CND L&P beginners course

[Stook]

Hi ladies and gents

I'm currently halfway through the above mentioned course and I am loving it.

However, my enhancements obviously aren't great at the moment and I'm a little reticent about trying them on friends or clients just yet because of things like insurance not yet covering me and generally not wanting to leave people with paving slabs on their nails

Therefore, my nail trainer is taking most of the abuse but I'm finding I'm often too thick at the cuticle or worse, touching the skin ever so slightly. This became obvious on my class model where I overlapped her sidewalls by just the tiniest margin and could see the lift almost immediately. It's very frustrating is this just practice to get it right or am I destined to be a bit crap at this?

In a nutshell my questions are.

Acrylic in the brush. My trainer says to soak the brush in monomer overnight but others have advised using acetone for a few minutes to remove it. Surely acetone would do the brush damage?

CND/Creative Dappen Dish. Where can I get one of these beautiful stainless steel dog bowls? The plastic one I get with the course looks a bit cheap and I don't like the glass ones?

Filing. My aim is to practice so much that minimal filing is required but is it worth me doing e-file training to speed things up - especially during removals?

Thanks and apologies for waffling.

 

[Helward87]

I've only ever soaked mine in monomer to remover acrylic as advised by me CND ea too

Ha this is the questions everyone wants to know - I don't think they are in production anymore so you'll have to just keep your eyes peeled on business selling pages etc or try and source one from overseas.

E file training may be an option at a later date if you think it's for you but I would still recommend that you persevere with what you've been taught until you've got it nailed. You will get better and quicker, I promise. Gradually your product placement will improve and this will naturally reduce your filing time. It's a long process, but you WILL get there xx

 

[Trinity]

I agree with everything Helford says.

No to acetone soaking, I'm Trinity The Brush Slayer, I've ruined more brushes than I care to admit once you master your mix ratio you will stop leaving product in your brush. You're working too dry, or mushing the product too much, both are beginner issues.

Touching side walls or perinychium, is all about brush and product control, again beginner issues which will get better with practise. Start further away and press the bead into place.

Efile - no, and certainly not the early in training. You need to learn how to refine your enhancement with a hand abrasive first to learn how and where to file, throwing a high speed electric tool into the mix has disaster written all over it. Once you perfect your skill, 'sculpt with you brush not your abrasive' less filing will be required anyway. I've never understood this current method of putting loads of product on and then filing it off again to shape . Waste of product which is expensive, and time. Put the right amount on first time, in the right place and minimal filing is required anyway.

Good luck with the rest of your course

 

[Struckbyastar]

If it helps Stook I know how it feels! I completed the same course last week and am well aware that I have a rather large lack in confidence at the moment but this is due to having only done a few sets on a few people who are all helpless victi...I mean family and friends who either don't know otherwise how they should be or are willing to suffer for me!! I know the more sets I do the more my confidence will build, as I work with different types of nails and get more used to personalising my service to them rather than just, for example, short squoval!

I have the same cuticle issue; I'm not too bad on the lateral walls, but I either end up with an uneven cuticle line quite far away from the cuticle or a neater line but too close to the cuticle! I just did a set for a friend yesterday though, and rather than thinking abut every aspect I need to work on, focused on the cuticle line as a main point. I wrote down bullet points in case I panic and forget what step of the treatment I'm on and what file to use! This seemed to calm me down a bit as letting my anxiety get the better of me with previous sets has just made them worse, and I think I'm going to continue my practise in this way- especially with my nail trainer who I say if it were the hand of a real person she'd have wanted to chop it off by now the abuse it's been through! - focusing mainly on one aspect, working up to the key one of getting my times down a loooong way!

You don't sound like you're tearing your hair out on the course yet or considering quitting like I was so well done! and Good luck! Enjoy it and make sure you see both what is good and what you need to work on on every single nail you do! x

 

[Stook]

Thank you ladies. I shall continue abusing the nail trainer for a while and see how it goes.

I also got a tip yesterday that by placing a very thin layer of clear retention plus onto nails first, people are finding they get less lifting. I'm not sure why this would be as I know I get lifting as my product is either a little too thick at the cuticle or touching the skin but I may try it.

