in lengths ranging from 1 to 4 inches. Artificial nails are glued to real nails, then coated with acrylic resin and painted with customer's choice of color, plus top coat. Average cost: $25-$35. Time: 30 to 60 minutes. Touchups required every two weeks at an average cost of $15.

Light Concept and UV gels:

A water- and chemical-resistant coating that hardens under ultraviolet light. The coating can be used over natural or plastic nail tips. Average cost: $55-$65. Time: 30 to 60 minutes. Touchups required every three to four weeks at an average cost of $30.

Airbrushed designs:

Tiny artwork applied to finished nails. Price often included in the nail price, but more elaborate designs can cost about $30.

Hand-painted designs:

Same as above, but can cost between $2 and $10 per nail, depending on the design.

Natural manicure:

Includes shaping and buffing. Average cost: $10-$15 for men, $20-$25 for women.

S.B. Crawford can be reached at 868-1222, ext. 111.