11.2 Manicure and Pedicure Procedures
Key Takeaways
The service runs from greeting and inspection through handwashing, polish removal, shaping the free edge, a softened cuticle area, cleaning under the free edge, exfoliation only on intact skin, massage, and then the finish.
The natural nail is filed in one direction from the sidewall toward the center, without sawing or weakening the corners. That filing method is standard instruction, not a Pennsylvania statute.
A pedicure basin soak is added only when the skin is intact and the client is not presenting a condition that precludes soaking.
Stop for pus, broken skin, green discoloration you would otherwise cover, or signs of athlete's foot. Massage stays within the elbow and knee limits in the nail technology definition.
The order of the manicure and pedicure
Procedure is the order of the service. The order lets you see the nail before product covers it and tells you when cosmetic work stops. Conditioning the cuticle and the basic polish sequence belong to the next chapter. Acrylic and gel application come later. The path here runs from the greeting through a shaped free edge, intact skin, and a service that is ready to finish.
From the greeting through the free edge
Greet the client and inspect before any cosmetic work. Look at the nails and the surrounding skin in the table light. Then wash your hands. Washing the client's hands or feet is part of preparation and is not skipped. Existing polish comes off before you shape. Color hides the free edge, the sidewall, and changes in the nail plate. Cap the remover when you set it down.
The free edge is the part of the nail plate past the fingertip or the end of the toe. File the natural nail in one direction, from the sidewall toward the center, rather than sawing back and forth. A sawing stroke lifts the layers of the plate. Do not file so deeply into the corners that the nail is weakened. This filing method is standard nail-technology instruction. It is not a Pennsylvania statute. Chapter 7 does not prescribe a stroke direction or a corner depth.
Shape the free edge before a long soak. A water-softened plate tears more easily under a file. Address the cuticle area only after softening. On a pedicure, softening can be the basin soak when the soak is allowed. On a manicure, softening is the cuticle product used as its label directs. Pushing, nipping, and conditioning are the next chapter. Cleaning under the free edge comes after softening. A metal curette, if you use one, only cleans under the free edge and does not cut skin.
Skin work, massage, the soak, and the stop
Exfoliate, or reduce dry skin, only on intact skin. A file or pumice may smooth a dry heel that is whole. Leave a fissure or open skin alone. Callus softener stays closed except while you apply it, and only when the label allows it on intact skin. It is not poured into the basin. Skip this step when there is no intact dry skin to smooth.
Massage comes after the skin work and before the finish. The nail technology definition in Section 1 of the Cosmetology Law, and the same definition in 49 Pa. Code § 7.1, includes the hands and lower arms up to the elbow, and the feet and lower legs up to the knee. Stay inside those limits. Keep pressure comfortable, and stop massage where the skin is broken.
A pedicure adds a basin soak only when the skin is intact and the client is not presenting a condition that precludes soaking. Section 7.71b requires a pedicure basin and stand. The basin is equipment. The soak is a decision you make after you look. Place an allowed soak after the free edge is shaped and before the cuticle area, so the water can soften tissue without making you file a soggy plate. Nail chemicals stay out of that water.
Stop the service if you see pus, broken skin, green discoloration you would otherwise cover, or signs of athlete's foot. Do not file, soak, or polish across a break. Do not hide green discoloration under fresh polish or an enhancement. Athlete's foot often shows as scaling, itching, or soft white skin between the toes. You do not assign a medical diagnosis. You stop the cosmetic service. If a stop sign appears halfway through, stop there.
The finish, including polish the client wants, comes last. Base, color, and top coat are the next chapter. They wait until the inspection shows none of the stop signs.
| Step | What you do | Boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Greet and inspect | Nails and skin before cosmetic product | Stop for pus, broken skin, green discoloration, or athlete's foot |
| Wash hands | Wash before you continue | Client washing is part of preparation |
| Remove existing polish | Clear the plate and free edge | Cap the remover |
| Shape the free edge | One direction, sidewall toward the center | Standard instruction, not a statute |
| Pedicure basin soak | Intact skin, no precluding condition | After shaping, before the cuticle area |
| Soften, then the cuticle area | Cuticle area only after softening | Conditioning detail is the next chapter |
| Clean under the free edge | Lift debris | A curette does not cut skin |
| Exfoliate dry skin | Intact skin only | Skip the step if skin is broken |
| Massage | Arm to the elbow; leg to the knee | Limits are in the nail technology definition |
| Finish | After the stop-check | Polish layers are the next chapter |
Scenario
A client asks for a pedicure and a cover on a toenail that looks green along the sidewall. You inspect under the lamp and also see soft, peeling skin between two toes. You do not fill the basin, file the green spot away, or reach for polish. The service stops. The next client's skin is intact, with no pus, and the color is only old polish. You wash, remove the polish, and file each free edge from the sidewall toward the center in one direction. You then soak, because the skin is intact and nothing precludes it. After softening you clean under the free edge, smooth intact dry heel skin, and massage only up to the knee. The finish waits until that order is done.
How is the natural nail filed when the free edge is shaped during a manicure or pedicure?
From the center toward each sidewall in a rapid sawing stroke
Deeply into both corners so the nail becomes narrow at the sides
In one direction, from each sidewall toward the center
With a back-and-forth sawing motion across the whole free edge
When does a pedicure include a basin soak?
Whenever the appointment is booked as a pedicure, even over broken skin
Only when the skin is intact and no condition precludes soaking
After fresh polish is applied, so the color can set in warm water
After callus softener and acetone have been poured into the basin
Which finding means the technician stops instead of covering the area and continuing?
A request to massage the foot and the lower leg up to the knee
Dry, intact skin on the heel that can be smoothed with a foot file
A request to shorten a healthy free edge before the color goes on
Pus, broken skin, green discoloration, or signs of athlete's foot
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.