TPTW - What part of enhancement training did you find the hardest to master?

[tonilee]

Smile lines, smile lines, smile lines!! Grrrrr took me ages and when I finally got the hang of them I got position in a salon that only sculpted!! This was fantastic for me I loved it with a passion but bejeesus, smiles lines are a problem agin :irked: Grrrrr!!!

Also timing, my timings were always too long, and if I am honest they still are!! Can somone re open this thread in 5 years please!!! LOL

 

[Jode]

I am so glad that tip blending has been listed. I thought I was the only one!
There is one main issue: I was never quite sure when enough was enough. I am still not 100% now and I am going to book a further training so I can improve.

Mix ratio was also another challenge. I feel like (with copious amounts of practice) I have mastered it now. The correct the mix ratio is such a joy to work with!

Great thread.

 

[Jolicatellas]

When training the hardest thing I found to master was to file with precision near the cuticle area. I found it hard to control the file & I kept hurting my poor nail models!! Ouch....

(I'm still a bit like that when I do my right hand ...)

 

[Deena]

Awwww I'm so spoilt for choice with this thread! Where do I start? :o :green:

In no particular order <from the day I started training> it's been memorising all the different steps, as I started off with a list a mile long. Anyway, on to tip blending and I eventually solved that one with no blend tips, although I can blend properly now if needs be. I prefer not to, though. Why do something extra when you don't have to, if you get the right tips?

Next, it probably has to be thickness, as I could have wedged doors open with my nail trainer tips! Of course, I mustn't forget lifting and chasing the file line right down to the smile. Oh, smile lines, sheesh, how could I not mention those? Mine looked more like 'Cheesed off' lines!:irked: Throughout it all, I've had the most abysmal timing and when I reached about the 3 hour mark for pink and whites, I ground to a halt. I solved that one with a lengthy 121 with an excellent educator. She very kindly informed me that people weren't paying for a manicure as well as enhancements and also that I should stop tickling nails with a file during a rebalance. I was actually meant to file it off and mean it! :grr: OMG, what a revelation that one was. :green:

Anyway, I've also done the too wet/dry ratios, although that one was relatively short lived and I've had sidewalls and cuticle areas that looked like sets of drapes around the nail plate. Oh, the joy when I learnt how to actually attach the product to the nails and cease making them look like a continuation of my free edges! :lol: I also found that once I started to create a halfway decent nail in glorious isolation, I couldn't get a whole set that looked as though they were even vaguely related to each other. :irked:

Throughout it all, once I'd finally prized myself away from my nail trainer and ventured on to real hands, the only ones available were my mother's. Nobody else would let me anywhere near their own talons and I was usually too embarrassed to ask. I mean, how many people have the odd 4/5 hours to spare? Naturally, progress was very, very slow. Happily, though, my daughter started college. By this time I'd had an extremely valuable 121, I was getting quicker and my nails were starting to look like they were halfway worth wearing. So, I got a little supply of willing models in the form of hairdressing students and now get regular practise with some girls who keep coming back and seem actually quite pleased with them. :o

Still got a way to go and plenty more to learn, but I'm getting there. I guess the moral of all this is that if you're determined enough <and patient enough> and provided you continue your education <or I'd still be stuck, no matter how often I practised>, you 'Can' eliminate/reduce your problems and start producing the type of work you want to.

Good luck to any newbies reading this! :hug:

 

[Northern Nails]

Now it is almond shaped nails. they look fine from my angle but wen i look at them from the clients angle they are squew wiff!!! If thats even a word!

Oh and sometimes filing the corners of the nail away if i'm not careful

Oh thought of something else...not getting the form under the corners of the nail if using clear

 

[Chameleon]

Found this thread....and thought wow,i am not the only one that is finding tip blending a bain:lol:

I am finding it such a problem,i am so afraid of overfiling the natural nail,and i need a bit more "power" with my filing!

Now it is all fine and dandy to say that performance tips are great to use and no need to blend,but i want to master this as it is stressing me out:irked:...i also think that a good nail technician has the skills to blend and i am not going to let it beat me!....i love sculpting,but i don't want to limit my skills!

When i did L&P iu would say my smile lines were a bit wonky,it is getting that smile to be precise at the sides and neat in the middle,followed by mix ratio,either too wet or too dry,so these will be issues i will be perfecting on my conversion with CND in a few weeks

 

[Emily9]

Mine was building with gel and even still i sometimes struggle, when i converted to calgel i struggled with tip blending and bubbles, but i have sorted that. Mine was definelty building the gel up and i find filing really hard work!

