This will no doubt be unpopular post but if I don't voice my opinion then I will explode.

I, like many others, came into this business from the 'other side of the nail desk' ie as a client. I like many others thought it looked easy and and more to the point, an easy way to make money. To her credit my nailtech said if you feel like that go and train with Creative and this is how I found this site.

At no point (despite it looking easy) did I think I was going to cover it all in a day, just to cover the bottles and tools on the desk I thought would take me a week. More to the point I knew it would be expensive

I don't suppose I could learn brain surgery, mono cycling, hairdressing, oil painting, plumbing etc etc etc overnight SO

WHY DO PEOPLE THINK THEY CAN DO NAILS AS A SIDELINE, HOBBY, ADD ON ETC ETC ON A ONE DAY COURSE ETC AND EXPECT IT ON THE CHEAP

If you can't afford to give up a full time job then you have to take holiday for the days of the course and give up a lot of personal time to practise. If you can't afford it then you have to save up.

I was only able to do this because at 50 life was easier than in younger life but when I was younger I had to make sacrifices to do the things I really wanted.

This is just my personal opinion - feel free to comment

i also like you decided to do nails from being a client.i didnt think it was going to be easy though,i decided to do it because it was something i really enjoyed.
i was working full time when i did my course so i took it as holiday and did it in between.
i did have a friend who thought exactly what you said about it being easy and she even boasted that she was doing a better course than me because it was easier and cheaper.well she was right for that bit but it also gave her an un recognisable qualification that wouldnt allow her to get a trade card.so she doesnt talk about it anymore. ( i was professional and did not bad mouth her even though i soooooooo wanted to) and we are still good friends to this day.
so even though she tried to do a 'quick and easy' course she soon found out the hard way.

Adele thank you for this, way to go hun honestly. I wanted to quote you on this as I couldn't remember everything you said! Must be old age

I have worked all my life and always wanted to do this but my finances wouldn't allow it. I came to a point in my life when the opportunity faced me and I took it, an expensive mistake at first. Saying that I found an ace company and have progressed, a lot of money, a lot of training and now I feel I am getting there, I will never stop learning and even want to compete now.

It is all about commitment and a passion I think, not a quick way to earn a buck.

Totally agree Adele and tbh it pee's me off when people think they can learn everything to be sucessful in a day or 2
I have been doing nails for 8 years now and I am still taking courses and still learning new things I have spent lots of time and money to learn this trade and I would say to anyone thinking of becoming a nail tech to save and get the best training you can, Practise day and night and learn every aspect of health and safety and understand that you will be working with chemicals which can cause damage if not used correctly.

So glad I'm not alone. Well I knew I wasn't really but there are many who don't seem to 'get it'

I would say 80% of the clients I see say at some time during the service "y'know I think I might go and do a nail course"

If they say anymore about it, then I will go on about reputable companies, and on the odd occasion have pulled out a training pack and quoted them a price..which I explain will only be the start of it if they ever want to get anywhere..
They sort of do a discus ted HOW MUCH !!!! face

Then there's the ones who say "well I will only do my own nails, it will be cheaper in the long run"
Then I explain my £40 brush...etc...
Then how difficult it actually is to do a lovely set on yourself..blah blah...

Nothing ever comes of it.

I never want to put anybody off...that's not why I do it,
But I DO want them to realise it is a serious profession and not to be taken lightly at all...

I would gladly give all the help in the world to the genuine people wanting to learn the correct way.. but the rest can kiss my rather rounded bottom

I began nails as I had left my job and couldn't see me being able to get another for at least a year..so thought "what can I do..that will give me a career and fit around my kids etc"

I didn't want instant anything, I wanted something to stimulate my brain..and give me a purpose,
After looking after my kids, then having dull job after dull job, that required NO brain work whatsoever,
I needed waking up again !

