Can anyone give me advice on nail painting?

[Sarfield]

I'm studying ITEC beatuy therapy, and my first year exam is in a few weeks. We only do a basic manicure, but i'm struggling with getting the enamelling right, and i'm really worried.

My hands are quite shakey, which doesn't help. And i can never get a completely straight base line (where the cuticles are). I've been trying different shaped brushes, and figured that a square tipped would be best for getting a stright line, but i'm still have trouble.

We have to use only 3 strokes, and so i do a central stroke, then 2 on either side.

I've also not chosen my emamel yet. I was going to use OPI, but the one i bought goes steaky on the first coat, and sometimes even has visible streaky patches with a 2nd coat. I find that it needs 3 coats, which we're not allowed to do in the exam. Maybe it's just the shade, i dunno.

Anyway i was just wondering if any experts had some general tips on getting enamel perfect?

 

[Chickafish]

http://www.salongeek.com/nail-finishing-maintenance/11972-precision-polishing.html

This should help

 

[BABSann]

OPI is a fab rage and their brushes are perfect IMO.
Try using the polish you choose before using it in an exam.
Shaking hands when painting nails is usually because you haven't got your wrist supported correctly.
Try using your little finger to balance the rest of your hand while polishing. So hold clients hand with say left hand, pull skin away from sides of nail that you are painting, then use the little finger of the other hand to rest on your hand that's supporting the clients. This really helps massively to stop the shaking.

It's better to nip the shaking in the bud quickly before you start worrying yourself every time you have to paint someone's nails. Then this can turn into a nervous issue rather than bad positioning.

When doing the middle stroke, allow a nice firm pressure,don't overload brush, work the brush as close to the cuticle as you can without touching. Then place brush on one side,usually right, depending on how you work, allow brush to fan out as its already shaped to match the contour of the nail plate,bring down and do the same on the other side.

Good luck, keep practicing on your friends or family before the exam. Try not worry too much. But it's important to get a non gloppy,good quality polish that doesn't smear or give an even coverage.

You really don't want. Polish that you need to paint 3 coats in order to give an even coverage. It will just make matters harder for you,take longer to dry and tbh you want to make things as fuss free as possible when doing your practicle exams.

Ps that link that's been added is very good.

 

[carrie_bee]

The article Chickafish has linked to is really helpful (thanks from me too!), but it sounds like "Relax and enjoy it" would help you too Wishing you lots of luck in your exam!

 

[beauty_sarah]

Try balancing your little finger on ur hand when you have hold of the finger, good luck xxx

 

[purplespark]

This is all great advice and exactly how I polish, sorry if I missed this tip in a previous reply.

When your brush is loaded correctly (by sweeping polish off one side of the brush against the bottle neck and then turning it over) don't try to go straight in at the cuticle, place your brush nearer the centre of the nail, add a little pressure so the brush fans out slightly and then push/slide polish towards the cuticle area using the shape of the fanned brush to get the neat line you are after.
Also, don't forget to pull the brush over the tip of the nail downwards rather than lifting off, it will make the finished polish last much longer and is a really important technique if you want to offer gel polish in the future!!

Good Luck x