Beginners mistakes.

[Cec]

This is a thread not only for educators, but for all of you. I think we all can learn something from what comes out of it.

Yesterday I had a 1-2-1 in gel. She had taken a course, long ago, in gel, but had not used it much. I saw she did the same mistakes as other beginners...

1. Being too afraid of the cuticles, both with the gel and the file.
2. Didn't "taper" (don't know if that is the right word...) the sidewalls, the client got "duck-feet".
3. Didn't filed the tip enough, got problems with either the white being filed away or gotten too thick nails.

I am sure there are more mistakes out there, but these are the ones I can remember right now.

My questions now is:

(If you're an educator) What is the most common mistakes you see?
(If you're an old, wise natiltech haha... ) What do you think is the common mistakes?
(If you're a beginner) What do you struggle with right now?

As I said before, I think we can all learn from this!


C.

 

[fifitrix]

Great thread Cec, I have been doing nails since last September so I am still pretty new at it. My prep seems to take me forever, I am so anal about it and I can almost hear the client think"when is she actually going to enhance my nails" lol.

The other thing is I am paranoid that I do not hurt the client so this in turn extends my rebalance time when filing, that coupled with the prep! My clients are pleased with the end result and I am happy the way my nails are progressing but I annoy myself with these things

 

[alpina]

I'm a beginner too and my biggest problem at the moment is my smile lines.

My acrylic one are pretty good, if I may say so myself, but my gel ones are shocking. They're not even 'lines', they are like wonky squiggles. They seem pretty good, but when they come out of the lamp they are all over the place.

I've been reading heaps of threads though and have picked up a few pointers to try. Will see how it goes.

That's not to say I don't have countless other problem areas, we would be here all night if I started on that. lol.

 

[Sassy Hassy]

Main thing I remember as a beginner was getting the tip size too small so as it grew out the free edge stuck out at each side. Also working too thick, especially in zone 3.

 

[TMOUSE]

blending the tip was the one for me, you could see a shadow when the L&P went on and then i would just try a disguise it with a design or polish.

 

[Glorsclaws]

Havent done gel in years but iirc the most difficult thing for me was building the apex & getting the c curve.

 

[*JOANNE*]

Mistakes i used to make : undersizing tips, working too wet thinking it would be easier...lol
Mistakes i make now.....i forget what a teeney weeney ball i need in zone 2 and pick up to large.....

 

[Sals]

My biggest problem is getting all my nails looking uniform in shape and length. I definitely need a 1-2-1, as I seem to be going backwards due to lack of practice.:irked:

Good thread, Cec.:hug:

 

[Martigirl]

too thick in Zone 3.

I had a 1-2-1 in Tip Blending and it was brilliant I am so much more confident.

Using Velocity tips is a huge breakthrough for me they are a dream to blend.

I need an immense amount of help on applying forms, if I get it right my sculpts are actually fairly good but my form fitting is a complete hit and miss:irked:

 

[nikkirocco]

My problem was applying the gel too thinly. Also getting th right shape eg; building stress area while keeping edges thiner.

 

[hollywoodnails]

the hardest thing for me was unlearning the bad habits id leaned when i trained . I'm still learning the new things I learned on my creative course .
Apart from that i would say my hardest would be
my smile lines with acrylic
apex with gel
and filing i never seem to get a even shape on the free edge now Ive learned to leave it once i get a good shape otherwise i obsess over it and end up making it more uneven
and last but not least blending tips because i use forms most of the time I'm not used to blending tips

 

[maguire]

I am pretty new to acrylic nails started late last year, I have had problems with my smile lines, and product a bit to thisck causing lots of filing but the other day everything just seemed to click into place, I think it was my brush control, read and reread the tutorial and suddenly wham it was all there, hardly had to file a thing just sidewalls and free edge, I still think product is a bit thin so must control that now.

I have my gel course starting Monday so I hope I do well with that. :lol:

 

[CurlyQs]

I struggle with smile lines - getting them uniform and doing it right without getting gel on the skin hear sidewalls, especially on short nails. I am getting better on myself but my 'smiles' are almost straight across - that's tricky! I too am overly cautious when filing clients near the cuticle - scared to cut them!

 

[Cathie!]

I'n not and educator at the moment but I am mentoring 2 girls in my salon. I think the main ones are their fear of hurting the client, they are very gentle during prep which adds to time and doesn't always do the most thorough job.....

Product ratio is another.

Being too anal......picking up the brush to dust every bit of dust away even when simply removing shine....Im seriously thinking of confiscating the dusting brush lol!

Trying too hard.....I'm guilty of this myself sometimes also, it just adds time and you never get as good a job as when you do it by instinct!

 

[Sassy Hassy]

The other thing was time wasting - checking and double checking and triple checking. Playing with the product as I applied it ... and playing with it a bit more. Now I just get on with the job in hand!

 

[~Emmsybabes~]

picking up the brush to dust every bit of dust away even when simply removing shine....Im seriously thinking of confiscating the dusting brush lol!

Well rachel aka ladybgemini actually DID confiscate my dusting brush when I did her nails :lol:
she said she thinks i have obd ...obsessive brush disorder !!
so she took it off me, and omg i did feel so stressed without it ,
I think it was more of a habit than anything else ..but she done me a massive favour because I have stopped now , and only dust when really needed ,
much much better xxx

 

[Cec]

The other thing is I am paranoid that I do not hurt the client so this in turn extends my rebalance time when filing, that coupled with the prep! My clients are pleased with the end result and I am happy the way my nails are progressing but I annoy myself with these things

Yes, hurting client is also something I often see. All in all I will say that a beginner is often too light with everything and it goes down to holding the clients hand to holding the brush. I very often have to tell the students that they need to show the client who the "boss" is... Hmmm... strange sentence... did you understand it??? I often hear that the client feel more comfortable when the tech holds the hands/fingers with a good/hard (???) grip.

C.

 

[Cec]

I'm a beginner too and my biggest problem at the moment is my smile lines.

My acrylic one are pretty good, if I may say so myself, but my gel ones are shocking. They're not even 'lines', they are like wonky squiggles. They seem pretty good, but when they come out of the lamp they are all over the place.

I've been reading heaps of threads though and have picked up a few pointers to try. Will see how it goes.

That's not to say I don't have countless other problem areas, we would be here all night if I started on that. lol.

If you use a builder white gel, here is a tip:

Always use a clean brush.
Dip the brush in the white gel so you only have white gel at the tip.
Try to hold the brush horisontal (sp?).
Kind of "push" the white gel in place, so that you use the gel in front of the brush.

Hmmm... not easy to explain in Norwegian, and even worse to explain in English... Once you get this technique, it will be easier. It's easier to show you than to explain it! :irked:

C.

 

[Cec]

I'n not and educator at the moment but I am mentoring 2 girls in my salon. I think the main ones are their fear of hurting the client, they are very gentle during prep which adds to time and doesn't always do the most thorough job.....

Product ratio is another.

Being too anal......picking up the brush to dust every bit of dust away even when simply removing shine....Im seriously thinking of confiscating the dusting brush lol!

Trying too hard.....I'm guilty of this myself sometimes also, it just adds time and you never get as good a job as when you do it by instinct!

Oh, yes, I often see this too! The worst is the first one. The dust-thing is a bad habit, but all in all it doesn't affect (?) the result.

C.

 

[Cec]

Thank you so much for answering this thread!

Haha, if we took all the "beginners problems" we have here and give it to one person... Oh my... :-D

I am still curious on my question, so please, don't be shy to write!

C: