Consultation & Nail/Skin Assessment: the full procedure

Greet the client, select the service, screen for allergies and health concerns, inspect the nails and skin, and refer any suspected infection or abnormality to a physician before proceeding.

• Applies to: Nail technician.
• Frequency: Before every nail service.
• Scope: Covers the pre-service consultation and visual nail/skin assessment only. Any nail or skin condition that is infected, inflamed, broken, swollen, or otherwise abnormal must be referred to a physician — technicians do not diagnose, treat, or give medical advice.

What you need

• Consultation / intake form
• Client record card
• Good task lighting
• Hand sanitizer
• Pen

The procedure, step by step

1. Greet & seat — Welcome the client, confirm their name and appointment, and seat them comfortably at a clean, set-up station.
2. Discuss the service — Ask what they want done, review service and add-on options, and set realistic expectations on time, cost, and result.
3. Screen health & allergies — Ask about product or chemical allergies (e.g. acrylates, latex), recent nail/skin issues, medications, diabetes, or circulation problems and note them on the record card.
4. Inspect nails & skin — Examine each nail plate, free edge, cuticle, and surrounding skin under good light for discoloration, lifting, thickening, redness, swelling, pus, or breaks.
5. Refer abnormalities — If a nail or skin area is infected, inflamed, broken, or swollen, stop and refer the client to a physician rather than working over it.
6. Confirm scope — Verify the requested service is within a nail technician’s scope of practice and decline anything reserved for podiatry or medical providers.
7. Agree & document — Confirm the agreed service, record allergies/observations on the client card, and obtain any required consent before starting.

Quality check before you finish

• Allergy and health questions asked and recorded.
• All nails and surrounding skin visually inspected.
• No active infection, swelling, or open break present in the work area.
• Any abnormality referred to a physician, not treated.
• Requested service confirmed within scope of practice.
• Client record card updated and stored.
• Client understands time, cost, and expected result.

This is a free, source-anchored standard operating procedure (SOP) you can print and hand to staff. It documents the work sequence for a Nail Salon business — not safety or regulatory rulings, which defer to the cited authorities, the applicable code, and your own health-and-safety plan. Open the tool above to print it, toggle ink-saver, or (with a free ToolFluency Business account) edit it to match your own workflow.

Sources

• Milady — Standard Nail Technology (milady.com)
• NIC — Nail Technology Theory (CIB) (nictesting.org)