Ann Smedley is always surprised by how tense their hands are, these women who come to her for manicures.
As she soaks their fingers in warm water, massages and grooms them, she can feel the tenseness give way. Smedley is one of a growing number who perform the cure. Mani or pedi or both.Smedley thinks maybe the hectic pace of life has something to do with the increase in people who are pampering themselves and their nails. "My customers say they'd rather spend money on their nails than their hair. They can do their own hair."
The hectic pace of life affects the nail business in another way, too. Nearly 100 percent of her customers have acrylic nails, because they stay looking nice for three weeks - about three times longer than natural nails can hold the polish.
Smedley works at His and Hers, a beauty supply store. She could work full time; she has plenty of customers. So could Brenda Squires, at Michael Hovey's hair salon. But both say they like to limit their hours. Regular customers keep them filing 20 to 30 hours a week, and that's plenty for women who are combining motherhood and work, they say.
Squires' customers mostly get silkwraps.
Silkwrap, gels, acrylics - manicurists have their specialties. No matter what the medium, when they are done correctly, especially if they aren't too long, you can't tell the real nails from the false.
Smedley only does manicures. Squires does pedicures as well. Meanwhile at the Finnish Touch, Sinikka Gorham prefers pedicures. "I'll do a manicure with a pedicure," she says, reluctantly.
Feet are the more challenging end of the body, as far as she's concerned. Some of her customers are men. She sees her customers every six weeks, less often once their calluses are under control.
The state regulated manicurists until 1981. Then the Legislature did an audit and decided there were no overriding public health issues involved. They voted to stop licensing manicurists.
In 1981 false nails weren't as popular as they are now. With false nails came the fungus.
Kim Baker, assistant manager of Continental College of Beauty in Salt Lake City, would like to see manicurists licensed again. "There have been people lose nails because the manicurist didn't know what to look for."
Some Utah manicurists get their training through a beauty college, others through a nail manufacturer's representative. The nail manufacturer's classes last only a few hours, Smedley points out. Like Baker, she would like to see licensing reinstated.
Gorham learned pedicure and massage in her native Finland. Smedley learned from a neighbor, a woman who formerly practiced in California, where manicurists are licensed and sanitation regulations are strict. Smedley took an eight-week class, studying six hours and practicing 12 hours for each of those weeks.
But on the other hand, this isn't brain surgery. Any good manicurist can spot trouble, says Baker. When you remove the polish, an acrylic or silk nail is transparent. "You look for an open wound or discoloration of the nail." A fungus is caused by a seal that comes loose, allowing moisture to hide and fungus to flourish between the false nail and the real nail. "You can notice a fungus right off," Baker says. Then it's an easy matter to remove the false nail until the fungus is gone.
The vast majority of today's clients have false nails. Only men and older women come in for manicures on their natural nails, Baker notes.
Pedicures are "in demand" with both sexes and all ages, she says. But most manicurists don't like to give pedicures. "Feet gross them out."
Smedley knows of nail artists who do will airbrush palm trees or sunsets on your nails. "Nail art is very big in Las Vegas." Her customers are more conservative, she says. They prefer a solid color nail, with maybe the occasional gold stripe or a holly decal at Christmas.
On the Wasatch Front the cost for cures ranges from $10 for a basic manicure ($30 to $45 for a first application of acrylic or silk) to $22-$30 or more for a pedicure.