Setting rebooking gaps for fills and infills

This is general guidance, not legal advice. Follow your product manufacturer's instructions and check with your insurer and professional body for your own situation.

What a gap is

The gap is the point after a visit when a regular is due again. For nails it is usually the time until a fill, infill or rebalance is needed. Choose it per kind of treatment, because a manicure and a pedicure do not wear at the same speed.

How to choose one

We could not find a trustworthy, citable figure for the right gap by treatment, so we will not invent one. Use a method instead:

1. Look at your own diary. For each kind of treatment, note how many weeks your regulars actually return, and when they say their set starts to lift or grow out.
2. Read the manufacturer's or training provider's guidance for your system. If it gives a maximum wear time, never set your gap beyond it.
3. Set the gap a little before the point where the work stops looking or feeling right, so the nudge arrives while there is still a choice of days.
4. A practical suggestion: keep nails and pedicures separate, because clients often fit them into their lives differently.
5. Review the gaps after a couple of months against what clients really did, and adjust.

Different clients, different gaps

A gap is a default, not a promise. A client with fast-growing nails, a physical job or a holiday coming up will not fit it. Be ready to say, "Most of my regulars come every few weeks, but come sooner if it starts to lift." That keeps the gap a guide and not a rule.

What a rebooking nudge should say

Keep it short, warm and in your name. A good nudge:

• uses her first name and says which treatment it refers to;
• says it is about time for her next one, without implying she has left it too late;
• gives one clear way to book, ideally a single link;
• tells her how to stop getting these messages.

For example: "Hi [name], it is about time for your next [treatment]. You can pick a day that suits you here: [link]. If you would rather not get reminders like this, just reply and I will stop."

What to avoid

• Guilt. "You are overdue" tells her she has failed. Say what is available, not what she has missed.
• Pressure about wear and damage. Advice on safety belongs in your aftercare, not in a sales nudge.
• Sending to people who have asked you to stop. Keep a list and honour it.
• Treating the nudge as a service message. Official UK data protection guidance on electronic mail marketing says that emailing an existing customer without specific consent depends on conditions: they bought a similar product or service from you, they were given a simple way to opt out when you collected their details, and they can opt out in every message. That page is marked as under review, so check the current wording or ask a professional if you are unsure.

How we help

Clients book on your own booking page, in your name. Each kind of treatment, such as nails and pedicures, has its own rebooking gap, and you change it in your back office settings. If a regular hasn't booked again by the gap you set for nails or for pedicures, she is emailed a link to book the same treatment. See our page for nail technicians.

Do this next

1. List your treatments and note, from your diary, how many weeks regulars actually return for each.
2. Check each product manufacturer's wear guidance and your insurer's conditions.
3. Write your nudge in three sentences, with a clear opt-out line.
4. Review the gaps after two months and adjust.

Sources

• Official UK data protection guidance: electronic mail marketing
• Product manufacturer and insurer guidance (check your own)

Last checked 22 October 2026. General guidance, not legal or tax advice.

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