Doug Schoon speaks out

[linzi]

What else can you add?

It frustrates me that people think 'doing nails' is easy - file a bit and thwack some lumpy product on. Throw glitter on and it's the best thing since sliced bread, wahey!

But what can you do? You can't make them go and undertake decent education. You can't make them have the same passion for the industry that you have. They're just in it for the quick buck. I guess at least the good news is that these types of people won't be here long. They'll only stay until the next big money-making scheme comes around.

When I first started learning 'nails', my tutor at college said she couldn't do nails... but that there was no one else to take us And then my first job out of college, my boss and self-aclaimed best nail tech in Scotland, sold her clients 'fung off' (because the name amused her...) to clients with bacterial infections (caused by her). I knew it wasn't right, I knew I didn't wanna be turning out bad nails, bad service just because, well... everyone else was. And so I found here.

Things have come on in leaps and bounds, even in my relatively short time in the industry (still training 12 years later). But that's not what this is about, at least not how I read it. I don't think it's about the new products and technologies that abound but the most basic understanding of what it means to be a nail technician - care for your clients nails, nuture them, make them the best they can possibly be - whichever system and products you use.



Also yes, it is inherently difficult to 'hear' posts the way they were intended. I know that mine may come across as a bit 'poker up backside' sometimes but it comes from years of moderating my accent.

 

[Murnettie]

I feel very lucky as when i researched about learning how to become a nail technician I found this site (thank god). After spending days reading and searching about products i decided to go with creative academy and use cnd. My training was brilliant we learnt so much theory before even touching our nails. It was explained to us about how damaging overbuffing of the nailplate could be, was drummed into us in fact and our ea even removed the shine off our nails so that we could feel how gentle it should be. With that being said I still managed to butcher both my own and my mothers nails (she was my model) through being too heavy handed and blending tips etc.

It wasn't until our ea did it on me that I realised how gentle I should have been, that's why I think it's so important to have hands on training as opposed to online or one day courses, you really need the time with a good ea.

With shellac, I have been using it a few years now and only recently another fab geek (angel) on here pepped my nail at a show, she was using the cuticle pusher and was so so quick and gentle and I realised that I have also been a bit too heavy handed with that ( id have not realised unless id had it done as im so used to doing my own nails I never have them done) and its been so long since my training sometimes we develop bad habits! I also realised that i was taking far too much time on one nail when I do my pep so it was an eyeopener!! I thought I had been doing well but really i could have been doing better with my pep and it really highlighted to me that although my clients are happy with their shellac, I really need to learn how to polish better and faster, this geek was so good it made me green with envy! So much so that I am dying to do a course that is just about perfecting nail polish!

Definitely so much more to learn and thats having had great training, it NEEDs to be refreshed and that is why I love this site and educational threads such as this. So I just want to say a big thank you to you fabulous "dinosaurs" as without your straight talking and giving us hard cold facts and busting those nails myths etc I'd probably being doing more harm than good!

 

[waffle4]

My little comment to keep the thread prominent
I think educating the public as much as the nail techs is what's needed too. So many people expect enhancements to hurt, whether that be by overfiling which thus could cause heat spikes too or just a bad episode at a nail bar. People need to know that going to get your nails done should be a nice experience not a place to come out with throbbing nail plates or cut cuticles.

 

[Keli59]

Great advice. It's very sad but I've NEVER had a set of L&P's that haven't ruined my nails. I've had lots so sets done over the years and even did a short course myself, but as I work part-time elsewhere (not beauty related) they weren't coming out perfect and I also had problems with over filing. Watching a fab L&P application is mesmerising I think!

I'm more a natural nail girl now and when Shellac came out I trained and offer this along with BL smoothing. I think I would like to try BL Sculpting, but am concerned about the filing issue TBH.

Thanks again for the great thread xxxx

 

[Arty*Rox]

Great advice. It's very sad but I've NEVER had a set of L&P's that haven't ruined my nails. I've had lots so sets done over the years and even did a short course myself, but as I work part-time elsewhere (not beauty related) they weren't coming out perfect and I also had problems with over filing. Watching a fab L&P application is mesmerising I think!

