Disillusioned with the state of the Nail Industry? - here's one for us ALL to debate!

[mum]

It sounds extreme I know but I feel the time has come to organise something, stand together and find a way to be heard, our livelihood is under threat, I am sick of it and sitting here posting letters to a nail forum where everybody agrees with us is great but it's not going to get anything done.
We have nothing to lose by trying, do you want to be president? lol and I will be spokeperson? We could start with letters to our MP's?

Hi Rebecca

There seems to be lots of threads you haven't read and articles in mags missed!

There is plenty being done and at a level that will make sure the right results are achieved in a way that won't just be a 'flash in the pan'! Nothing with this much impact can be done quickly because it personally affects individuals (and most of those individuals who will be affected don't even know they are doing anything that others don't like!)

The industry is not on its knees so don't loose heart. What is on its knees is the old style industry of unprofessional 'sweaty betty's' with poor training and poor skills and little business sense.

The new style industry of professional nail technicians with high level skills, realistic and intelligent business plans and a confident approach is standing tall with a very promising future

 

[beckyboop922]

Hello Marian,

Thank you for replying to my post, you almost told me off and I am grateful for that.
I teach angel channeling, psychic development classes and preach about positivity but sometimes forget to walk the talk! Your post reminded me of that.
I am feeling a lot more positive right now, it's just so hard sometimes and I suppose I am feeling more than a little sorry for myself, I have known a lot of professional nail technicians who have felt the bite but have been supported both financially and emotionally by boyfriends and Husbands and I have nobody and it's hard when it's the bread out of my baby's mouth, I get bitter sometimes and if I am honest I resent the parade of riff raff and misfits who trample through my home each day, the situation is of my own making, I invented this home based business and I set the prices but I know if my prices were not so very low there is no way they would come, I feel like I am selling myself, my talent and my industry short, I have spent 4 years and 20K trying to sell my nails for what they are worth and educate the public and fallen flat on my face each time, I've been to business college btw, the problem is Manchester the good areas are over saturated with many talented and qualified professionals and the poor areas have 2/4 NSS on each high street.
Bottom line it's me I am angry with.

Thank you for all you are trying to achieve

Rebecca xx

 

[beautynails]

Hello Marian,

Thank you for replying to my post, you almost told me off and I am grateful for that.
I teach angel channeling, psychic development classes and preach about positivity but sometimes forget to walk the talk! Your post reminded me of that.
I am feeling a lot more positive right now, it's just so hard sometimes and I suppose I am feeling more than a little sorry for myself, I have known a lot of professional nail technicians who have felt the bite but have been supported both financially and emotionally by boyfriends and Husbands and I have nobody and it's hard when it's the bread out of my baby's mouth, I get bitter sometimes and if I am honest I resent the parade of riff raff and misfits who trample through my home each day, the situation is of my own making, I invented this home based business and I set the prices but I know if my prices were not so very low there is no way they would come, I feel like I am selling myself, my talent and my industry short, I have spent 4 years and 20K trying to sell my nails for what they are worth and educate the public and fallen flat on my face each time, I've been to business college btw, the problem is Manchester the good areas are over saturated with many talented and qualified professionals and the poor areas have 2/4 NSS on each high street.
Bottom line it's me I am angry with.

Thank you for all you are trying to achieve

Rebecca xx

It's a very frustating thing when the things you envision don't become reality as quickly as we like. As well as when you see people who succeed because they have money behind.

I think her on this site you'll find that many people are in a similar situation to you. Many of us are struggling, but I believe all we can do is make the best & be positive with what we can do.

:hug: Chin up, you'll get there.

 

[10littlefingers]

Yup, I totally agree! That's exactly how my teacher and I feel about this industry! We've had long talks about this sort of thing all the time.

 

[jadegirl]

Hi,
I am a "newbie" myself and have taken no offence, I love reading all threads from experienced techs and believe we can learn so much from your expereinces, thankyou for giving me a lot to think about for the future.

