I became hooked on nails 2 years ago and trained as a tech but then developed a sensitivity to the gels and so have been branching out into other areas of beauty and really enjoying it. I am now very seriously considering training as a beauty therapist, but with soooo many courses to choose from ranging from several days of intensive training to months of a couple of hours a week.......... how do I choose what's best and value for money.

I have looked at Sassy's advise at the following link (Thanks Sassy), but the mind still boggles. http://www.salongeek.com/training/27...-i-choose.html

I thought I would post a poll to see if you were happy with your beauty training and thought it was value for money. Please feel free to comment on with whom you trained, for how long and if you found it a good learning experience.

I did my training at two colleges & didn't have to pay as i was only 16.

The only thing that was 100% rubbish was the nail training natural & enhancements.

If i had to do it again i would still choose a college over private intense learning as i take ages to absorb all the info & enjoyed practising at college not home

I did mine last year with my local college - I did an NVQ L2 part time

I really enjoyed it & my tutor was fab, i would do the same again as i think i take longer to take things in so college for me was ideal x

Snugglepuss has also posted a poll about nail training. I didn't realize this when posting mine, although mine is about beauty training. So just bumping this up now. Comments please geeks.

Hey im currently doing at my training in beuaty therapy and body therapy at a private college and while it is very expensive it is brilliant, My course will take to 2 years which is shorter than if i did at a local college, having spoke to people who did parts at local college and parts at my college they have all said it was worth the money and if money wasnt an issue they would have chosen to there course private. Having said that im sure course's at local colleges are great too xx hope was a help xx

I did my training at fareham college for mani/pedi over a course of 35 weeks and then went to highbury college in portsmouth to do a course in acrylics , i did it part time over 12 weeks. Enjoyed learning and i had a really good tutor.
But will do an advanced course in l&p as want to up my skills. then i wanna go on to do fabrics and gels.

kirsty xx
vtct in mani/pedi
vtct in acrylics

I did my level 2 in cosmetic makeup at Fareham College and it was dire .. only good thing was that because I get working tax credits I got the course for free. It was totally disorganised. The tutor was really a hair tutor and had only done this makeup course herself the previous year so had no experience in the field as it were. I would never do a college course there again, I was so disappointed as they have won all sorts of awards for their beauty training school. I haven't even taken my cert out of its envelope as it has no value to me (should have read my own article lol!)

I now use Kim (Kim Sexton on here) at The Cottage Training Centre in Hythe and find her way of teaching really suits me. They are short courses leading to a VTCT NVQ. BUT you have to be very self motivated and feel confident to work without constant supervision (not that in my experience you get much on a college course anyway)as a lot of home study is required. Her classes are small (no more than 4) with an option of 1 to 1 training as well. Compared to college courses it'a a lot more, but I know I will get trained well by Kim and I'd rather pay that bit extra (Hmm maybe I did take notice of my article after all lol)

I also went to Fareham college and I found it fantastic.It really is down to what lecturer you get.My lecturer in level 2 was an absolute gem.She knew her beauty therapy inside out,you could ask her anything and she knew practically all of it,if she didn't know something she would come into college the next day and would have looked up your question so she could answer it.

She has now retired but I will always 100%respect that lecturer.She never had a single day off in the whole of the year and she was just lovely.

We didn't have big classes either,though obviously bigger than private classes.

My daughter went to the same college and had nothing but problems,indeed quite often classes would be cancelled because of staffing problems.

I had Kim Sexton for my level 3,she obviously isn't at Fareham anymore.I think I remember her and other staff saying they were very overworked.

It's unfortunate that there are always going to be bad lecturers/teachers in all walks of life but I wouldn't brand a college or school bad because of a few bad apples.

Fot me college rules everytime,but this is just my opinion.I had to pay for all my training as I was a mature student but it's a lot cheaper than private training.

My GF went to Tameside college which is a local college and did NVQ 2 and then NVQ 3 took about 2.5 years with the nails.

I went to a private beauty academy which cost approx £3000 for level 2. It was costly but the training was outstanding. I cannot praise it or its tutors enough. It was not just fantastic training, but you were told "extra" bits like how to set the room, tips to make treatments more luxurious and where to buy stock, products etc. All the tutors were practising therapists so were completly aware of the trade in all aspects. I really feel my training was worth every penny.

I'm still training online through Elearnuk. It a moduled course which goes through - Anatomy and Physiology of the Skin, Anatomy of the Nail, Manicure, Pedicure, The Process of Nail Growth, Client Consultation and Communication, Tip Types and Tip Customisation, The Gel System, The Fibre System & Maintenance, Nail Enhancement Removal, Health and Hygiene and Marketing and Starting your own Salon/Nail Business.
It is alot to cover, but as I am doing it from home I thought it would thoroughly train me to become a knowledgable Nail Technician - How wrong was I? The course material is total rubbish, and doesn't contain important points that a technician needs to know.
And the funny thing is, it's marketed as the FEATURED COURSE on the Elearnuk website!
For £400 & a free crappy starter set of bottom of the range products it is a waste of money. I will have to train somewhere else and so that's £400 down the drain!

Has anybody else trained with Elearnuk?

I did my NVQ2 Beauty as my local college for which I had to pay for. It was OK for a basic underpinning knowledge but did feel that it only gave me the basics. didnt feel it was enough for me to feel confident in a salon environment straight away!

The did not do Nail enhancement training there so had to do this separately. I learned this mostly by being taught by the girls in the salon where i worked initially but only in the system that they sed which was Backscratchers extreme. I then got certificated in this my Supernail on a one day 121 course, but it isnt a system I would chose and I now use Biosculpture, which there training was better.

Am going to try some of the shorter courses next year that are available via Pinks training academy which are also ones that were described earlier by Sass, where you learn alot away from the course and then go back for your assessments.

Our education system for beauty therapists is completely different, and varies from state to state (you would think that one country would have the same regulations across the board for this but that won't happen) I must have liked school and gotten my money's worth seeing that I now teach in the school that I attended....hmmm. It took me 11 months and 13 days to complete the 2000 clock hour program, I sat for my assessement the Monday after I graduated and began work Tuesday morning. I haven't looked back except to chuckle at how far I've come and how much the industry as a whole has changed.

Please Please do not let the dagger, flat, shovel shaped nails that were so popular in the early 1990's come back!!! I'll stick with a nice natural looking enhancement any day!!!