American vs overseas manicurist

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MellyDowns

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I live in the USA and have gone to many many nail salons before being so fed up and deciding to go to school to get my license. I have been reading salon geek for awhile now and have noticed that all the geeks from over seas seem to be gentler and looks out for the health of the natural nail. I guess where I am going with this is last week I went with a friend to a higher end salon so she could get gel nails and I noticed a ton of mistakes this person was making first off every nail tech i have seen feels the need to file layers off the natural nail to prep. It doesn't matter if you are getting acrylic, gel, shellac or soak of gel polish. Next is they seem to either make the tips to wide or file half your free edge off. So I was asking this person where they got their training at and if they had to do a conversion course to use the brand of gel he was using. And he looked at me and was like I'm confused what do you mean?????? are you kidding me. Than I asked why he was filing the nail plate so much. Well the product won't stick unless you. Hello????!!!!??? I know I have not graduated yet but come on I feel like I know more than everyone that is qualified and how on earth do these people pass their state boards doing services like these.
Sorry for the rant I just get so annoyed that people continue ruining nails and are uneducated.
End of my rant for today.
 
unfrotunately you'll run into those kind of services every where you go. Here in Canada you don't have to have a license to do nails/beauty/esthetics like you do to do hair. So anyone can just pop up one day and start doing nails. :eek:

Hopefully, once you've completed your course and get your license you'll be able to show your clients the VERY BIG difference there is between you and the unproperly trained.

GL!
 
How do they get professional products than without a license? I had no idea canada didn't require licenses.
 
as an owner of a salon you can get professional products without being a tech...so they just buy for either themselves or employees with the business reference number. If they set up a home salon or mobile a lot of them just go to an open to the public store and get their products there. I am mobile but had the proper training so I can order through accredited suppliers with my diploma #.
Stupid isn't it?!!
 
That's just weird. It's bad enough the people that did pass their boards suck at doing nails I couldn't imagine some of the people doing nails with no training. It's scary lol
 
unfrotunately you'll run into those kind of services every where you go. Here in Canada you don't have to have a license to do nails/beauty/esthetics like you do to do hair. So anyone can just pop up one day and start doing nails. :eek:

Hopefully, once you've completed your course and get your license you'll be able to show your clients the VERY BIG difference there is between you and the unproperly trained.

GL!


Here in New Brunswick Canada you DO have to be licensed and have a minimum amount of both practical and study hours. The testing is very stringent.
 
How do they do the state licensing exam in California? In Illinois, I just had to go to city hall and take a paper exam and pass with 95% or higher in order to get a nail tech license. And they have to check with the training school that I was an actual student there and did my 350 hours of study/training. So really it all falls on the school and their decision whether they'll ok you to go to city hall or not. The methods we pick up all initially come from our instructors and tutors, and unfortunately not all of them are teaching correctly. And unfortunately, some may never correct poor methods because they don't go to seminars or company conversion courses, so they don't know what they're doing is wrong ie. filing too much of the natural nail off.
 
You have to complete 400 hours and than pass a practical exam and test.
 
Is the practical exam held by the state or the school?
 
In Nevada which is really close to me they require 600 hours and you have to test with the Nevada state cosmetology board to get your license as well
 
Just because some one is licensed or not dose not automatically make them better or worse , in Uk there is no licence , or here In Germany ,

Here I see both sides as we are at an American base , some of the american techs here although licensed in the states don't have a clue about there products of other things.
 
I think generalizations are a bad thing. There are both good and bad techs everywhere.
 
They can only overlook and regulate so many things. The license is only to say you've done some training, you know the basics, and you got the green light to call yourself a nail tech. It's really up to each individual tech to seek further training and education. I've been trying to convince my friends back home, also nail techs, to train with a few companies, but they always put it off. I know they feel they know enough just cuz they've done their 350 hrs already, but I went to the same school, and I know it's not enough. It's kinda frustrating.
 
I think generalizations are a bad thing. There are both good and bad techs everywhere.

No body said that there was not,
Education and requirements are different in different parts of the world unless you experience it or share and compare like grown ups how would any one know?
 
Here in New Brunswick Canada you DO have to be licensed and have a minimum amount of both practical and study hours. The testing is very stringent.

yes I know in the maritimes there is some licensing, and also I believe in Alberta...but generally not much of it happening as a whole...sorry to generalise :)
 
I would say it is a difference in overall approach to nails - I read US nail forum and it is sooo different.
Last thing that almost killed me was a long thread about removing gel polishes with an e-file.. Appears a lot of techs is doing it this way.. And they see no problem with that.
And we were having a discussion here about how srcaping a nail with a wooden stick can be dangerous :D

But in Europe you can also see differences between countries - I worked long in Poland, now I am working in Germany, and it is different. And I am not talking about particular nail tech - we are not all the same - but about approach: what is important in service, what is taught during classes, what is expected by a client etc. Interesting for me :) And lucky for me, what I learned in Poland is very appreciated here.
 
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I think the only difference between being a nail tech in the US and a nail tech in the UK is the accents. I've seen bad practice in the States, and I've seen bad practice here in the UK. And I've seen awesome work from both places. It's unfair to tarnish all Americans (or other country) with the same brush based off a few bad apples seen on some forum, or a few salons, ect. as we have techs here on SG from all over the world, including the US. To really get a glimpse of what proper nail techs are like in other countries, I suggest flipping through a nail magazine or 2 from another country. You'll see they all do have techs who do things properly. (For eye popping nail art, look through the Mexican and Japanese publication... But I digress.) Because of difference in country, I'm sure there are slight differences, but the practice must be very similar or pretty much the same cuz how else would I, and other American geeks be able to pop on SG and understand fully what's being discussed on a daily basis?
 
Bad practices exist regardless of continent. To generalize all US nail techs as bad is unfair. I'm a US nail tech, however, I don't endanger my clients' nail health whatsoever.

But then again I'm not your average nail tech because I am a nail professional. And a damn good one at that.
 
I think the only difference between being a nail tech in the US and a nail tech in the UK is the accents. I've seen bad practice in the States, and I've seen bad practice here in the UK. And I've seen awesome work from both places. It's unfair to tarnish all Americans (or other country) with the same brush based off a few bad apples seen on some forum, or a few salons, ect. as we have techs here on SG from all over the world, including the US. To really get a glimpse of what proper nail techs are like in other countries, I suggest flipping through a nail magazine or 2 from another country. You'll see they all do have techs who do things properly. (For eye popping nail art, look through the Mexican and Japanese publication... But I digress.) Because of difference in country, I'm sure there are slight differences, but the practice must be very similar or pretty much the same cuz how else would I, and other American geeks be able to pop on SG and understand fully what's being discussed on a daily basis?

Can I ask why you moved to the UK and is it permanent. Just curious...:p
 

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