I was over the moon when I discovered there were many a course to be taken after I had "qualified"

I weighed up everything, thought hard and went for it..
Just in time too, me and my best mate got the last 2 places on the course...it had only been open for places for 1 day ...phew !!!

Yup agree 100% with you Adele - what else can I say???

Interesting, I'm doing a unit in beauty covering manicure and I'm doing my bio sculpture course at the end of the month. I realise it will be quite a while and lots of practise before I can do a professional job of the gel nails. What further courses would you guys recommend???

Well now I wouldn't stop anyone from taking any kind of course, no matter what the length. However I think it is wrong of people to think that after a couple of days it means they are qualified and can call themselves a nail tech. And I back this up to any kind of course. For example I took a one day course in facials. Of course I knew that it wouldn't make me great at doing facials, but it gave me the basics to work on. I read and read and practised and asked clients for feedback and keep striving to get better. It was the same with nails. I don;t think I felt truly competent until after about 2 years and that was doing them full time, day in day out ... never mind the odd set as a hobby.

However (and I have done a thread on this some time ago) I think some of the onus is on the suppliers. You know - do a 1 nail course and earn £100's a day. No wonder people are misled that they can do it.

yay another hayley! have you thought about doing pedis hun? or perhaps nail art, or L&P? theres lots to choose from!

I did not leave a crappy job to get into this industry (somehow makes me feel less worthy?) I had been to uni and was just waiting for the right time financially for me to train (that actually means I was waiting for my bf to earn enough cash to pay our bills lol)

I'm sorry if I sound harsh, and I really truly agree with the OP, but it's only beauty! We arent martyrs, and nobody held a gun to our heads and forced us to train. Yes we sacrificed a lot, as full time or even part time training for any vocation can be time consuming and very expensive. Yes we all had lots of homework to do.....but come on geeks lighten up! be proud, not full of self pity!

I'm not having a pop at anyone on here, and I agree with every single one fo you that has posted, just want to cheer you all up and put a positive spin on things!


I would like to point out that I have never been on the other side of the desk, so did not enter this industry as a client, but I would be a bit annoyed if one of my clients decided to do a cheap crappy course to get into this industry and start ripping people off, but I would be far more worried if they decided to go down the route I had chosen, train properly, practice like mad, and become a real threat to my biz!!!

Good post Adel, and one with which all professionals would agree I'm sure.

The ones who would not agree with you are the ones who have entered the nail industry with a 'money' motive and no passion or love for what they do. They are the ones who trash clients' nails and have no idea how to care and nurture them, nor could they care less. They are the ones who 'know it all' in 5 minutes because that is all they want to know, because they think they CAN. They are also the ones who do not succeed.

Seeing this attitude is annoying and irritating to professionals as it is these ones that have led to the low opinion that many have of nail technicians in general.

Happily, thinking women get referrals and choose real professionals. Unhappily many do not.

I agree totally but I read so many posts from people complaining about the cost of courses and finding the time to do them when they wouldn't expect to become any other sort of professional overnight.

One of the biggest problems in our industry is that 90% of the people who go into it go into it underfunded!

They are young (ish) .. think nails look cool and fun to do ... they have no money ... they do cheap courses ... they end up doing pants nails and no business.

Then you get some others who have the money and go into nails because they think it looks cool and fun to do and "they've always wanted a salon"!!
They open up ... have the fun of decorating it all ... spend their money on the curtains rather than correct ventilation ... they end up doing pants nails and no business.

What can you do?? This is people isn't it?

Too right

I so agree! if you look on auction sites, theres always load of listings of job lots of nail bits (usually from a very low end company) and the seller often admits to going into it blind and not realising whats involved.

This makes me question the level of training they recieved in the first place!

THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR GOOD TRAINING, NO MATTER HOW EXPENSIVE IT MAY SEEM, OR LONG WINDED!

Some people think they can learn it in a few hours! But some companies still churn out crap techs on a daily basis! Why? I think its purely financial gain.