#Care

The thin band of dead tissue that the nail carries out from under the skin fold. It is the part that can be removed — unlike the living fold behind it.

The part of the nail that has grown past the fingertip and is no longer attached to the bed — the only part that is actually being cut or filed.

A file whose abrasive is etched into tempered glass rather than glued on. It sheds no grit, washes clean, and keeps its cut for years.

A strip of skin, not nail, that has torn away beside the nail. Cut it flush — pulling it takes living tissue with it.

A nail edge pressing into the skin fold beside it. Most often started by cutting the corner down — and made worse by cutting it again.

The finishing treatment that builds the chromium oxide layer on stainless steel. It is what makes an instrument stainless — and it can be damaged.