Are you a Full Service Technician?

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How many of you are full Service Technicians?

  • I offer one nail enhancement option

    Votes: 102 28.0%
  • I offer 2 different enhancement options

    Votes: 96 26.4%
  • I offer 3 different enhancemnet options

    Votes: 27 7.4%
  • I offer a Full Service menu

    Votes: 139 38.2%

  • Total voters
    364

geeg

Judge Gigi-Honorary Geek
Joined
Jan 12, 2003
Messages
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Location
Benissa, Costa Blanca, Spain
It has always been my opinion that to offer the best service in the salon, a nail technican should be proficient at all enhancement systems i.e. Liquid & Powder (including sculpted nails and pink and white) Gel, and wraps as well as natural nail services (manicures and pedicures). and that the technician should know each of these systems inside and out so that there is no hesitation in performing any of them.

If one is not skilled at all of these services at present, then my advice is to make it a goal over the next year that you will work toward achieving.

What do you do?
 
hi all :0)

i absolutely agree with geeg that a true tech is able to provide all 3 enhancements types.
In my situation i have been a mobile gel tech for about 4 mths now and am not very successful, i have tried my hardest and may i say i still am trying to get people to have enhancements. I am determined though that i will have clients one day where i can class myself as a good tech like the rest of you pros out there. I would love more than anything to be able to afford to do all 3 services but unfortunately i cant untill i get a good enough clientelle to cover even what i have spent up to now (which by doing calgel as you all know isnt the cheapest system lol). Also i love doing nails but dont feel i am up to a good enough standard to be able to start learning a new system as of yet. I always wanted to do gels for about 2 yrs where i can get up to a high standard then move onto doing acrylic also and then eventually wraps which i hope is what i will do so in the end lol i will be a great tech who can provide all the services. I suppose that as im just starting out really compared to some then i feel i should learn to walk before running (hope thats the right saying couldnt quite remember it lol)

thats my opinion on this anyway, i just hope one day i can be like you geeg and the other techs out there who have been so successful in the nail industry and who others look up to.

Collette :D (great poll by the way)
 
At the moment I only offer Pink and White L&P's. As I only finished my course in April, I want to get to grips fully with this service first before I try anything else, as clearly there are still places I can perfect. Additionally, I offer Manicures and Pedicures.

When I feel happy with this then I want to go on and try out 'Fabric' and then 'Faze'. I will do the same with those as well, once I am happy and confident with them, I will try something else. Eventually, I will then have a number of services to offer my customers. :D
 
I know exactly where you're coming from when you say that it takes time to even get the money together to learn more than one system. I did a course with Star Nails learning manicures and gel to start with, then a conversion day on acrylic. Never got on with their products :( and so then took another £300 course with Bio Sculpture as my new gel :) . Decided I wanted to use the Retention + from Creative as my new L & P and am using that from time to time now (I managed to get someone else to buy it for me!) ;) . Obviously I can't buy any of this product myself until either being qualified a whole year or taking their foundation course so I've now booked myself onto that in September - didn't have to as it will then be a year since starting out but have decided from what I've heard that Creative are the best and so feel I should do the course. All in all I've spent around £3000 on nail training and products since starting out and have earned back just over £1000 from it :rolleyes: . It's a very very costly business and the time and money it takes for a technician to get to be able to offer a full service is huge! Hopefully, one day we will all get there - for now I'm just real glad I've got a full time job to subsidise all this! :D
 
I offer gels and f/g or silk wraps. I have stopped L&P mainly because the L part of it and me, we disagree very much!! Even the most odorless of the odorless has a slight tendancy to make me sick and I usually end my day with a migraine... :evil:
I also offer natural nails treatments, and will not try to convince people to have enhancements if they don't need it or don't want to. It is their choice first, and I will help them whichever choice they make.
 
I have done a lot of training because I wanted to be able to offer all nail services and the only things I ever felt at complete ease with were fibreglass or natural gel. I have never mastered french gel or french acrylic and have in the past persuaded my clients to have anything but french, sad I know but thats how I was.
Although still quite nervous about doing french, since doing my foundation with creative I now don`t shy away from pink and white L&P. I have a long way to go with training but I never was one to master one before leaping to another and don`t regret doing it that way. My only regret is not finding creative 3 yrs ago.
 
