Nail tech reveals 18 little-known secrets about salons - from sneaky tactics they use to keep customers coming back to a common practice that's illegal in some states

A certified nail tech has revealed 18 little-known secrets about salons - from sneaky tactics they use to keep customers coming back to a common practice that's actually illegal.  

Content creator Abby, who did not disclose her last name, shared a three-part TikTok series in which she shared 'some things' she learned 'that nail salons don't want you to know.' 

The nail tech also stressed that regulations varied state by state. 

Abby, who is based in Ohio, admitted that one secret includes nail salons purposefully over-filing 'your callus to keep you coming back to the salon.'  

Further, she confessed that nail techs were not licensed or certified to do eyebrow waxes - and that it's against the law in her state to cut cuticles.

A certified nail tech named Abby has revealed 18 little-known secrets about salons - from sneaky tactics they use to keep customers coming back to a common practice that's illegal

Abby, who did not provide her last name, shared a three-part TikTok series in which she shares 'some things' she learned 'that nail salons don't want you to know' 

Abby started off her video with the first secret, sharing: 'If you are prone to having callused feet, nail salons will actually over-file your callus to keep you coming back to the salon. 

'So if you ever feel like they're doing a little too much work, and your calluses are not getting better - it's a tactic some of the chop shops use to get you to come back.'

Next, she revealed: 'SNS, or dip, or whatever you want to call it, and acrylic, are chemically almost identical - they are just applied differently.

'So when nail techs tell you that SNS is better for your nail or whatever, it most likely means that they are either wanting to do it because it's easier, or they are more confident in their ability to apply, and remove it without damaging your natural nails, but chemically, they're the same product.'

The third secret that Abby shared was: 'No nail tech is licensed or trained or certified to remove your ingrown toenail - go to the doctor.'

In addition, she dished: 'It is illegal for nail techs to cut your cuticles, or really any living skin for that matter.

'But if you're wanting them to completely erase your cuticles, or [if] you start bleeding, they've cut too much, and that is actually out of our scope of practice, and could lead to an infection.'

Her fifth secret was that it's 'against sanitation protocols to have each client dip their finger in the big jar of dip.'

Her three videos combined got more than 1.3 million views, and raked in thousands of likes and comments 

'You are supposed to have your own poured out into a smaller dish for each client so that it's clean,' she added. 

'Another one that is a huge misconception among clients is that if your nail tools don't come out in a little baggie, you think that they were not sterilized, which is not true,' Abby also shared.

'You can still sterilize tools just in barbicide, which is the liquid that they are soaked in.

'They don't have to be put into a plastic baggie and a sterilizer.'

The seventh secret was: 'Last one for this video is back to the foot filing. The cheese grater-looking [filers] are also illegal in many states, and can lead to an infection because of how deeply they cut into your skin.'

In a follow-up video, Abby shared eight more 'coveted' nail salon secrets.

'All licenses must be displayed. This is how it is in my state at least, if you are a licensed nail tech, your license must be displayed where people can see it, and if you ask your nail tech for their license, they should have one that they can show you,' she said.

'Nail techs are not licensed or certified to do eyebrow waxes. 

'So many chop shops in my area have nail techs that will also wax your eyebrows. They are not licensed to do that at all.'

For her 10th unknown nail salon fact, Abby revealed: 'If you go and get a pedicure, and they use a liner in the pedicure tub, they still need to sanitize the tub after they remove the liner. 

'So just because a nail salon uses a pedicure liner, does not mean that the tubs don't need to be sanitized in between clients, because they do.'

Another rule that she shared that some people may not know was that 'if you go to a salon and they have paraffin wax that you can dip your hands or feet into, you must not dip your hands straight into the bucket.'

'They are supposed to pour out an individual amount into a clear baggie [and then] you dip your hands into the baggie, or dip your feet into the baggie, but it is not a community paraffin wax pot,' Abby explained.

'You are supposed to have individual servings poured into each individual bag for each client.' 

Abby also explained that each and every nail tech 'performing services in a salon must be licensed.'

'I saw a lot of comments on my last video saying that you've gone to a nail salon, where there is one license, and everybody has the same name and operates under that license,' she said.

'That is illegal and every single nail tech must have their own license from the state board of cosmetology - no matter what their name is. 

One of Abby's secrets was that each and every nail tech 'performing services in a salon must be licensed' and that 'all licenses must be displayed'

'If you go to a salon that has 30 nail techs, and you only see one license - red flag. Whoever is working on you is probably not licensed to be doing your nails.' 

Abby shared her last set of nail salon secrets in one final video.

