{"id":33674,"date":"2021-08-20T14:10:20","date_gmt":"2021-08-20T08:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/districtchronicles.com\/ripping-off-cuticles-and-ugly-feet\/"},"modified":"2021-08-20T15:51:11","modified_gmt":"2021-08-20T10:21:11","slug":"ripping-off-cuticles-and-ugly-feet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/districtchronicles.com\/ripping-off-cuticles-and-ugly-feet\/","title":{"rendered":"Ripping off cuticles and ugly feet"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A TRIP to the nail salon feels like a real treat.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But whether it\u2019s your very chewed and bitten fingernails, or the idea of someone getting up close and personal with your feet, there have probably been times you\u2019ve wondered what your nail technician was thinking.<\/p>\n

For celebrity manicurist Lucy Tucker, nails have always been a calling.<\/p>\n

She says: \u201cFrom a really, really young age in primary school I was painting my nails with Tippex, piercing my nail with a compass and putting a massive great big earring through before I even knew that was a thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was always begging my mum to paint her nails \u2013 obviously now it\u2019s the other way around!\u201d<\/p>\n

With 25 years\u2019 experience, she\u2019s seen it all \u2013 so who better to give some insight into the 10 things running through a manicurist\u2019s mind<\/p>\n

<\/span>Don’t turn up with a full set of nails if you haven’t booked a removal<\/span><\/h4>\n

Lucy says: \u201cWhen you see a new client, you obviously would say to them, \u2018Have you got anything on your nails right now?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if you forget to ask and you\u2019ve got a fully booked day and someone turns up with a full set of gels or acrylics on and you haven\u2019t allowed enough time to get that off, that can be really stressful!<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it can take 45 minutes to get the stuff off!\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>Ripping a cuticle is enough to turn a stomach<\/span><\/h4>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re careful not to but sometimes you can\u2019t help it if you\u2019re cleaning up the cuticles or whatever, so that\u2019s mortifying\u201d says Lucy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat person might not stop bleeding and you\u2019re like, \u2018Oh my God, please stop!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThat makes you feel sick and it really upsets me for the rest of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>Nail technicians don’t care what your feet look like<\/span><\/h4>\n

Lucy says: \u201cWhoever comes to have their feet done, sits down in my chair and says, \u2018Oh my God, I have the ugliest feet\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone thinks their own feet are ugly, but they\u2019re not!<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one has ugly feet, they just don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou make sure your feet are clean and washed with soap before you come and see a pedicurist and whether the gels are completely grown out \u2013 which sometimes they are \u2013 it really doesn\u2019t phase or offend me.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>Got a friend who does nails? Don’t ask for freebies<\/span><\/h4>\n

Lucy says: \u201cIt\u2019s really hard, I really don\u2019t like doing my friends!<\/p>\n

\u201cI always do their wedding nails \u2013 it\u2019s something I\u2019ve always done and that\u2019s my little gift to them, but I find it really difficult to do friends, it\u2019s just awkward.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/span>The first thing they’ll notice is your nails<\/span><\/h4>\n

\u201cThe first thing I look at is someone\u2019s nails or feet, like that\u2019s my thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven children’s! My friend\u2019s kids that come over, the first thing I look at is their nails!,\u201d laughs Lucy.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy girlfriend has just been with me for four days and she came with chipped nails but brought nail polish remover with her, knowing that I would comment, and bless her, took it off straight away!\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>Try not to copy the technician<\/span><\/h4>\n

She says: \u201cI generally spend about three hours on my own nails and I take my gloves off and they go, \u2018Oh my God, can we do that on my nails?\u2019 and I\u2019m like, \u2018S***, what did I take my gloves off for?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took me so long to do my nails because I am a perfectionist and have three hours to spend on my nails, but our appointment isn\u2019t three hours so I have to do a quick version and you\u2019re like, \u2018Oh no, should have kept my gloves on!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>They’re not healthcare professionals<\/span><\/h4>\n

Lucy explains: \u201cI lived in Spain and this lady came to me for a pedicure and the soles of her feet were nearly green, skin like I\u2019ve never seen before in my life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s been the only time in my life that I\u2019ve ever turned someone away and said you need to go and see a GP or a podiatrist, because I\u2019m a pedicurist and there\u2019s only so much I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Verrucas are another reason to postpone a trip to the nail salon.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t really want to have a pedicure if you had a verruca,\u201d Lucy says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as I see that I wouldn\u2019t carry on a treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manicures, however, are never not an option \u2013 and if you\u2019ve got bitten nails, the professional is probably just excited for you to see the transformation.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if they come to me with properly bitten, chewed nails, I can build up a set of nails on that,\u201d says Lucy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can always do something \u2013 if they\u2019ve broken half a nail or they\u2019ve got a crack in a nailbed that\u2019s bleeding, I can always fix it, it\u2019s always fixable.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>They’re used to tearful clients<\/span><\/h4>\n

Lucy says: \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t be able to be in this industry if you weren\u2019t a chatty, confident, interested person because clients come to you because they want to relax, they want to unburden and be able to talk to you.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything that gets said to me is confidential and I wouldn\u2019t obviously mention it to anyone and sometimes they tell me things that they would never tell their partners.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot get very emotional because it\u2019s a really relaxed, comfortable environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>Your manicurist might hate your style<\/span><\/h4>\n

Lucy says: \u201cI really don\u2019t go for a French on toes, it\u2019s not my thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like doing them, it\u2019s not my taste and I wouldn\u2019t really do that with a client.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like a French on nails but my clients, now they know that a French on toes is just not me, we laugh about it.<\/p>\n

She adds: \u201cI always think, would I wear that? I would never put something on my clients that I wouldn\u2019t wear myself.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo unless someone was really specific or a bride came to me and wanted it then of course I would do it, but it\u2019s not something I would ever recommend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want to know what the manicurist to the stars does recommend on toes?<\/p>\n

Bright red, dark red, corals or pale. You\u2019re welcome.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Regular clients are more like friends<\/span><\/h4>\n

\u201cThey do become your friends, because you have that quality time with them one-on-one every other week or every three weeks,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not sitting there just doing their nails and making them last and look amazing for two to three weeks, you have a friendship and a bond.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a really nice part of the job.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A celebrity manicurist reveals all<\/span>Credit: Getty – Contributor<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Meanwhile, \u2018trashy\u2019 mum blasted for baby\u2019s manicure as people warn inch-long nails are \u2018incredibly dangerous\u2019.<\/p>\n

Plus, woman reveals she can\u2019t get a boyfriend because she’s barely got any teeth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n