Erica's ATA

One bit isn’t always best⬇️

👉 thick cuticle and a large surface area to cover, a flat top bit is the winner.

👉 tight corner like the sulcus and sinus areas, a smaller round top is your best bet.

It’s not about using one tool to do every job.

It’s about choosing the right bit for each part of the cuticle for the best results and client comfort.

Using the Small Tapered Barrel and the Unicorn in medium grit.

Teaching a new nail tech instead of watching them struggle.

Treating other nail techs like colleagues, not competition.

Believing a stronger industry makes everyone’s business stronger — not weaker.

Choosing “let me show you” over “figure it out like I had to.”

Chic is knowing we all rise when the whole industry levels up. 💅

Nail techs — what would you add?

You’ll never see me sprint so fast🫣

“Wouldn’t it be easier to soak the nails and then use nippers?” 🤔

Here’s why I still dry manicure these types of cuticles:

👉 Wet cuticle looks almost exactly like live tissue. Taking nippers to that? No thank you!

👉 We don’t just exfoliate the nail plate, we focus on the skin as a whole. That only works with a dry approach.

A dry manicure allows me to have complete visibility of the skins true condition at all time, making it easier and safer in the long run.

Using the Big E medium diamond bit 7-12,000 RPM.

You can watch a hundred nail tutorials online. Nothing replaces in-person training.

That’s the difference with Erica’s in-person manicure and pedicure classes — live, hands-on training where you get real-time feedback while you work.

Coming to Philadelphia and San Diego. Here’s what to expect:

✨ Practice dry manicure and pedicure technique, with Erica watching your hand position and correcting in real time

✨ Get direct feedback you can’t get from a video— on pressure, angle, and bit selection

✨ Walk through cuticle types and skin conditions you’ll actually see in the chair, not just the easy ones

✨ Leave with the confidence to bring what you learned straight into your next service

Some things are just better learned in the room.

Learn more in the bio link 🩵

My dominant hand makes this look easy.

Muscle memory, stability, a grip I’ve done a thousand times. My tools go exactly where I want them to.

My non-dominant hand doesn’t have any of that built in. No autopilot, no shortcuts — just the raw technique.

That’s exactly why I’m filming it. Stay tuned to see what changes when I efile with my left hand. 🫣

You have a sensitive skin type that gets 2-3 dry manicures a year, what do you do? 👀

A. Spend 2 hours on cuticle work.

B. Run and hide.

C. Create new and realistic expectations for your client.

I choose C!

These nails didn’t create all that cuticle overnight, I can’t take it all off in 30 minutes. Less is more! With more frequent appointments, we train the cuticle to grow less while preventing any trauma to the skin.

Using the Unicorn in medium grit

The old nail is detached. The new one’s already coming in underneath it.

Do you touch it, or send her out? 🤔

When a nail’s been through trauma — dropped something on it, jammed it, whatever the story — it can separate from the nail bed entirely.

It’s not automatically a problem. It’s just what a nail does on its way to falling off and being replaced.

The part that matters more: if a new nail is already visibly growing in underneath the old one, that’s actually reassuring. It means the matrix, the part that manufactures the nail, is healthy and doing its job. You’re not looking at nail loss. You’re looking at nail turnover.

So is this a tech’s job or a referral? We walked through Dr. Anne Sharkey | Podiatrist & Media Expert usual checklist for exactly this kind of call: no open wound, no signs of infection — no redness, swelling, drainage, or warmth — and the skin underneath intact. If all of that checks out, this is safe in a nail tech’s hands.

Follow Erica's 💅 Nail Tools & Tips and Dr. Anne Sharkey | Podiatrist & Media Expert for more foot care content 🦶