Am I ever going to be able to do this????

[Mieke]

Hi geeks,

Am getting so frustrated at the moment, still very new to all this but am beginning to think that maybe I am not cut out for nails. I have my final day of training 2moro with CND, but really worried that they are going to tell me I am rubbish.

I am happy with prep and tipping but my problem is when I get to the acrylic. My mix ratio seems ok but when it comes to applying the product, no matter how small my beads are or how long it takes me the finish is always lumpy and my smile lines are not good. Once I file and finish they look average but I just hate not being able to do things perfectly. Please tell me that it is normal to have the acrylic like this at my level of experience and that my smile lines will improve........

A friend of mine who does nails said that you either have it or you dont and that possibly i didnt have it. Was gutted cause I love, love, love doing this and want to be perfect.

Any advice, am I being too hard on myself? xxx

Don´t worry!!! you have to give it time! Doing nails isn´t as easy as it seems. it takes time to get used to the product, mix ratio etc...
I would only start to panick if you don´t see any improvement in your work. You can´t desire to be great at this from the beginning. the moste crucial part is that you learn from mistakes,that you adjust and that you see your work improving. I believe aswell when it comes to nails that you need to have an insight in how you shape them and visualize => don´t know how that is writen`, the final shape you want to bring in. Don´t panick to fast. give it some time....

 

[tonitigercharli]

Hi geeks,

Am getting so frustrated at the moment, still very new to all this but am beginning to think that maybe I am not cut out for nails. I have my final day of training 2moro with CND, but really worried that they are going to tell me I am rubbish.

I am happy with prep and tipping but my problem is when I get to the acrylic. My mix ratio seems ok but when it comes to applying the product, no matter how small my beads are or how long it takes me the finish is always lumpy and my smile lines are not good. Once I file and finish they look average but I just hate not being able to do things perfectly. Please tell me that it is normal to have the acrylic like this at my level of experience and that my smile lines will improve........

A friend of mine who does nails said that you either have it or you dont and that possibly i didnt have it. Was gutted cause I love, love, love doing this and want to be perfect.

Any advice, am I being too hard on myself? xxx

You poor thing!! Listen to yourself -do you WANT to do this?? I honestly think u do. Ignore your friend she sounds threatened. The passion is definitely the biggest requirement -if u have this u will always strive to learn new things and you will definitely succeed. We all have times, newbies or not, when we dont feel as good as others etc etc. but practice practice practice & one day it will just 'click' and u will never look back!!! I gotta laugh, the first acrylic nail I did was on my little sister. I had no idea how to control it I had this massive bead of acrylic perched on the end of her nail and it SET. It was huge!!! lol I threatened to leave it & paint it green so it looked like a bogey.......... in the end I agreed to file it down for a mutually acceptable sum ...ha ha ha please dont worry, you WILL succeed!!!!! xx

 

[fifitrix]

I wouldn't bother about what your friend says at all. Believe in yourself and go out there and show her. It might just be me, but I love proving negative people wrong!

How did your last day go on your course?

Talking about first sets of nails, OMG I don't even want to think about mine! :lol::lol:

 

[Cutesteph]

Im still waiting for that "click" although ive improved soo much I havent hit the click....:irked:

 

[angel fingers]

i think there is some truth in saying you either have it or you dont.

but its way too early to make that judgement.
its only natural that you wont be great at first.

i feel its more important to see that you have faults and go about rectifying them.
having a good eye for what needs improving is as important as knowing how to do it.

theres no guarantee that anyone can be a good nail tech, but with the right training and continued research and practice theres no reason why you shouldnt be.

 

[Annie23]

The most important things I think that make you a good if not a great nail tech are:

• Good eye for detail
• Passion for the industry
• Good communication skills

Learning the skills comes with lots and lots of practise! Practise everyday, only has to be a few minutes say 5 fingers worth. Practise on tips, embed them in the blu tac finger, it forms the nail wall and cuticle area as you push the tip into the sausage shaped roll of blu tac. For infill practise pull the nail tip as if to simulate nail growth and it creates a infill area. If you have a nail trainer use that to help you get timing down for full applications. If you want to practise product control get a tip and draw a line in pen or pencil for the nail wall & cuticle and use this line as a guide line. Just buy a really cheap pack of tips for practising.

I have been learning nails for 2 years and its only now that I feel that I can justify charging full price for a set of enhancements. Don't be discouraged by your "so called friend" you go for it the fact that you care enough to post your concerns demonstrates your passion. Goodluck, keep us posted :hug:

anne xx

 

[kirsty_]

UPDATE - last day of course went really well, Katie said she thought my work was really good and gave me some great feedback, going to try the blu tac method (thanks for the idea anne x) and i know i will get there eventually. have also bought the nailclass book by gigi. thanks to everyone on here for your replies, the support you get from this site is so fantastic. my mum made a good point to me yesterday - she said 'for every negative thought about a set of nails, counteract it with a positive one' and it works!! A nail i did yesterday had a rubbish smile line but zone 3 was really good, it made me feel so much better and i went on to practice 10 more nails......onwards and upwards!

Thanks again everyone xxx

 

[geeg]

You know, a person is not just born with 'a good eye' for detail or anything else.

A good eye has to be developed so, in my opinion, advise that would be more useful to you is, ... how to develop your 'eye' for what is a beautiful nail.

In my case, I devoured nail magazines and looked closely at all the images of nails I could find. Some of the nails in the adverts were horrendous (still are) and some were the usual clones of porn star nails ( you know the ones, absolutely square, white too long, too thick, too wide, not beautiful but aggressive-looking and unfeminine).

Some enhancements stood out to me as being beautiful and in comparison with the others were way ahead. So find an image or two that you think are truly beautiful and then compare them to the 'others' and 'see' where they differ then, try to reproduce that look every time you create every nail. If you can't quite do it then that is the time for a skill building class to learn how. Good luck.

 

[Annie23]

UPDATE - last day of course went really well, Katie said she thought my work was really good and gave me some great feedback, going to try the blu tac method (thanks for the idea anne x) and i know i will get there eventually. have also bought the nailclass book by gigi. thanks to everyone on here for your replies, the support you get from this site is so fantastic. my mum made a good point to me yesterday - she said 'for every negative thought about a set of nails, counteract it with a positive one' and it works!! A nail i did yesterday had a rubbish smile line but zone 3 was really good, it made me feel so much better and i went on to practice 10 more nails......onwards and upwards!

Thanks again everyone xxx

I certainly cant take credit for the blu tac idea, I don't know who originally came up with the idea, but the fab Gigi passed it onto me and lots of others during a thread on here a while back and reiterated it during the Nail Class session in February at S2 this year.

Buying the Nail Class book is the best thing you could've done plus having a supportive mum like yours goes a long way too!!

Glad you got fantastic feedback from Katie :hug:

anne xx