Of course learning is progressive and you need to master 1 system (whatever it is) and it makes learning another much easier. At least you go in to the next system knowing how to SHAPE the nails and how to FILE the nails and how to PREP the nails etc.

Wraps are VERY easy and now with Fabric# even easier and STRONGER. I always suggest you make wraps your 2nd system because you can master it so quickly. Some complain they are 'fiddly' to do but really this is not so once you get used to the routine.

I always suggest L&P as the first system to learn because if you can master it you can master anything!!

Using gel is a different technique entirely but relatively quick to learn after L&P because you have already become au fait using a brush!!

Everyone complains about the cost of learning and of course it is a large consideration but ANY PROFESSION that is going to give you the income that doing great nails is going to generate will cost. And buying the best products will cost. Some people spend 4-6 years at University before starting out on a 'career' at what cost. A great nail technician makes more than a 4 year qualified Nurse!!

Nails is a profession if YOU want it to be -- not a pastime or a hobby.

Many people do not give the professional nail technician the respect that she is due having forked out on the best education and products and in many cases salons because they don't see nails as a profession in its own right ... sometimes not even the people who enter our profession really know just what a (not good) but great living can be derived if one goes about it the right way.

You have to PAY somewhere along he line to become a professional at anything. Might as well source the best right from the beginning or you will only have to do it later. And if you find it hard to afford it, go to the bank and get a loan like any other student to help to fund your training. It will be worth it in the end.
 
i have been in the industry for over 10 years but unfortunately for me when i first started i didn't get the best training or use the best products - i feel i don't need to mention any names here!!! :D
For the last 6 years though i have been in touch with Creative in products and training and it is well worth the outlay believe me :D To get the best results, no services breakdown(clients returning b4 they are due) and great job satisfaction. this then means your prices can increase and you can recoup the money you outlayed in the beginning.
i totally agree with GEEG IN THAT THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE AND TECHS THAT DON'T LOOK AT US AS PROFESSIONALS - IF YOU DON'T TAKE YOURSELF SERIOUSLY HOW DO YOU EXPECT ANYONE ELSE TO?
good luck with your businesses and your training
 
I offer L&P, Gel, fibreglass, natural nail care and manicures (from basic to spa). I'm afraid I've heard too many horror stories about skanky feet so I avoid pedicures like the plague! :shock:

Jackie
 
:D hi
i have done gel courses,sudo air brushing nails,tanning,body art,manicures,pedicures,nail art free hand,i have done these about a year ago and i have only opened up from home to do with sudo tanning i have done an ibd course and a ten nails coures and i use gentel gel 1 from nails of excellence can anyone tell me what is a l&p that you are all talking about? :oops:
 
hiye dye :D
l & p is an abreviation for liquid & powder.
a lot of people still use the term "acrylic" when refering to l & p systems.
while i was re-educating my staff & clients, i refered to this system as "liquid & powder acrylic".
we now just use the term l & p.
hope this helps :D
lol liza xx
 
:rolleyes:hi
how do you get a pic along side your messages please can you let me know
 
I offer L&P, airbrushing, manicures (basic and spa) pedicures (spa) and some other treatments. Waiting for CND to realease the gel and will do that as well
 
I have been doing gel nails now for 2 years and really like the finish, but, I was determined to master L & P as it was in that I initially trained six years ago. Making the decision to go for my master technician status was the turning point for me, after completing two of the core classes I am delighted to say that suddenley the light went on. My thanks to Dianne Plumber at Leeds for flicking the light switch for me, terrific tutor who has made it worthwhile.
I purchased the Fabric try me last year and after doing the conversion early this year I really felt the benefit, comfortable before, knowlegable after.
Have always limped on with L & P before but now glide through.
My advice to anyone is abit like estate agents only not location, location, location, but education, education, education.