I'm curious as to at what stage are you not a newbie as angie is creative L&P trained. Is it based on experience, training or both and if so how much of each?
Incidently I'm studying manicure & pedicure at my local college but have always had the intention of going on to do creative and Ezflow before working on clients.
I've had my nails done at an NSS and it put me off enhancements cause my nails were ruined but seeing that there were professional out there gave me faith again that all nail techs weren't cowboys.

 

[Sassy Hassy]

I'm curious as to at what stage are you not a nubie as angie is creative L&P trained. Is it based on experience, training or both and if so how much of each?

Ooh now there's a question!!

For me I would consider myself a newbie, or a novice, until I could get up to salon speed and have sufficient knowledge to be able to handle any given situation without needing help. I think it took me about 2 years of full time work to truly call myself confident and experienced enough to handle any given situation ... although i think I may have felt this before then it wasn't until I got to this point that I really KNEW I was beyond the novice stage!

 

[tamar1]

I totaly agree, and i'm a rookie having a salon, 85% of the time give medical pedicures( its' like a chiropodist in the Uk), i've got my degree 10 years ago so no rookie doing pedicure's.!!
But yep i'm a rookie if it comes at doing acrylics, but first of all a rookie with a common sense and second with a passion.
And I believe if you have passion, you get everywhere!
I push myself to become better, and that's not even good enough, I know that I will end up doing competitions.Cause it's in my nature to push myself to the limit.
When i finished my entity acrylic course I had the highest points ever in Belgium, but that wasn't pure luck, I practised like a mad woman.
And now I still practise everyday, untill I fully get it.
So the few clients that I've got, all book new appointments, so I think that is a parameter for knowing they are happy.
What doesn't mean I do everything right, i dont have the speed yet and I simple don't have the experience yet!
But I know I give good quality! at the rates that are standard here, I would never work under the price even not when you are a rookie!

Regards Tamar

 

[geeg]

I totaly agree, and i'm a rookie having a salon, 85% of the time give medical pedicures( its' like a chiropodist in the Uk), i've got my degree 10 years ago so no rookie doing pedicure's.!!
But yep i'm a rookie if it comes at doing acrylics, but first of all a rookie with a common sense and second with a passion.
And I believe if you have passion, you get everywhere!
I push myself to become better, and that's not even good enough, I know that I will end up doing competitions.Cause it's in my nature to push myself to the limit.
When i finished my entity acrylic course I had the highest points ever in Belgium, put that wasn't pure luck, I practised like a mad woman.
And now I still practise everyday, untill I fully get it.
So the few clients that I've got, all book new appointments, so I think that is a parameter for knowing they are happy.
What doesn't mean I do everything wright, i dont have the speed yet and I simple don't have the experience yet!
But I know I give good quality! at the rates that are standard here, I would never work under the price even not when you are a rookie!

Regards Tamar

It is so nice to read what you are saying and to hear how you believe in yourself and simply do not contemplate failure!! Bravo. This has also always been my own atitude.

It is very refreshing to read your post instead of the variety we see so often from those who have no confidence at all in themselves or their education or their ability.

 

[tamar1]

So many nail distributors will sell their products to anyone at all, trained or untrained … and to me that is one of the main reasons we are seeing what we are seeing; greed, pure and simple.

You are so right !!!!

 

[xSashax]

Good thread!!
I would never even think about going to any nail salon or mobile tec that charged under a certain amount because IMO you DO pay for quality and if somebody is willing to do me a full set for 15 quid then (where I come from) I know they are going to be absolute ****e or training and not declaring it!
As for people that say the client wont pay anymore - let them go and see what sort of nails they will get compared to yours and if they are happy with the "cheaper" set then they obviously dont care about the effort and dedication that you put into your work and IMO I try really hard and if any client does not appreciate this and love your work as much as you do, they are not worth having and they are the ones that dont come back - If you love your work and you know that its worth something then charge for it! The good clients will come and they are the ones you want!! xxx

 

[jadegirl]

I think the main problem with the insurance companies is that they don't necesarily understand what goes into each course.
We also need to be lobbying the government en-masse about MMA use, and health & safety standards etc.
We have enough smart women (and a few men) on this forum to be heard, and maybe make a difference.

