For nail techs who write, teach and review

If you teach nail technique, review instruments, or write about steel and manufacturing, this page is about what we can give you to work with — and what we will not ask for in return.

What we can supply

All of this is free, none of it is conditional on what you write:

• Straight answers to technical questions. Which steel, hardened to what, ground or stamped, who made it, in which town. If we do not know, we say we do not know rather than guessing — the difference matters when you are putting your name on the claim.
• Photographs at full resolution, including close-ups of the engraving and the joint, for use in your own material. Ask for the instrument you need and we will send the files.
• Provenance details we can document: founding year of the workshop, what it specialises in, where the steel comes from. Our own sources are listed on the page about reading Solingen markings.
• Correction of our own material. If you find an error on this site, tell us and we will fix it and say what changed. Two of the founding years in our earlier texts were wrong — they came from other shops repeating each other, and we corrected them once we checked the workshops’ own records.

What we will not do

Worth stating plainly, because in this niche the opposite is common:

• We will not pay for a favourable review. Not in money, not in product, not in discount codes tied to sentiment.
• We will not ask to approve your text before it goes out, or ask you to remove criticism afterwards.
• We will not ask you for a link. If you link to us, that is your editorial call. If you do it because a sample arrived, mark it as sponsored or use rel="nofollow" — that is what those attributes are for, and a link that misrepresents itself helps neither of us.
• We will not send a sample and then chase you about when the post is coming.

If you want an instrument in your hands

Photographs and specifications only go so far — how a pair of scissors closes is something you have to feel. Write to us and say what you work on and where you publish, and we will discuss sending the instrument in question. We do not promise it in advance: stock is finite and some items exist here in single figures.

What we ask if we do send one: write what you actually found, including if the answer is that it was not worth the money. A review that only ever praises is worthless to your readers, and readers who trust you are the only reason this is worth our while.

Questions we are useful for

These come up often enough that we have the answers ready:

• Why a forged blade tapers and a stamped one does not, and how you can see it without a loupe.
• What hardness range nail instruments actually sit in, and why higher is not simply better on a narrow point.
• What the word Solingen is legally allowed to mean, and what sellers do to get near it without earning it.
• Why a stainless instrument still spots if you leave it wet, and what passivation has to do with it.
• How a sharpening workshop resets an edge, and when an instrument is genuinely finished rather than blunt.

Write to us

Email [email protected] with press or review in the subject line, or use the contact form. Tell us where you publish and roughly what you are working on. A person reads it, and you will get an answer whether or not we can help with what you asked for.

Trade and wholesale enquiries go elsewhere: for salons and studios, wholesale.

Questions we get

Do you pay for reviews?

No. Not in money, not in product, not in discount codes tied to how positive the review is. If we send an instrument, what you write about it is entirely yours.

Will you ask me for a link?

No. If you link to us that is your editorial decision. If a sample prompted it, mark it sponsored or use rel="nofollow" — that is what those attributes exist for.

Can I get an instrument to test?

Write and tell us what you work on and where you publish, and we will discuss it. We do not promise in advance: some items exist here in single figures.

Will you want to see my text first?

No, and we will not ask you to soften criticism afterwards either.

I found a mistake on your site. What happens?

Tell us and we will fix it and say what changed. Two founding years in our earlier texts were wrong, repeated from other shops; we corrected them against the workshops' own records.