Advice for a Beginner!

[NatalieJ]

Hi Everyone,

Ive recently booked on a manicure and pedicure course at The Nail Academy as I thought this would be a good start for me to master manicures on friends and family! Im not sure about doing the extensions courses there though. I have been wondering whether doing an NVQ at college or doing a Foundation Course with Creative would be better? If anybody could advise me I would be really grateful as the NVQ vs short courses is confusing me a bit!!

Thanks x

 

[Glorsclaws]

Hi Natalie and welcome to Geeksville
Nice to see another 'local'
If you type Birmingham Nail Academy into the search box in the upper right hand corner you will find a whole host of threads about a place called the 'Academy'in Birmingham.
Im not sure if its the same place but better to check it out anyway.
Education seems to vary in quality from college to college so can be hit & miss if you cant go on word of mouth reputation.
Creative Im biased towards because they are the company I chose to educate myself with after wasting my money elsewhere.
Do a thorough read about companies on here before you book with anyone else though as we all have our own opinions.
Also, give Scratch a call 0208 647 3133 and ask for a trial issue of their nails mag, if you dont already know about it.
Hth.

 

[scattyfox]

OOOOHH lol (laugh out loud)

Good advice Glo, can't really add to that as Glo has given you the best advice there is. l tend to favour the product company that we ahve trained in and think it is the best but you ahve to lok at their education systems. So have a look around and get prospectuses from al the companies you like the feel for, search for training on here and there is lots of inforamtion for you to trawl thrugh.
When you ahve the pospectus phone the rlevan companie and see how they are on the phoneare they helpful, do they make you feel stupid etc
I have to say I received good training from the girls i first learnt with and still access their manual for many things as it is clear and consise.
I chose to change companies and ahve not loked back, nails and education does not come cheap. But i pay for what I get.
HTH

 

[Tracey Park]

i also agree with the above

i did my training at a local college and did not get half the support that i got when i went to creative.

we are all as individuals biased to the companys that we have trained with. once you get a good product and a good educator you tend to stick with.

there are many companys out there with training facililites attached. creatice are the world leaders in education and have won awards to back that up. the industry has awarded creative no 1 as they are.

but it is your choice who you deicde to go with and yours alone !!!

 

[NatalieJ]

Thanks everyone, Im going to call creative and get their prices, theres one on Bham so its close! I read a few posts about the academy in Bham and it dosn't look good! does anyone know if creative cover mani/pedi on there foundation course? Im wondering whether to carry on with the one ive got booked.

 

[Bryony]

Hi,

I also was a bit worried seeing Academy and Birmingham in the same sentence, I'm sure I've read posts in the past where people have been (not sure if it's the same one you've booked into) but they didn't have particularly glowing reports about it......

Anyway, the Creative foundation will cover the manicure you need to carry out prior to applying enhancements, but this is different to the service you'd offer if you were to market manicure as a service alone. Creative do a Spa manicure & a Spa pedicure course (1/3 day each I believe), where you would learn how to offer these as services in their own right. If you call Creative HO in Leeds and ask for an education brochure it will list all the courses they offer and what each one covers.

 

[nails 4 u]

I learnt enhancements in college & i would`nt reccommend it to anyonre atall coz the support was just not there atall if it wasn`t for this site i`d be lost i am now thinking of doing a course with creative they were sooo helpfull on the phone more money?? wish i`d known what i know now never mind it`ll be worth doing a proper course to get some confidence in what im doing hope this helps

 

[NatalieJ]

I called Creative to ask for some information so should be in the post, I was expecting it today but maybe tomorrow

Im going to carry on with the Manicure and Pedicure course at the Nail Academy in Bham but am hoping to book up on a creative foundation course in the near future and am very excited, the lady who answered was really helpful.

ill keep you posted!

 

[nikki's nails]

Hi

I did a nail course in Birmingham! it was a weekend course & if it is the place where i did my course, i cant remember if it was called The Nail Academy. or The Academy, but i would not recommend it myself!! i couldn't tell you what brand the products was that we used! they just had labels on stating what was in the bottle or jar. There was 6 of us in the class & all our training was done on a nail trainer, we came away after the course with a instruction book. we covered gels for about 3 hrs then fibreglass for a further 3 hrs, next day we spend about 4 hrs doing acrylic, & walked away with a certificate. i carried on the training i had learnt on my nail trainer at home & also on friends & family, but i still couldn't get to grips with it. i feel i wasted my money!!!! & a couple of years on now after having children i really want to get back into it, so ive enrolled on a nail course at walsall college to start september, so i really hope i get the support & training i need.

 

[Peter Pan]

Hi

I did a nail course in Birmingham! it was a weekend course & if it is the place where i did my course, i cant remember if it was called The Nail Academy. or The Academy, but i would not recommend it myself!! i couldn't tell you what brand the products was that we used! they just had labels on stating what was in the bottle or jar. There was 6 of us in the class & all our training was done on a nail trainer, we came away after the course with a instruction book. we covered gels for about 3 hrs then fibreglass for a further 3 hrs, next day we spend about 4 hrs doing acrylic, & walked away with a certificate. i carried on the training i had learnt on my nail trainer at home & also on friends & family, but i still couldn't get to grips with it. i feel i wasted my money!!!! & a couple of years on now after having children i really want to get back into it, so ive enrolled on a nail course at walsall college to start september, so i really hope i get the support & training i need.

this happens with so many peeps - quick learn progs - so you enrolled at college - maybe a good start - (thats what i did) but you will feel like you havent learnt that much there either (that was my experience) if i were you chuck - id enroll on a course that is run by the company of the products you wish to use (when i learnt at college,, they got the cheapest system they could - which wont really help you) - it may be cheaper to attend a college course, but you wont get the same education as you would if you attended a company course - if you want to work your way up to say - creative - or ezflow, or any of the other well recognised companys, youd be better off going straight to them -at least that way you get the best education for their own products, and you also get the support with them, i found with college it was a case of getting you thro the course just for the "numbers" sake

hope this makes sense to you - if you can afford it pet, go with a recognised company - im sure glad i did, and it took alot of time and money to get to the system i now use, and it was worth every penny

 

[nikki's nails]

Hi,
THANKS:!: I might search the net to see if there are any local to me. Ive heard of Grafton's ( i think thats what they are called ) which do IBD gel & i think they might do the IBD acrylic aswel there, i dont know of anymore:!: so if anyone knows of any GOOD training in nails and the prices of the courses please pm me.
thanks.

 

[Glorsclaws]

Hiya Nikki,
I have to echo what PeterPan has told you...mainly because I started off my training at a place in Windsor which was expensive and covered Man,Ped, Acrylic, gel all in two days (no rebalnace though), sounds a bit like the Acacdemy... just made my head spin.
I then decided I want a 'proper education' and enrolled at Walsall college. The tutor was a lovely friendly woman who everyone liked, however the alarm bells went off when I noticed how awful her own nails were. She spent much of our 'practical time' doing her paperwork and a lot of us felt we struggled on alone.
Outside of college there is no back up, where most reputable product companies will offer this, college information is usually so generic that you could learn it from any book, and Walsall callege used to use a rubbish product to teach you with anyway.
Unless you have spoken to someone recently who thinks they received a thorough education there... I would look elsewhere.
Sorry to have rambled...PM me if you need any more info.