First brush appears to be beyond repair. RIP first L&P brush [emoji23]

The acrylic is now out of it but it won't go to a point and just looks fat and scraggy. Cue order to S2 for nee brush, forms, etc etc. Could be an expensive learning curve but I'll get there - it may take a long time and a lot of swearing but watch this space

 

[Stook]

Oh, and it's only when you start doing this that you realise how awful some acrylics are administered. I have talked to a number of ladies who had acrylics regularly and some nails are ski jumps, others are very uneven or lift a lot yet the customers seem to just expect this and see it as normal. I'm shocked and would be mortified to out out such work!

 

[CocoAllure]

We have the best files going! Please don't sack these in for an efile. The CND files are fantastic. All the different grits serving their purpose. Looking at my highly glossed nails right now is enough for me to appreciate our fab files. Persevere your flaws it will all smooth out soon! X

 

[Tiggy77]

Don't know if this will help anyone, but in pet supermarkets you can get various size stainless steel bird/parrot bowls quite cheaply x

 

[Trinity]

I also got a tip yesterday that by placing a very thin layer of clear retention plus onto nails first, people are finding they get less lifting. I'm not sure why this would be as I know I get lifting as my product is either a little too thick at the cuticle or touching the skin but I may try it.

Do you mean applying neat monomer to the nail like a primer?

It can be an option for serious lifters but certainly not at this stage of your training, you are correct in your thought process, product too thick or touching sidewalls. It could also be insufficient PREP, the one thing you can't practice on a trainer hand but the cause of 80% of lifting.

Applying neat monomer could trigger over-exposure and ultimately allergic reaction if coming in contact with skin on a regular basis.

Stick with your practice in the methods taught by your tutor, the CND training is some of the best in the world

 

[CocoAllure]

Thank you ladies. I shall continue abusing the nail trainer for a while and see how it goes.

I also got a tip yesterday that by placing a very thin layer of clear retention plus onto nails first, people are finding they get less lifting. I'm not sure why this would be as I know I get lifting as my product is either a little too thick at the cuticle or touching the skin but I may try it.

First brush appears to be beyond repair. RIP first L&P brush [emoji23]

The acrylic is now out of it but it won't go to a point and just looks fat and scraggy. Cue order to S2 for nee brush, forms, etc etc. Could be an expensive learning curve but I'll get there - it may take a long time and a lot of swearing but watch this space

Who told you to put straight retention onto the nail first?

 

[Trinity]

Who told you to put straight retention onto the nail first?

I've been told this too by a CND educator, many many years ago though, before the release of Retention+.

 

[CocoAllure]

Have you tried this method trinity?? Does it actually make a difference. Better than nailfresh and nailprime? X

 

[Trinity]

Have you tried this method trinity?? Does it actually make a difference. Better than nailfresh and nailprime? X

I've tried it, I can't say it made a massive difference. Despite being a CND girl through and through I did give in and buy some NSI SuperBond, it's an acid primer which I would normally avoid, but I had a couple of persistent lifters which I couldn't resolve and the SuperBond has done the job to perfection.

 

[CocoAllure]

I've tried it, I can't say it made a massive difference. Despite being a CND girl through and through I did give in and buy some NSI SuperBond, it's an acid primer which I would normally avoid, but I had a couple of persistent lifters which I couldn't resolve and the SuperBond has done the job to perfection.

[emoji16][emoji16][emoji16][emoji16] ahhhh man are you using it with the nsi system or CND

 

[Trinity]

[emoji16][emoji16][emoji16][emoji16] ahhhh man are you using it with the nsi system or CND

CND Retention+ powders and liquid - like I say, I'm CND through and through, and never normally mix brands but needs must when you risk losing clients. I don't use it on everyone, just myself (ridged, thin, bendy, ski-jump nails and life long biter) and 2 of my regulars who I have tried everything to resolve

 

[CocoAllure]

If I have the same issue I will keep this in mind. Still love u the same [emoji8]

 

[Trinity]

If I have the same issue I will keep this in mind. Still love u the same [emoji8]

Phew! thats ok then