A bad full set

[VintageEsmerelda]

I'm a nail tech in training and I'm coming to the end of my gel nail extension course. My college has a salon attached to it and I had my first day there yesterday. I did a full set on a client and I came away disappointed because I wasn't happy with my work. It wasn't as smooth as it should have been and bumpy in areas. She was in a rush to leave which meant I was rushing. I'm practicing my butt of in class on other students and home with whoever will let me do a set and I thought my work was ok. Now I'm in doubt. Part of me says it's because I was rushing but the other part has me doubting my work in general. I don't like knowing someone has gone away wishing they never bothered to get their nails done. She didn't say that but that's I felt. Also bumpy is not the type of work I want to put out.

I know I'm still a student but is this normal?

 

[JessHens]

Don't be so hard on yourself.. I'm not even studying yet and can only imaging how tough it would be.. Don't let 1 client get you down.. I'm sure they understand that most of the work done in the Salon are done by people who are training so they need to expect that all the work won't be 100%
Maybe if your able to contact that client and ask if they can come back in as you feel your work wasn't up to the standard that you would normally do and offer to re do them? (Maybe speak with one of your trainers first)
Keep going what's the old saying 'Practice makes perfect!' Everyone started out where you are now
Xx

 

[Disneyprincess1999]

It is 100% not your fault ,, a client cannot rush you to complete and expect them to be perfect, it’s like if your making a cake and you try and rush cooking it, it won’t work. So don’t be so hard on yourself.

 

[laurakate]

Client's fault entirely. I don't feel it's appropriate to rush someone and then expect a perfect outcome, particularly when going to a training college where people are still learning and may need to take their time anyway.

 

[Angelaznailz]

When I think of the nails I produced when I was training, I cringe. [emoji85]
Don’t be hard on yourself. Every set you do will be better than the last. X

 

[AcidPerm]

I'm a nail tech in training and I'm coming to the end of my gel nail extension course. My college has a salon attached to it and I had my first day there yesterday. She was in a rush to leave which meant I was rushing.
...I know I'm still a student but is this normal?

Try not to over think this. You are still training and at this stage you should be focusing on application technique rather than speed. The speed will come when you have more experience.

Clients using a college training salon are supposed to be told when booking to allow x amount of time for the service as students are still in training but fully supervised. If they have time constraints, they need to book into a normal salon that employs fully trained and experienced techs and pay the going rate!
In this case, your tutor should have stepped in to ask the client to be more patient and to allow you to complete the service in a reasonable time.

A cautionary tale:
I had this happen to me once at the Sassoon Academy in London when I was completing a cutting course there. I was already level 3 qualified but wanted to improve my techniques.
The normal Sassoon hair salon in Bond Street charges high end prices for a cut and finish but the training salon only charges something like £12. Unfortunately, my client wanted a decent hair cut but on the cheap as she was going straight out for a job interview and deliberately ignored the advice about length of appointment.
During training you have to wait for the tutor to check the section before you're allowed to move to a different part of the head, so the whole process is very time consuming but thorough.
She wanted to leave and my tutor became increasingly annoyed with her the more she argued and it was quite a spectacle.
I did feel a bit sorry for her but she acknowledged that she'd been told to allow 2 hours for the appointment and had deliberately ignored it and had hoped to be done in 40 minutes.
The client kept asking me to just quickly finish it off so she could get going for her interview but my tutor was very firm with her and wouldn't allow me to just finish it off quickly.
She'd gone from shoulder length straight hair to a chin length graduated bob but left with only one side of her hair properly cut!!

 

[Amanda1987]

Don't get yourself down. A client in a rush is pressure for anyone nevermind a practising nail tech. She should have taken that into consideration but you can never please everyone. It will come with time and practise, don't give up! If you hadn't been feeling under pressure the bumps could have been fixed with a bit of buffing. My advice would be photograph every set you do and you can see your own progress. Good luck x

 

[Modify Me]

Newbie here
I’m finding that there is so much encouragement from everyone on here and this is very reassuring. I have just done my training and in the process now of buying the products and doing some extra training on practice hands which I’ve purchased before I start my adventure in the nail industry. It’s good to hear that I can ask questions, even if they may sound silly and get a decent honest answer. Certainly nothing like the other industry I work in where everyone is so protective not to give out too much knowledge.

Thanks all

 

[VintageEsmerelda]

Thanks for all the positive replies. It was haunting me a bit. I just never want to produce really bad work like that but totally agree it was rushed and I just can't work that fast yet.

 

[Hcnails48]

Oh my gosh....please do not worry!! I am pretty newly qualified and being rushed is just the worst, I did an application on my Mum no problem at all, did the same application on my first customer the day after and it was a disaster, she was used to very quick service couldn’t understand why I didn’t use an efile basiacally wanted me in and out of there in an hour, I ended up splitting some of the tips, sticking the tips on wonky so having to remove and re do, I literally walked out of there wanting to cry (I was mobile at the time as well so it didn’t help that her house was like a sauna, her table was so wide I had to kneel and I had a dog with his head on my lap) everyday I worry that o am not good enough. One tip I would give you some s to tell clients how long you will take on booking, that way everyone knows where they stand, you won’t feel the pressure to rush because you have told them it will take you 2.5-3hrs(for an example). I would assume this client would have been aware that you were training so it is totally unfair for her to come and rush you. Xx