Hey guys,

I am in such a pickle and would really appreciate some words of support, advice, or whatever but i need to talk to people who might understand a bit better then either my partner (as lovely as he is, he doesnt really understand all this beauty malarky) or my mates who, i don't feel, take me seriously.

Basically here is my story, see what you think...

In 2007 i decided beauty was the path for me and decided to enrol on a Beauty NVQ 2 which started September 2008 so in the meantime to keep me busy and interested i did a City and Guilds Manicure course which i passed in March 08.

Having been bitten by the nail bug i attended the NSI academy and took the L&P Foundation course, i really enjoyed the course and could feel myself being sucked in by all the talk the lecturers gave. Anyway i went away fairly confident i could get my assignment complete (10 sets of acrylics) by december when i had my assessment. Anyway, i did my mums nails, my sisters and one paying customers but then the guinea pigs dried up and so did my enthusiasm as my mum hates acrylic nails anyway, my sister only agreed to help me she is soooo not the sort of person that would wear fake nails and the girl who paid me cracked them all two days later working in a pub! I put my assessment back to Jan 09.

In the meantime i started my beauty course, loved, loved, loved it....but.....two weeks in i find out i am pregnant! I am over the moon about it but the pressure was really on to learn all the treatments and complete assessments. it came to May 09 and i was due in June, i was still traipsing in and out of college to complete my assessments. I had passed all my course exams at 90%+ and had apprx 5 assessments left but i was 38 weeks pregnant and having to drive 30miles to college. i finally gave in and told my lecturers i wanted to defer to this september which at the time they said was fine although they were disappointed. I was gutted, especially now i have had my baby and my enthusiasm has come back, i could really do with the money the treatments could be bringing in.

Anyway, so here we are in August almost and i didnt pass my NSI course YET, i didnt pass my beauty course YET and i have some more news.

Now all my enthusiasm has come flooding back i have enrolled on a foundation & advanced combined make-up course at The Academy of Freelance Make-up which set me back £2400 and starts in nov for 6 weeks! I am soooooo excited as the best bit of my beauty course was the make-up as i could be as creative as i liked without hurting people (unlike waxing!).

So as you can see i dont appear to have a great track record with courses and as a result i think my nearest and dearest have lost confidence in my abilities. i KNOW i am going to make a great beautician, make-up artist, nail tech one day but i just feel like i need some support and gee-ing up!

i have my manicure qualification but dont use it which feels a waste but u cant just be a manicurist surely! i need to be qualified properly before i can offer all the other treatments i know i can do!!! Its so frustrating!! or perhaps i can do them for trainee rates until i have sorted this mess out! I really need ones of u mega geeks help me see more clearly! i know where i wanna go in life but what next...

sorry bout the huge rant it is now over. oh yeh - i had a gorgeous little boy called Logan, he is now 2mths.

Just wanted to say congrats!

I cant really advise you as i onlypassed in the spring but is there a way of offering acrylic nails at a reduced rate 'model rates', so you can gain experiance and then qualify so that you could offer acrylics as well as manicures?

At the begining i was finding it hard to juggle everything but someone said to me that if you want something bad enough you will find a way to do it..
It all takes time and determination (and im an impatient person lol!!) wishing you the best of luck! xx

Could you put an ad in your local shop for models? Do them at cost or even free to get them in the door, and you should have your numbers up, and your skills too!

This would be better as a blog:

The voice inside says "blog it"