Lynda
 
I trained in all systems L&P, Gel & FB. However I have come to only offer L&P, my clients are happy with this and rarely lose business because I only offer the one enhancement system. Doing hairdressing as well when I was mobile it was an awfull lot to lug about so i just settled with the system I was happiest using. Now I have my homebased nail salon I also offer waxing, smilegems, peds and mans. Hairdressing is still mobile but nail clients i try to persuade them to come to me.
 
Hiya, Totally agree with Geeg here, i offer L&P, sculpterd and pink and white, gel and wraps, also manicures pedicures, eye treatments, facials, waxing, spray tanning and nail art/airbrush nail art!!!


Must say allthough i have done Beauty Therapy i dont like it that much!!! I am a nail freak:cool:

Amanda
 
geeg said:
It has always been my opinion that to offer the best service in the salon, a nail technican should be proficient at all enhancement systems i.e. Liquid & Powder (including sculpted nails and pink and white) Gel, and wraps as well as natural nail services (manicures and pedicures). and that the technician should know each of these systems inside and out so that there is no hesitation in performing any of them.

If one is not skilled at all of these services at present, then my advice is to make it a goal over the next year that you will work toward achieving.

What do you do?
Hey,

I totally agree with Geeg, I offer a full range of nail treatments, including manicures & pedicures, but I must say I am a personal fan of Silk/Fibreglass....whenever clients prefer L&P or Gel then I do not try to persuade them into having anything else.
Nails is my secondary treatment as a lot of my time is taken up carrying out Micropigmentation procedures. xx
 
I offer EZFlow l/p at the moment but am soon to be offering gel and fibre. Although I learned??? all 3 systems at college, l/p is the system I have taken more courses in and have specialised in. But this year I am making a concerted effort to be an expert in all 3, Master Artist being my personal goal in 2005.
 
I have two cousins who work in UK hospitals and, unfortunately, it's really not that hard to surpass a registered nurse's wage. How much does a good UK nail tech make on average in and out of London, by the way?

My belief is that a true nail technician applies nail enhancements with agility, capability and integrity. Fullstop. Some markets do not cater for certain services and, in my case, mine is one of them where wraps just don't rate a blip on the screen. While it's all fine and dandy to raise the bar and set a standard, in order to operate from a commercial perspective a service must be a viable one - ie. people want and will pay for a wrap service. I have no hesitation spending on education and ensuring that I have the right equipment, subscribe to the right magazines and circulate in the appropriate networking circles - this is all part and parcel of the professionalism that entails a trade service. But what I won't do is throw money out the window specialising in a service that I simply won't use. Sometimes it is just not possible to deliver a service and this occurs in every profession, nursing included. And, in my book, that does not make me or anyone else in my position (Australia's market focusses on L&P and gel) any less of a nail technician.

Where I was trained, the college's idea of a true nail technician was one who possessed excellent people skills, knew what infection control was and knew how to implement it in her salon, performed natural services such as manicures and pedicures, was able to perform reconstructive services such as the application of enhancements to deformed nails or arthritic hands as well as sculpt, tip, gel and use modern equipment such as the drill. (Yes, in some places it's an electric file but where I'm from, we call it a drill).:) I would wager than not everyone in here offers this complete package. Does that make them faux nailies too?

I note that there is some focus on those trying to make a quick buck and I find that an unfortunate stigmatism. It's like the ol' single mothers stereotype: they're all on the dole and bludging. Both assumptions, to my mind, are unfortunate and not necessarily true. My ire is saved for nail bars using inferior products and no knowledge of English. This, to me, is far more of a concern than the sole operator who uses superglue.

So, why not focus instead on how we can support those who might not have access to the education we have had nor necessarily have the funds to make their dreams real right now? And if legislation is not supporting the field then what's stopping us from creating our own code of practice?
 
I keep a full holster (aka drawer) of products from gel and l&p to every imaginable wrap material. And I quite enjoy the natural nail manicures and pedicures as well as paraffin dips and speed waxing. The only service I don't offer is airbrushing but hope to add it soon. Just have to find room for one more appliance!
 

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