Stencil smile lines

[AmberStevens1]

Hi everyone,
I am a nail tech, i work from home and do mostly gel nails. I can do most nail art my clients ask for, i can paint the whole nail well but there's still just one thing I can't get to grips with and that's the SMILE LINE! And because I know I can't do it very well, my nerves get the better of me and I start to shake! I'm a perfectionist and the French tips just don't come out as well as I want!

I have bought some French tip stencils online and they seem to work nicely on my practice hand. So I am going to try them on my clients! I know it doesn't look very 'professional' and is a cheats way of doing it but if I put myself in my clients shoes, I think I would rather my nail tech use a stencil and them look perfect rather them try to do it free hand and come out rubbish!
I hope you agree with me, does anyone else use a stencil for their French polish?

 

[Cindy2021]

Hi everyone,
I am a nail tech, i work from home and do mostly gel nails. I can do most nail art my clients ask for, i can paint the whole nail well but there's still just one thing I can't get to grips with and that's the SMILE LINE! And because I know I can't do it very well, my nerves get the better of me and I start to shake! I'm a perfectionist and the French tips just don't come out as well as I want!

I have bought some French tip stencils online and they seem to work nicely on my practice hand. So I am going to try them on my clients! I know it doesn't look very 'professional' and is a cheats way of doing it but if I put myself in my clients shoes, I think I would rather my nail tech use a stencil and them look perfect rather them try to do it free hand and come out rubbish!
I hope you agree with me, does anyone else use a stencil for their French polish?

Have you tried using a clean brush to tidy your smile line? I apply the gel polish then dip a brush in my cleanser, dab off excess and sweep it round the smile to shape it.

 

[AmberStevens1]

Have you tried using a clean brush to tidy your smile line? I apply the gel polish then dip a brush in my cleanser, dab off excess and sweep it round the smile to shape it.

Yes I have. For some reason it always looks more like a 'V' shape rather than a clean smile line

 

[Trinity]

Practise, practise and more practise is the key and as Ciderella says, a small brush and some IPA or acetone if you're using Nail polish, or better still some CND NailFresh works brilliantly.

Personally I don't like to see professionals use stencils to provide a smile line, French Polishes are our bread and butter and we should be able to do them with confidence and without relying on 'crutches' that DIY'er use and need.

 

[leanne7685]

I struggled with smile lines I got an army of the hooked fingers applied just the natural false nails attached with blue tac so i can just pop off when done and did smile line after smile line repeatedly then popped nail off attached new and did them I think I went through 400 nails but it worked now and then I need to tidy up but I was so bad to start with I did them whilst watching tv when I got 5 mins spare out came the fingers I never applied the full French just the smile line over and over x

 

[leemarie1982]

Are you trying to clean up your smile line with an angled brush? If not try it.