 

[Annie23]

For me everything was a challenge, some more than others. In particular smile lines, tip blending, sculpting with brush and not file, finishing to a high shine.

To be honest I still have problems if I do not do nails for a while (not working at the moment) and when I am practising on my tips I always do the first few wrong until I get back into the swing of things. I am sure if I was working as a tech everyday this wouldnt be the case. Regarding blending that has been a particular nightmare for me, and its only in my master Tips and Troubleshooting this week with Kelly at Leeds that I have finally got to grips with it, so thanks Kelly! Up to now I have cheated and used Performance tips.

anne xx

 

[D3bbi3]

Smile lines.....still spend way too much time on them.

 

[The Pink Orange]

I find cutting tips the same length before overlay hard! I have to even them up with a file!

 

[dottie]

Has to be tip blending! I still struggle with it

 

[ris]

Form-fitting for me. Also the most important IMO. 'Cause well fitted forms are the key to beautiful extentions - well begun is half done

 

[nailartist]

Mix ratio and form fitting! Even now, after ten years! Grrr. I'm getting better, though.

 

[Unique Nails09]

its horrendous at first to master anything, you've no idea how to hold the file, brush or how to apply L + P and coax the product into place without pushing or stabbing it, for me backfills were the main pain the behind, so hard to drill the well right then apply the right amount and smooth it down as well as trying to get the smile line right, i used to sweat like mad, now i love backfills you can witness a real change from start to end

 

[jackbrooks]

ok well im ok with smile lines now ive been sorted out lol but the thing that frustrates me is before finishing the nail i try so hard to get an even smooth finish. the sidewalls dint in sometimes.
:cry:

 

[ValencianNails]

ok well im ok with smile lines now ive been sorted out lol but the thing that frustrates me is before finishing the nail i try so hard to get an even smooth finish. the sidewalls dint in sometimes.
:cry:

That's your application and brush technique... are you using L+P or Gel?

 

[FingerNailFixer]

You mean one thing was supposed to be harder than the others? LOL for me in the begining everything was a nightmare! Other girls in my class seemed to have a natural inclination for everything to do with working with the products and I had to bang my head against the wall on a very regular basis and practice until I thought I would go cross-eyed!

I did not discover amazing education resources right away and so struggled for a really long time! My first hurdle was mix ratio. I knew how to tell I was working too wet and too dry but not how to fix it. It wasn't until I went to a CND master class that Tracy Holborn told me the brush plays a roll in the mix ratio and challenged me to listen! Once I switched to a brush that was the same brand as my liquid and powder the mix ratio practice actually became worthwhile.

Smile lines of course were and still can be a struggle. I have to make a really conscious effort to practice them if I don't do any for a week! It is definitely a skill I admire in others I can't tell you how many times I have watched the smile line spotlight or looked through the geek tutorial!!

Tip blending was the third albatross holding me down and I was 5 years into my nail career before someone finally got it through my thick skull in a way I understood! My beloved Natalia Mihailova taught me to finally blend a tip "ears" and all and I am forever in her debt lol

So really for me there was not just one hardest and it can still be hard! I am always proud of those that stick it out and keep improving themselves no matter how long they have been at it and hope that I always do the same

 

[Cutesteph]

EVERYTHING!

Lol! For me each and every step had to be perfected and some of them still arent there.

Biggest struggles were ratio,amount of product and overall shape.

 

[jackbrooks]

That's your application and brush technique... are you using L+P or Gel?

im using l&p. also i think ive figured it out now haha. when placing the white in zone 1 i think i was leaving the white to heavy at each size. now i make the sides thinner.

 

[aangel]

can i just say thank you for this thread and all those who have posted in it.
i am due to sart my training next week (YEY!!) and i know that its going to be hard, but i have a few worries already.
i have been playing on my nail trainer already and i cant seem to get the ratio right, so thanks, i now have confidence that with the training i will get it right eventually.
and tips, everything to do with tips scares me to death. i have always had an aversion to tips on myself and the thought of working with them and putting them on others realy worries me. i dont like them and atm they dont like me lol. i cant get it on, when i do get it on, i cant blend it, when i do blend it (and that is a rarity) it looks like c**p when i have finished. oh well. as i said, i havnt even started the training yet so im sure i will eventually overcome these and probably find other things i need to work on.
so thank you everyone, it just goes to show that everyone has dificulties in some areas and i now will not feel as bad if i cant get something correct the first time round xxx