First, she explained that nail files were not 'reusable,' and that it was 'not allowed' for nail techs to a drill on your 'natural nail.'

'If they are using an e-file or a drill on your natural nail, they must use a soft grit file,' she said.

'So if you get acrylics done, and they file the top of your acrylic, and then they use that same grit-file to file your natural nail - that is not allowed.'

If you've ever noticed 'indentations' on your nail after taking acrylic or gel off, Abby said it was likely because your nail tech used 'too much pressure.' 

'If you have indentations where the enhancement was on your nail - that is called "rings of fire," and it means that your nail tech used too much pressure, too high of a grit of a nail file, or they just totally went to town on your natural nails, and it is actually damaged,' she shared.

'You should never [have] indentations where your enhancement was.'

Abby also dished on some reasons you might get turned away from a nail salon - like if you have an 'open wound' that's not 'scabbed over.'

'If you have an open wound, meaning its not scabbed over, or a wart on your fingers or toes, some salons will deny you service, because whatever you have could be transmitted to somebody else, even with proper sanitation and sterilization,' she explained.

'So if you ever go to a salon, and you have an open wound from shaving on your legs, or feet, and your nail tech says, "I'm sorry, I can't service you," that is probably why, and you should be thankful because you are not spreading something to other people.'

For secret number 17 she explained: 'What a lot of people don't know is that if you are pregnant, you should avoid getting pedicures, unless you go to somebody who knows exactly what they're doing, because pedicures can actually stimulate contractions due to the pressure points that they use when they give you a foot massage.'

Abby's final secret was: 'This one goes back to the health-related aspect, but if you have diabetes, you should obviously let your nail tech know that because there are things that we have to do differently, especially [for] pedicures on people who have diabetes. 

'I do want to stress that every state does have different laws for nail techs so, some of the stuff might not apply to the state that you're in. 

'So if you're always curious about something, you can always call your state board of cosmetology, or ask your nail tech directly.'

In Abby's third video, the former nail tech said that if you are pregnant, let you nail tech know because pedicures can stimulate contradictions due to massaging certain pressure point

Abby concluded: 'I do want to stress that every state does have different laws for nail techs so, some of the stuff might not apply to the state that you're in' (stock image)

Her three videos combined got more than 1.3 million views and raked in hundreds of thousands of likes.

Many salon visitors took to the comment section, where they admitted that had  experienced some of the nail salon red flags that Abby had mentioned in her videos.

One person wrote: 'I’ve never had them pour out a single portion of dip for me. It’s always the big container.'

A second user commented: 'I knew dipping my nails in that container was unsanitary because they don’t even have me wash my hands to ensure cleanliness beforehand.'

'Yeah I’ve gotten grossed out because every salon I go to [has] you dip your nails straight in the big container,' a third added.

'The last dip manicure I got, she cut my cuticles ragged and every single finger was bleeding. She then dipped my bleeding cuticles into the powder,' someone else revealed. 

'I was so shocked and they hurt for days.'

Abby replied: 'Bleeding cuticles is torture.'

'For the dip they pour it in another little cup, but then they pour the rest back in the big jar, so how is it sanitary,' another comment read, to which Abby responded: 'That's really gross. It's supposed to be disposed of once each client is done with their own jar.' 

A different person commented: 'Wait, so it's illegal for them to cut the cuticles, and trim off the excess skin around the nail?'

Abby told the commenter: 'In my state, yes. To elaborate, cuticles are dead skin that flake off the nail plate. The living skin surrounding is what can't be cut. If it bleeds, it's alive.'

Someone else wrote, 'I wonder why the nail industry isn't more regulated like how restaurants are,' and Abby responded, 'There are "secret shoppers" that go into salons, but I'm not sure how often that happens.'

Some nail techs agreed with Abby's helpful insight. 

One person wrote: 'As a nail tech, yes, yes, yes to all of this! Hate dip to my core and refuse to do it. The misconception with clients is real.'

A second commented: 'I'm a nail tech, and have worked in a chop shop. All of this is 100 per cent facts.'

Other nail salon enthusiasts mentioned that the laws vary state-by-state when it comes to nail salon regulations and rules.   

'Yes, but regulations are different in each state,' one pointed out. 

A different person revealed: 'In Michigan we were trained to cut the cuticle.' 

A third added: 'Texas no longer requires any license/certification for any cosmetology/esthetician services, but most (reputable) salons will not hire you without one.'  

'In Utah, the license has to be displayed as well. Ours were all on a wall in the back (nail/hair/spa/salon),' someone else said.