Sculpting horror!

[Julz Elizabeth]

Hi Geeks! (A bit of a long one sorry!)

Today I had a really bad nail biter in to get a set of french sculpts.
Because there wasn't much nail at all, I decided to adjust the form to fit and extend the nail bed using CND opaque powder.

However she said she had to leave in 1hr 15 mins for an appointment. I've only been trained for just over a year so still quite slow as getting a good result is more important to me than speed. (I usually take between 2 hours and 2 & a quarter hrs for bitten sculpts).

In the time I had, I sculpted all of the nails and begun filing. (I was shaking I was working so quickly) However 3 nails on one hand snapped off where her natural nail ended when I began filing (I kept them short), which stressed me out as she had to leave! I ended up having to let her go without a finished set of nails.

So I'm wondering if someone would be kind enough to help me with the following things?

1. First up why this would happen? Is there just not enough natural nail? Or did I not fit the forms correctly as the other hand seems fine. I've never had this happen before.

2. How long should it be taking me to do french sculpts on a biter?

3. And lastly I seem to be having trouble getting the opaque powder opaque enough if that makes sense? I could still see the lines of the forms I was using underneath. But I don't want to end up with bricks lol, so I'm reluctant to make them any thicker.

I hope I've made sense and that I haven't asked any stupid questions!

It's days like these that really knock my confidence! Especially since I had to send her away half finished (she's coming back later) I'm quite embarrassed about it!

 

[HeatherDavis]

First: take a deep breath.

2nd: I strongly advise you, until you are more seasoned and comfortable, to tip anyone with a nail plate needing an extreme makeover.

From the sound of it, they broke off because the apex was too thin. I think you might also be working with too much liquid to powder when you pick up your beads (I gather that from you being able to see trough your opaque powder).

Don't be embarrassed, you are willing to fix the work! You should only be embarrassed if you thought you were too good to make the client happy

We are all here to learn, and the coolest thing about our industry? You will continue to hone your skills, and constantly. I'm in my 19th year, and I am continually improving and learning new techniques,

 

[Julz Elizabeth]

Hi Heather!

Thanks so much for your reply!

I'll definitely be tipping from now on! Given the time restriction I thought I'd sculpt- regretting it big time!

I'll keep the apex and my ratio in mind when she comes back. I'm really nervous ekkkk!!

How long would you say it would take you to do a full set of french sculpts on a biter without an electric file?

 

[HeatherDavis]

An e-file shouldn't speed you up, and you need to use more product WITH one. You need to sculpt with your BRUSH, not your file! And try not to focus on time, that will come with experience (at least being able to gage how long each step takes you). Your most important priority needs to be QUALITY work you can be proud of- and you can't produce that if you are focused on the clock. I personally can take 2-3 hours on a new set, bitten or not. And I am possibly a seasoned veteran at this point lol
Just focus on the quality of the work, it will take a big weight off of you!

 

[laurakate]

When a client asks you to rush its never going to end well. I would have offered an alternative or asked her to come back another time (assuming id quoted the treatment time required upon booking)

Id use tips only on bitten nails.

 

[tanfastic]

A tip for getting powder more opaque is to dab the back of the brush onto your pre-dampened lintfree wipe once you have picked up your bead.( reduces the problem of he smell if you use a dampened one) this will "suck " some of the Monomer out of the brush giving you a stronger color. Just be careful to make sure you have the ratio the same on every bead else you may get color variations which can look a bit NAFF. I remember seeing it on either and NSI video or one of the others. Will post a link when I find it.

If I were you I would use natural tips or clear, and practice a bit more on Sculpting bitten nails.

Hope this makes sense as I seem to have lost the ability to communicate in English at the moment, keep forgetting the names or words for things. LOL, must be an age thing

Good luck and let us know how it went

 

[Julz Elizabeth]

Thankyou so much for the pointers!

She came back and I ended up following advice and just tipping all of them.

I still had a few issues working with the opaque pink powder, I managed to get a better ratio so they were no longer 'see through', but I found it difficult to work with as the product seemed to set up faster? Not sure if this was me or if these powders do just set quicker? (It will be me lol)

Tanfastic- I think you're right- I need to practice more on bitten nails. I won't be using forms ever again haha! I think it was also my experience with using the opaque powder that let me down.

Anyhow, the end result I managed was much better than the first rushed attempt. I was still not completely happy with my work (when this happens I cannot sleep!), but she seemed pretty pleased with them and her friend even re booked with me the following day.

I guess I can only learn from it and move on