I agree

Not only that but surely the nail bars/NSS are dangerous. I had my nails done once and the woman (I won't call her a tech)drilled my nail bed so far down it was bleeding and I did nothing :irked: I was young and just assumed they were qualified, knew what they were doing, that was the way it was done. I did bring it to her attention but she said it was meant to be that way for the enhancement to fit.
I never had a consultation done, equipment wasn't sterilised and would they know a contra-indication if it splashed up on their face and infected them?! :green:
It just reminds me of things like MRSA and the clamydia scare thats going round. its always left to the last minute to tell the public what they should be looking out for and shouldn't tolerate. When some more woman's finger falls off thats when the industry will get properly regulated.
How do these places get insurance for providing this service and thats even if they have it.

 

[hotnailz]

I've just spent a heck of a long time trawling through most of these posts and it's made me all the more determined to stick with this.
In a nutshell, the VCTC training I had at my local college was bl**dy awful....I could see that while I was doing it but wanted to keep going as this is something I really want to do.
I am doing a CND conversion course in April and it can't come soon enough. Just wish I'd started this years ago but things (ie.kids arriving!) conspired against me!
This site has also been an absolute mine of information - the scales have really dropped from my eyes. It's really given me something to think about....

 

[Paula1969]

Have just posted on another thread "Need to Vent" and I think it sums it all up really. I so want to better myself in nails, and hubby is going to book my CND training for my birthday, as from all the reading I have done this seems to be the only way to go.
Although in the same sense a lot of salons / Nail Techs are using the name of Creative and other reputable companies and doing a terrible job.

Just goes you can have the best training but dont want to be the best.

 

[hollywoodnails]

ladies and gents i think we have hit the nail on the head . a lot of what has been said on this thread all comes down to training .being at college at the moment doing a vctc in manicure.and nail techniques i have first hand Esperance of these as have many one these boards. my tutor is great and helps where she can but her hands are tied due to the time we have to do the whole course. we spent 3 months doing manicure but only 3 weeks doing acyclic and gel and that includes learning the theory TO sit the test . do the assignment to sculpt and bloody smile lines
while i agree that you can only be shown so much and that the rest is practice . i feel these courses are more about bums on seats rather than education . im a long way off being salon perfect yet i have to now have clients at college to pass my practical assignments and all i can get out of my tutor is " they dint expect them perfect" well i dint want to do them until i at least now I'm good enough for them to at least stay on lol
ass for nss salons . I went on a drill course at nsi and the tutor there told me what is happing is one person goes on the 3 day course , then they teach a whole lot of their family to do it so they can open a few shops together . There is no way they can teach all the info for Heath and safety ,dieses ect in 3 days and if they do i must be so crammed i wouldn't all go in .
Most peole dont know about good nails thats why nss salon' s work, i went to one before i did my course because he was the only one who could do my nails < i have a very small nail bed > and had very overgrown cuticles . he used to Etch my nails with a electric drill and trim the cuticles with the drill too but i didn't know any better
nss salons are typical of any business they undercut the rest and get the custom in kinda like a pound shop imo
thanks to this site i wont give up onward and up wards i say ,but at least now i have a realistic view of what training i need and thats thanks to all you for your advise and training.
I think that college courses should also teach different systems so you have a wide range when you leave and dint get stuck with a system you dont like or cant use . EG i couldn't do smile lines with acrylic it was setting to fast i thought it was me . but it turns out we were using quite a fast setting one. i have now changes it for a slower setting one while i train and I'm having a lot more luck with them
right thats my lot before i bore you all tears
Vic xx :zzz: :zzz:

 

[ClaireWalsh]

What an inspirational thread! I couldn't agree more. I think the beauty industry as a whole is perceived as an "easy option". Before I left school 10 years ago I didn't know what I wanted to be, and when I spoke to my careers adviser and teachers about a potential career in the beauty industry I was basically told not to be so ridiculous- I was a straight 'A' student and expected to take the whole college-uni route and get a "good career". I am now a 26-year-old accountant with a mortgage, and only just in the last few years have been training in the beauty industry. When I first started my Beauty Therapy NVQ at college, the class was about 14 girls. At the end of the course there were 6 of us left- the others hadn't expected the course to be such hard work. I think they thought we'd be playing around with make-up and doing our nails, not researching contra-indications to nail treatments and studying relevant a&p and health & safety! They obviously also had the perception that it was an easy route to a few quid.

