Bad Training - What now??

[ninki101]

Hi Guys,
Iv recently done a 4day nail technician course which covered (or at least claimed to cover) Manicure, Pedicure, Gel & Acrylic Extensions... £600.
Well, now I know how stupid I was to think that a course as short as this was going to give me all the information, knowledge and practice that I need to start working for myself as a nail technician. Problem is that I didn't realise this until I had paid for the course, equipment and an in home salon. All in all Iv spent about 2 grand and now feel that all this has been wasted as I do not have to knowledge or experience I need to produce good quality, long lasting nails. I have done about 10 peoples nails so far (mainly family and friends) charging £15 a time and have done a good job, but the majority of them haven't lasted longer than a week. I'm pretty confident that I am prepping the nail correctly so don't know what is causing them to lift/split?? I am using the Edge products...Any advice on this?
What do I do?? Can anybody suggest a brand specific conversion course that might not cost the earth that I could do?? I live in Wales - UK.
Thanks for taking the time for reading this, I realise I seem like an idiot for doing this course in the first place...Only wish I had found this site before hand.
Nicola

 

[NoLimitNails]

CND without a doubt, I don't know whether it's expensive or not, but it's wort every penny!

 

[wendy malley]

Hi Nicola, what a shame you've spent all that money and feel the way you do.Its not all wasted though, your home salon will still be there once you've sorted things out and you have a great place to practice. CND,S2,Young Nails, or NSI are all good it just depends who is near you give them a ring and explain to see about prices. Try doing a search(top right hand corner) about training in Wales see what that bings up. Also look at the tutorials(click on forums) hth x

 

[geeg]

So many accept or at least acknowledge the good advice they have had (but chose to ignor or not to take) AFTER they have been burned. So here is some more.


Go to CND .......... no need for primer .. no need to be rough with the nails ... best training awards in the industry .... best educators ...best customer service awards .. and a real commitment to YOU the customer, to help you to grow your business.

Now I will shut up as no one listens anyway until it is too late.

 

[SharonAuk]

I have trained with CND for Liquid & Powder and Biosculpture for my Gels.

Best two courses you can have under your belt, i believe. Both have excellent customer service and aftercare support.

With both companies i can still ring after 7 and 4 years for advice.

Good luck with your conversion course xx

 

[ninki101]

Thanks so much for all advice. Good point made that its not all a waste as I can still use everything Iv got once Iv got the training I need. I think I will probably go with CND or maybe NSI? Sculpting/Forms are not important to me as where I live no-one has these done. Jenny Lee - Interesting to know your having similar problems with The Edge. They're choice of coloured gel is pretty awful too!? Wh Where did you do your course and what brand are you trying now? I did mine with a lady from Port Talbot that owns her own salon and offers a range of different courses all accredited by The Guild Of Beauty Therapist. This is what made me assume that the course would be a good one. More fool me! Iv got a good mind to contact her about it to try and get at least some of my money back but doubt I will get very far. We didnt even cover things like how to create a white tip using gel - she just showed us how to apply a fake white tip!! Shocking!x

 

[smartypantz]

I know how you feel, been there done that and got the dam t.shirt. Then I discovered Salon Geek. Best advice from me, would be to contact Sweet Squared, 08452106060 and have a chat with them about further education. Imho they have the best education, products and customer service, they will be able to advise you as to which route is the best for you

 

[Hylidae]

What ever you decide to do...Don't give up! You sound like a great gal and it will all work out if you put your mind to it! :wink2:

 

[skymark]

You have done your training and have your certificate so you can now do a conversion with a brand of product that performs better.

Conversion courses for qualified techs are much cheaper than the courses for people learning from scratch.

You have already spent a fair amount on training so if your purse can stretch a little more, a conversion would be a good idea. You will probably find that a lot of your problems making nails last will improve with a better product.

There are girls here that use all kinds of product brands: CND, Young Nails, EZ Flow, NSI all have conversion courses and you should be able to find a good teacher near you.

 

[vikkimatt]

I have trained with CND for Liquid & Powder and Biosculpture for my Gels.

Best two courses you can have under your belt, i believe. Both have excellent customer service and aftercare support.

With both companies i can still ring after 7 and 4 years for advice.

Good luck with your conversion course xx

you cant beat these two companies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[LolaBevahousen]

Are you working with the products that you have bee trained with? Are you 100% sure that you are doing proper prep (http://www.salongeek.com/nail-application/3007-perfect-preparation.html Eve though they are not the products you work with assuming that you know what what just substitute your own.)?
If you are like every one else had said retrain, it ever hurts to know as much as you can in this industry.

 

[Bezza]

So many accept or at least acknowledge the good advice they have had (but chose to ignor or not to take) AFTER they have been burned. So here is some more.


Go to CND .......... no need for primer .. no need to be rough with the nails ... best training awards in the industry .... best educators ...best customer service awards .. and a real commitment to YOU the customer, to help you to grow your business.

Now I will shut up as no one listens anyway until it is too late.

Geeg - you are right, a lot of people don't listen til it's too late - and I was indeed one of those people. I remember coming on here and asking for some advice before I got a course and the only thing (if I'm completely honest!) that put me off S2 and CND was because people made pretty harsh comments and quite......'abrupt' advice about using them. It was probably a bad day for them - I have since had training with CND and S2 and it is the best thing I have done by far. The original company I went with were okay but CND and S2 are miles better! Everybody (since joining!) has been so kind and helpful it's untrue! But the only thing I would say is that although you are 100% right in saying nobody listens until it's too late, in my case it was because the initial advice I got put my right off by the way it was delivered.

In hindsight, my own sensitivity to people's comments has cost me dearly but I'm just being honest so that other people don't take offence and make the very sensible step of going with S2 and CND - they won't regret it!!! :hug:

 

[ninki101]

Thanks so much for all the feedback. Too many to reply to individually but really appreciate all the advice and will use it to improve. Especially appreciated the words of encouragement, made me feel as though I can & will do this!xx

 

[Snugglepuss]

One thing to mention is that in 4 or slightly more days you can not get all the practice and techniques correct.

You will have many sets of nails to do before you feel happy with them (I'm still not happy with mine years after :o) but I have found that for me sculpting seems to be the way, rather than tips for example!

Get a good grounding with a good company like Creative/Sweet Squared -my chosen product, but as others have stated, there may be ones that you prefer to work with.

Lastly, get yourself a copy of Gigi's Nailclass and also if possible, Doug Schoons Nail Chemistry. Watch as many videos as you can - look up Nailzoo - he has done plenty and lastly believe in yourself xxxx

Good luck xx

 

[shezybabes]

I am new to all this and use the edge and have MAJOR problems with the system, same as eveyone else it only lasts 1 week max and I have had to go back 2 or 3 days later to do repairs as the product has let me down. It is totally getting me down as clients are being put off. I am so demoted and feel like giving up. I can't afford to go back every 2-3 nights to do repairs for free. The Edge Gel system is the same. I plan to write to the manufacturer about this as I use primer, prep the nail as show in my training etc. I can't afford to do another course just to enable me to buy another brand. Any suggestions?

 

[geeg]

You can do a conversion class with CND and you don't pay for the class just for the Kit to use (very reasonable price). 08452106060