First ever client, feeling down

[pinkiepromises]

Hey geeks!
I had my first real client tonight, a mum from school, she is lovely. At first the appointment was made for shellac, then the day before decided she wanted overlays. So tonight, I got there for 6.30 her son was sick, so we didn't get started until 7. Her cuticles were a mess and took some real prep. Then couldn't do overlays, nails too short, so I did well less tips. The tips were not sticking to te nail? I removed shine, don't know why? Eventually I got them on, filed down, scrub fresh, went to put acrylic on, my hands were shaking I was that worried! On a few nails I went a bit too far to the cuticle, and had a lot of filing to do. I had left my files at home!!!! Nipped home, I live round the corner. Went on to shellac, with glitter, I could see at that point I hadn't filed as well as I should have. by that time 2 hours had passed and I was getting even more worried about timings. I finished at 9.15 she loves her nails, but I can't help thinking they were rubbish. Forgot to take pic. She paid me £40! I asked for £25. I just feel all in all I did a crap job, and I'm feeling down, and worried about her nails. Is this normal? Sorry for the rant, Ive just lost my confidence

 

[TammyS]

I felt like that after my first few clients lol - my second client (thankfully a friend) took me about 3 hours to complete, I felt awful and was ready to give up there and then, it just takes a while for your confidence to build but it soon will!!
Dont give up - just put it down to a learning curve and next time remember your files

 

[Belllla]

I also felt the same after my first few clients too. Don't give up, it gets so much better and easier with practice and your confidence will grow as you go along.

Keep your chin up, the first client is always the worst, it will only get better. Xxx

 

[alannahollick88]

She gave you a pretty decent tip so she must have been fairly pleased with them! So I say well done and keep at it, your confidence will grow in no time!! Xx

 

[helencowleard]

My 1st paying clients was a neighbours daughter. I went to the daughters house she wanted CND Shellac fingers & toes. She had 'Shellac' on both. I wrapped both, managed after ages to remove fingers but toes wouldnt come off! It wasnt CND Shellac! I ended up doing polish on her toes & my application of Shellac im sure was awful! I cringe looking back at it now. Needless to say she never came back. Ive spotted her a few times but shes never said a word! I learnt many valuable lessons from that first paying client experience that have shaped me & my business to where I am today. Its not nice BUT we all have to start somewhere. You learn from your mistakes & as long as you improve then it's positive She paid you extra so thats positive too (I may offer this lady a 50% off to get her to have Shellac with me again now & do a better job)

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[holistikat]

You must of done something right to get a tip

Dont beat yourself up, she liked them! and 2 hours 15 minutes isnt a bad time considering she had shellac too and you had to nip home for files!

However it is totally normal to feel the way you do, i hate feeling like iv done anything less than perfect, but its good in a way as it means you produce good work and become a perfectionist. As you become more confident your timings will speed up too

 

[Pollypocket85]

It's normal! My first manicure I left polish remover at home and the client had to search for some. Took me over an hour to do a nail tidy and polish.

You've got to start practicing somehow. Just explain you're still learning and only done x amount of clients

Your confidence will come back xx

 

[Kiva]

I think you're being too hard on yourself, we all questioned our work starting out, because of course you want to be the best you can be, but this lady paid you £40 and she must of felt they were worth every penny! Well done x

 

[pinkiepromises]

Thank guys, really helps having someone to talk to! 😊 I will do a better job next time. I wanted to cry when I got home, I'm starting to feel a bit better now, I hope I can look back in 6 months time and see how far I've come, your words of encouragement really mean a lot to me 💓 thank you so so much xx

 

[jag82]

I'm not qualified yet and had my first paying client about 6 weeks ago. It was horrible!!
I didn't know the girl and I made mistakes I shouldn't have.she had short nails so wanted to extend the nail bed and then she asked for clear and not a cover pink and I let her. They looked like ****. Didn't have my solar oil with me. Wasn't able to buff the nails shiny so ended up putting on a top coat instead..
It was a horrible experience and I was so embarrassed and so relieved when she left haha.

Really put me off and needless to say she didn't return..


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[pinkiepromises]

Which is the best glue to apply tips? I won't be caught out again!!!

 

[Perfecttennails]

They always say the day you look at your work and are 100% happy with it, is the day you should stop doing nails! There are always things that you can improve on and new things that you can learn.
It was your first client, you went to do something simple and ended up doing a much more complex treatment. I have to be honest with you I tend to get nervous when I get asked for enhancements as I don't do many of them even though I'm qualified, but with each set that you do, you'll feel a little more confident 😊 She was happy and she tipped you well, I don't think the time is bad for what you did. She was happy, that's the main thing and you will now remember things that you did that you weren't happy with and improve them on the next client. Sounds like you did brilliantly, it's just a shame we can't see a piccie x


💕💅 Keep calm and make 'em Gelish 💅💕

 

[pinkiepromises]

I'm going to ask her to send me a pic so I can take a look today with a clear head and pic it to pieces lol!

 

[ChicNails]

Bless you, but like everyone has said, you will learn something from this experience and it will make you a better tech, with each set I do I feel more confident.

However, and this really bugs me..........I always do square tips (just easy and its what my 2 clients want), but the middle finger nail always looks really huge!? Like big and square and thick...its so bad, I hate it : (
Why is this? I always file it loads but still looks enormous in comparison to the other nails...?
Im getting so I hate doing acrylics for this reason....

 

[chanmm89]

Bless you, but like everyone has said, you will learn something from this experience and it will make you a better tech, with each set I do I feel more confident.

However, and this really bugs me..........I always do square tips (just easy and its what my 2 clients want), but the middle finger nail always looks really huge!? Like big and square and thick...its so bad, I hate it : (
Why is this? I always file it loads but still looks enormous in comparison to the other nails...?
Im getting so I hate doing acrylics for this reason....

Omg that happens with me too !!!! The middle nail always looks HUGE compared to the others !!!! I'm guessing it just depends on the size of their fingernails and Iv came across a few people that have wide middle fingernails xxx