A Beautiful Display of Fingernails and Nail Art Design

A manicure is a cosmetic beauty treatment for the fingernails and hands performed either at home or in a nail salon by a licensed professional nail technician or manicurist. A manicure treatment is not only a treatment for the natural nails but also for the hands. A manicure consists of filing, shaping of the free edge, cuticle treatments, massage of the hand and the application of polish. There are also manicure services that are specialties for the hands and feet. For the hands, the soaking of a softening substance and the application of a lotion is a common speciality. This procedure can be applied to the toenails and feet, this treatment is referred to as a Pedicure. The word "manicure" derives from Latin: manus for "hand," cura for "care."

Other nail treatments may include the application of artificial nail tips, acrylics or artificial nail gels. Some manicures can include the painting of pictures or designs on the nails or applying small decals or imitation jewels.

In many areas, manicurists are licensed and follow regulation. Since skin is manipulated and is sometimes trimmed, there is a certain risk of spreading infection when tools are used across many people and, therefore, sanitation is a serious issue.

A nail clipper (also called a nail trimmer or nailcutter) is a mechanical device used to trim fingernails and toenails.

A cuticle (), or cuticula, is any of a variety of tough but flexible, non-mineral outer coverings of an organism, or parts of an organism, that provide protection. Cuticles are non-homologous, differing in their origin, structure and chemical composition.

Onychomycosis (also known as "Dermatophytic onychomycosis," "Ringworm of the nail," and "Tinea unguium") means fungal infection of the nail. It is the most common disease of the nails and constitutes about a half of all nail abnormalities.

This condition may affect toenails or fingernails, but toenail infections are particularly common. The prevalence of onychomycosis is about 6-8% in the adult population. Onychomycosis caused by dermatophytes is also known as tinea unguium (tinea of the nails).

Acetone is the organic compound with the formula OC(CH3)2. This colorless, mobile, flammable liquid is the simplest example of the ketones. Owing to the fact that acetone is miscible with water it serves as an important solvent in its own right, typically as the solvent of choice for cleaning purposes in the laboratory. More than 3 million tonnes are produced annually, mainly as a precursor to polymers.Stylianos Sifniades, Alan B. Levy, ?Acetone? in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2005. Familiar household uses of acetone are as the active ingredient in nail polish remover and as paint thinner and sanitary cleaner/nail polish remover base. It is a common building block in organic chemistry. In addition to being manufactured, acetone also occurs naturally, even being biosynthesized in small amounts in the human body.

Artificial nails, also known as fake nails, fashion nails, nail enhancements, or nail extensions, are coverings placed over fingernails as fashion accessories. Some artificial nails attempt to mimic the look of real fingernails as closely as possible, while other designs may deliberately stray in look from real fingernails. Artificial nails are made from a wide variety of materials.