Anyway, sorry to have veered off the point a little. I agree that the public need to be made aware of the difference between true profesionals and shortcutters.

PS I have since been asked "Why the hell would you want to be known as a beauty therapist rather than an accountant? People will think you have no brains!" :grr:

 

[geeg]

What an inspirational thread! I couldn't agree more. I think the beauty industry as a whole is perceived as an "easy option". Before I left school 10 years ago I didn't know what I wanted to be, and when I spoke to my careers adviser and teachers about a potential career in the beauty industry I was basically told not to be so ridiculous- I was a straight 'A' student and expected to take the whole college-uni route and get a "good career". I am now a 26-year-old accountant with a mortgage, and only just in the last few years have been training in the beauty industry. When I first started my Beauty Therapy NVQ at college, the class was about 14 girls. At the end of the course there were 6 of us left- the others hadn't expected the course to be such hard work. I think they thought we'd be playing around with make-up and doing our nails, not researching contra-indications to nail treatments and studying relevant a&p and health & safety! They obviously also had the perception that it was an easy route to a few quid.

Anyway, sorry to have veered off the point a little. I agree that the public need to be made aware of the difference between true professionals and shortcutters.

PS I have since been asked "Why the hell would you want to be known as a beauty therapist rather than an accountant? People will think you have no brains!" :grr:

This post made me smile wryly because people have said this to me so many times ... Why would someone with a university education want to get into the beauty industry??

My answer is always the same .... "like anything else, if you are smart, you will do better than the rest because there is so much more to doing nails or beauty than sitting behind the desk and buffing all day long".

So many 'would be' technicians would do so much better if they had the smarts to realise this and get the education they need to run a successful business rather than just believing its all about doing good nails and having a nicely decorated salon.:lol:

 

[Chameleon]

Wow...what a thread this has been,but i agree with all that Sassy said at the beginning of the thread.

As for my training in nails,i was very didilusioned with it at college,and was made to felt i wasnt good at it,it did nothing for my self esteem.

I exceled at beauty,but i still LOVE nails aswell.

Another point id like to make is i didnt go to college for 3 years and then since do training and am still training(because education is everything to me)NOT to be taken seriously:grr:

Maybe one day ill go back to nails.

 

[Cec]

Hi Geeg,

OK, we have been talking about this before, haven't we? :-D

My granny always said to me: "If you are the best in what you are doing, there will always be a need for you!" (hmmm... this was Norwegian- English I think.... ) When I started doing nails I had no intention of doing it full time. Very soon I realised I was good at it, and after only a year I had a full book. Then I moved and had to start all over again. One more year, and full book. I could have stopped concerning IF I was good, I could only have believed I was good, because I was once. And I think this is one of many problems for many techs. They stop concerning and never reach for a higher goal. I have seen it over and over again. Techs I thought would be good were "climbing" up the hill, nearly reached, or maybe touched the top, and then everything went downhill because they stopped concerning. Nah, my English.... Did it make sense?

PS. I think my three years at the university have helped me to reach my goals, the three years have never been waisted. Education is never waisted, you can always learn something.

C.

 

[jadegirl]

PS I have since been asked "Why the hell would you want to be known as a beauty therapist rather than an accountant? People will think you have no brains!" :grr:

God been getting the same thing except lawyer!!!!!!

 

[Nailtrix]

I agree with you, but think once we recognise that not everyone will be in the sector for the reason you become less disgruntled and concentrate on doing the best you can.