Gel French Open Criteria

Nail structure

Convex The exterior bevel should be completely symmetric with no high or low points on the outer surface. The nails must be evenly balance and the free edge extend straight forward from the nail plate.

Concave The interior bevel or tunnel must be completely symmetric with no shallow or unevenness throughout the entire free edge. The nail should have the same depth of thickness on the sides of the free edge as it does on the top of it.

C-Curve The C-curves should have at the very minimum 40% of a circle. They must measure even on each side. They must be symmetric. They should not have any dents or imperfections. And the matching nails C-curve from each hand should look consistent in shape.

Arch or Apex The high point of the apex or arch must be consistently placed on each nail. It should not be applied in a manner that appears overly apparent. It should have a subtle and gradual incline located in the second zone of the nail that is not overly pronounced. The arch should not be too far forward or back.

Form Fit The form should fit so that the application of product covers the groove walls completely to allow the Free edge to extend straight out. The Free edge should not flare out or taper in. The nail must not appear to be dropped. The Free edge should also be free of any notches near the form application. There should not be any residual product on the backside which was a result of a gap in between the natural free edge and the form.

Shaping and refining

Free edge thickness The nails must be consistently thin throughout the entire nails free edge and be uniformly thin on each nail. The Free edge should be no thicker than a credit card.

Sidewalls or groove-walls The Free edge must extend straight out from the lateral folds. The nail should not flare out or taper in. The nail must be uniform on each side. There can not be any notches or ridges on sidewalls. They should feel smooth.

Lateral side extensionLength Looking at the nail from the nails profile, the free edge must extend straight out from the natural nails lateral fold. The nail should not drop down or taper up. The nail must be uniform on each side. I should not be able to see the either lateral side from the other side’s perspective.

Length Points are given for two different criteria. The first is how each nail is measured individually. The nail is measured from the Cuticle to center of the smile-line to match the length of the top of the Free edge to the tips of the smile-line. The second way is that the nails must also match hand to hand from cuticle to free edge.

Nail shape The shape of the nails must look consistent and uniform. The top of the Free-edge must not be uneven. The Free edge must look straight out from the nail plate. It should not look as if the finger was crooked and that the nail is off in a tilted direction. All four fingernails should look like they are all going in the same direction.

Surface smoothness The nail should not have any file lines of demarcations on the surface. The finished product should look and feel smooth with no bumps or dips on the surface. There should not be any apparent ruff or dull spots.

High shine finish The unpolished hand should have a high gloss shine that has a glass finish appearance though out the entire surface of the nail.

Application

Product control The application of the product should look even with a sharp division of color at the smile-line. There should not be a pink hue or shadow pulled over the white. The White should have a solid appearance though out the entire nail. If cover pink is used for the nail plate extension, it should not be apparent at the smile-line or be seen from the top view of the nail. There should not be any shadows in the white or cover powder pink if used. If you are using cover pink to extend the nail plate, the natural nail must not shadow in the extended nail. There must not be any air bubbles and or pitting in the product.

Smile-line The smile-line must be consistently shaped on all exposed nails. They should be evenly applied so that the tips of the smile-line match up together. The line should be centered and evenly aligned on the nail plate so that it does not appear to be lopsided. The smile should appear crisp and clean with no shadows.

Cuticles The cuticle and surrounding skin must not have any new and apparent cuts or irritation around the nail. There should not be any apparent ledge of product that can be felt or seen. The application of product must be apparent and cover the entire cuticle area without leaving a large margin between the cuticle line .If the product is overly filed and no longer apparent, it will not receive its point.

Underside There should be no visible dust, debris, water, glue, oil or polish on the back of the nail.  The product application must appear smooth behind the nail with no excess product.

Polish application The polish should be applied close, consistent and evenly at the cuticle. The application should not appear to be streaking in polish. The sides and tip of the nails edges must be covered. There must not be any polish on skin or back side of nails.