I'm more a natural nail girl now and when Shellac came out I trained and offer this along with BL smoothing. I think I would like to try BL Sculpting, but am concerned about the filing issue TBH.

Thanks again for the great thread xxxx

But thats the beauty of BL sculpting, you don't need to buff the nail at all, no shine needs to be removed, just thorough PEP, just as you would applying Shellac

 

[lucielu]

This is why we love it!
Although for long term wear it would be good to have the skills to rebalance instead of remove and reapply. I think this is the scary bit for some techs and the area where damage can occur without good filing practice..

But thats the beauty of BL sculpting, you don't need to buff the nail at all, no shine needs to be removed, just thorough PEP, just as you would applying Shellac

 

[Keli59]

This is why we love it!
Although for long term wear it would be good to have the skills to rebalance instead of remove and reapply. I think this is the scary bit for some techs and the area where damage can occur without good filing practice..

That's what I was referring too the rebalancing, also the 'knack' of sculpting...as I said, I think you need to practice, practice, practice and not being able to all the time...and I want them perfect!! Hopefully i can chat with those more 'experienced' techs at The Event and push forward with more training...happy day :lol:

 

[Martigirl]

any education to protect our clients and their nails is important to me and I will take all of it onboard.

I like Izzidoll am confused though as to why removing shine is now frowned upon.

 

[gillian w]

any education to protect our clients and their nails is important to me and I will take all of it onboard.

I like Izzidoll am confused though as to why removing shine is now frowned upon.

I don't understand it either because you still have to remove shine when using CND acrylic and Brisa hard Gel.
A few years back when I started using Calgel i was told on here soaking off was supposed to be bad and ruined the nail.Bio wasnt liked because of the way it was advertised in being a healthier alternative to the natural nail.
I tend to keep out of certain discussions because of the products I use.Im not going to constantly keep on explaining and justifying my products but I am one of the good guys I really don't ruin people's nails.

 

[Murnettie]

any education to protect our clients and their nails is important to me and I will take all of it onboard.

I like Izzidoll am confused though as to why removing shine is now frowned upon.

Don't think they mean removing the shine/ buffing lightly is frowned upon so much as its unnecessary IF the products don't require it.

Obviously if they do e.g l&p then there's no choice as it's required for the product to adhere to the nailplate but with brisa lite, shellac etc it's not necessary which is obviously more desirable, at least that's my understanding.

Bit like keyhole surgery really, it's easier and causes less scarring but in some cases it's necessary that they need to perform open surgery which although works well it will cause more scarring! LOL i hope I'm not talking gibberish but it's getting late!!!

 

[Melissa82]

I think we have to remember that this industry is ever changing and it is complicated to keep up with it. I like to say I trust CND. Things change, science evolves and new discoveries are made. Nail enhancements are a fairly new product, you can't expect perfection every time from every company. It's just like food. First they said eggs are good for you, then bad, then they decided one part was good and another was bad and so on. Remember when Pluto was a planet? Now it's a dwarf planet. That's why I love CND though, they are known for their R&D so I trust them whether things change.

 

[Bo]

Hello…my name is Bo and I have over filed.

I didn't think I did until I started to see the tell tale signs of over filing. Aggghhh! Big wake up call! I have lighten my touch and changed my technique in using my e file on hard gel. Seeing improvement. But ever so careful now. Thanks everyone for making us aware so we can be ever more diligent!

Please post again the proper grit for rebalancing hard gel? Thanks so much

 

[Jessica15]

As a few of you have said so many techs think slapping some glitter on will make any set of nails beautiful. When I trained it was the norm to buff the nail until it was nice and rough then whack on some gel, and even now my boss gets way too carried away with the file (despite my MANY attempts to show her otherwise).
If it wasn't for SG I wouldn't know any better either, and it also doesn't help when educators are ignorant to it themselves. One particular company I did some training with uses a 150 grit file to prep the nail!! No wonder so many techs are destroying them!
I've always believed you must perfect your pep and application before getting into the fancy artsy stuff, and its so true, unfortunately there's too many posts about coloured gels etc, compared to education. Xx

 

[Rinn]

Hello…my name is Bo and I have over filed.

