You can achieve neat and beautiful nails only if you regularly do manicure. To this end, some women turn to professionals working at home or in salons, while others prefer to do this on their own.
In any case, it is important to have a set of high-quality equipment, which necessarily includes tweezers for processing the cuticle and the nail plate itself.
What it is?
Nail clippers are a special device for manicure. They are used mainly to remove the hardened skin around the nail plate, to put in order the cuticle and pterygium.
In the case of small children, the forceps are used as an alternative to conventional nail scissors, since it is much more convenient to work with them. They are involved in situations where it is necessary to adjust the free edge of the nail plate.
Kinds
There is a large number of different nail clippers, which allows you to choose the best option for any condition of the nail plate, as well as the cuticle.
In addition to models of small size and power, suitable for processing nails on the hands, there are more resistant nail clippers for pedicures.
For cuticle
Professional cuticle forceps are quite miniature and have shorter cutting surfaces than other varieties.
For manicure
Nail clippers are an alternative to nail scissors, so they are suitable, if necessary, for shortening nails, and for cutting burrs. They are more powerful than cuticle-only tweezers.
For haircuts
Nippers for cutting nails on the legs, that is, for pedicure, have the most resistant design.
The length of the blades in this case varies from one and a half to two centimeters, and the device is able to cope even with ingrown nails.
Baby
Baby tweezers are used to trim nails in babies. In principle, they look the same as adult nippers, but differ from them only in size.
How to choose?
For the home, it is better to choose separate tweezers for manicure and pedicure, the latter should be more powerful and have long blades. Going on a trip, it is more convenient to stock up on a miniature device with safe blades.
Any forceps should have smooth arms without play in the joint between them, that is, without a gap. Otherwise, their use can be quite dangerous. Stainless steel is called the ideal material for the manufacture of this manicure device.
A good solution will also be to purchase a device made of medical steel.
With a quality-made device, the blades are already sharpened enough, they can be used immediately after purchase. Usually it turns out to use wire cutters almost up to six months, and then you have to contact a professional to sharpen them again.
When buying, the quality of the tongs can be checked by trying to cut the tightly stretched bag exactly in the middle. Ideally, the cut will be neat, not injuring the rest of the package. In addition, it is worthwhile to close the blades and check if a gap has formed between them. Halves also should not go on one another and, of course, do not creak.
It is important that the tongs are convenient to use. If they open too tight, or, conversely, hang out, then this is considered incorrect. By the way, the optimal length of the blades for adjusting the cuticle is from six to eleven millimeters, and from which the nails are cut from eight to sixteen millimeters.
It is better for beginners to start with a blade length of five millimeters. For owners of wide plates, a tool with six-millimeter blades or more is suitable, and narrow and small ones are slightly smaller.
In addition, it is important that the forceps themselves look intact, without any scratches, protruding parts or other obscure elements.
Popular manufacturers
Manicure tweezers made by different manufacturers are distinguished by the quality of the material chosen and some manufacturing specifics.
Zinger
This brand produces a wide variety of tweezers. For sale are devices that are sharpened by hand, with a lock, coated with a special coating of silver or gold. All products are high quality and able to last for a long time even without sharpening blades.
Zinger forceps handle both conventional cuticles and burrs.
Staleks
Staleks manufactures professional nippers used in salons from surgical steel requiring manual sharpening. They differ among themselves in various parameters, for example, the length of the cutting part or the size of the device itself. The length of the blades of the most popular model of this manufacturer is approximately sixteen millimeters, and the tweezers themselves - as many as 134 millimeters, thanks to the neat long handles. The model gently and without wounds removes both excess cuticle and burrs. Staleks also have models with longer blades, whose length is seventeen millimeters.
Such nippers are very powerful and able to cope with a nail plate of any thickness. In addition, tweezers with shortened eight-millimeter blades are also available.It is important to mention that Staleks also created nippers for correcting ingrown nails. The blades of such a device are narrow and long, comprising approximately sixteen millimeters in length. The tweezers are made of durable steel, which, if necessary, can be sharpened again.
Avon
Avon produces several varieties of nail clippers in different sizes. The devices made of chrome steel, protected from corrosion and silicone.
Nippers are used both for decorating the cuticle, and for adjusting the nail itself.
Yoko
Tweezers of this brand are made of cobalt steel. They look very beautiful and stylish. In addition, there are several options for the compression mechanism and the ability to choose the length of the blades from four to fifteen millimeters. Yoko products are sharpened by hand.
How to use?
Before starting the procedure, it is necessary to disinfect the equipment, and the fingers themselves should be lightly steamed. The tweezers are pulled apart and brought to the cuticle (moreover, one blade should be under it), after which they are compressed. The parts of the coarsened skin on the sides of the nail plate are treated in the same way. It is correct to keep the nippers calmly and gently so that they do not tear off the skin, but carefully cut it. The thumb should be placed on the connecting mechanism, and the rest should clamp the spring. In this case, the blades are always recommended to point down.
When working, do not zeal and press the device too far to the cuticle being processed. Movement should follow an arc. If the procedure is performed correctly, then the cuticle will still remain a thin strip.
The treatment ends with the lubrication of the hands with a moisturizer.
Care and storage
It is better to store each tool in a separate case or case, which will be tightly closed and, thus, fix it in a stationary position. In addition, it is recommended that something additionally cover the blades themselves, so as not to accidentally cut your fingers. For example, it can be the remains of the sheaths of old wires, from which tubes of a suitable size are constructed.
In the event that the blades become dull, you should not try to restore them yourself - it is better to give it to a repair shop. During the use of nippers, you must not forget about disinfection. Before starting a manicure, they should be treated with an ultraviolet sterilizer, and after the procedure with ordinary alcohol.
How to grind and repair?
At home, sharpening tweezers is strongly discouraged - instead, you should always consult a professional. The process itself usually consists of several stages. First, it turns out whether there is a play, that is, an unnecessary gap between the surfaces, it is eliminated. The springs are adjusted if necessary to ensure a calm, soft movement, and the existing rust is cleaned. Finally, each plane is sharpened from the inside to become sharp and thin.
However, there is still an instruction for sharpening wire cutters at home. For its implementation will need a bar used for sharpening knives. The tweezers open as wide as possible and very smoothly sharpen on a bar. If the farm has a grinding machine, then the device is fixed on it, and the direct processing of the blades occurs using a circle with a diamond coating. In addition, you can try to bring the tongs in order with the usual sandpaper.
At the end of any procedure, the steel is wiped with a lint-free cloth.
In the event that the nippers begin to move tightly, you can also correct the situation yourself. In this case, special grinding paste, machine oil or kerosene are used. A small piece of green substance is ground into dust, and then mixed with a few drops of the liquid component so that gruel is obtained.
The composition is applied to the connection point of the fully opened tweezers, after which their handles are rotated and reduced.Then (if necessary) the slurry is also rubbed into the points where rivets are placed on both sides. Finishing the procedure, the hinge is thoroughly washed with kerosene, and then lubricated with a couple of droplets of oil.
Reviews
Zinger tweezers, which do not lose their original condition even seven years after the start of use, are very popular with buyers. Users note that the device not only copes with the accurate removal of the cuticle, but also is very convenient and completely dull. Yoko nippers, which are often chosen for use in nail salons, are also considered convenient. They do not lose their quality even with frequent use.
Thus, you got acquainted with the most popular models of manicure tweezers, and also learned how to sharpen them at home.
See the next video for tips on choosing and using tweezers.