I didn't think I did until I started to see the tell tale signs of over filing. Aggghhh! Big wake up call! I have lighten my touch and changed my technique in using my e file on hard gel. Seeing improvement. But ever so careful now. Thanks everyone for making us aware so we can be ever more diligent!

Please post again the proper grit for rebalancing hard gel? Thanks so much

I use a 100 grit file to take down the bulk or my e-file. then move onto 150 grit when getting closer to the natural nail ( but not too close)
A low grit will take down the bulk quickly and efficently If you use too high a grit on the rebalance the continuous vibrations as you struggle to file will loosen the enhancement and you get up getting lifting.
I find the e-file great when the enhancements have a uv colour coat on.

 

[mum]

I agree with you Rinn about too much e-file during a rebalance.

To other posters, the point is about buffing the nail plate. It isn't that it is now frowned upon; it has never been good for the nails! But is is the 'payoff' needed for enhancements (like bleach and perms used to break the hair off sometimes but now solutions are better but the hair stills needs extra care)

Originally, the dental acrylics used needed a physical bond so deep scratches were needed, nails were wrecked but they grew again after several months. Then acid based acrylic primer was developed. This still needed a roughened surface but less so. Nails were damaged. Eventually, products were developed that needed minimal buffing, in fact, just enough to remove the shine and make the slightly more porous.

Most of the products today require minimal buffing (personally, I prefer to use a white block gently in the direction of growth with no pressure and using the corners to get down inside the side walls) However, if this is done every 2 weeks with the lightest of surface disturbance, the 5-6 months it takes a nail to grow from base to tip there will be 10 'disturbances' to the nail that starts at the base. By the time this is at the top it will be noticeably thinner and more liable to split/break. This is the 'payoff' now. It's not too serious if buffing has been minimal but a tiny bit more each time is magnified each time. You need to be aware of this happening.

Therefore, for example, clients wearing a gel polish that requires buffing may have weaker free edges after 5 months that could cause more lifting than you expect! Any buffing causes minimal to severe damage! It's OK if you know how to deal with it!

There are now products being developed that do not need ANY buffing to create a good bond with the nail plate.

I hope this has explained a bit more. It's not that opinions have changed. Products have.

Anyone teaching or using a grit lower than 240 on the nail plate for ANY reason needs to seriously rethink! :evil: They are doing the same damage as the old dental acrylics! And the same as the old hair bleaches and perms that burnt the hair off!!!

 

[MissJulesBeauty]

Great thread and excellent points made about the term nss. I recently added doug on facebook and totally live reading his posts discussions x

Gigi is right about the sticky's too. They do get ignored x

Sent from my GT-I9100 using SalonGeek

 

[MissJulesBeauty]

Grrr love not live x cant edit on my phone x so thought i'd add to the post count ;-)

Sent from my GT-I9100 using SalonGeek

 

[souz]

loving this thread,

I think this is one reason why this industry needs to be regulated and that nail techs should be at a certain level with a certain amount of hours training before they can be let on the general public. I have seen many newbies just keep filing away thinking that eventually that tip will blend when its not about how much you file but HOW you file. This isnt taught in enough detail in many courses and techs go away with bad habits and then start practising on paying clients! As said earlier on in this thread that you cant move on creatively in hair until you have mastered the basics.....this needs to be a pre requisite when starting out in nails. We all love colour and design techniques but if your basics underneath arent perfect then what you put on the top is just going to highlight the imperfections xx

 

[DivineByDesign]

I spent years having enhancements done on my own nails. I've had (from these enhancements) fungal infections, damaged/cut/filed eponychiums, paper thin nails, pain and generally unpleasant experiences. It wasn't until I myself decided to train in enhancements and went to CND that I appreciated how I should NOT have experienced any of the afore mentioned things.

Until licensing is introduced, and "spot checks", it is up to us to make the difference. We need to educate ourselves first, and then we can educate clients. Yes we need to buff the surface of the nail for certain enhancements, but this can cause minimal damage with the right training and experience. Thankfully, when I have overfiled when I was first training, it was on me!!

This is a great thread, but because of the title it will only appeal to those interested in what Doug or Gigi have to say. Change it to something like "Best Linear Holo Glitter" and a few more might sneak a peak xx

 

[Divine h & b]

Great thread
Thanks