College vs intensive courses?

[Smithy2812]

HI All

I am interesting in completing a manicure course and am confused at all of the options available to me. There are various colleges near me offering evening courses (around 13 weeks) and some companies like the Beauty School of Scotland and Nailzone offering 1 day courses.
What would you recommend? Is it possible to learn everything in 1 day?
Many Thanks in advance for your help.
Angela

 

[Mommabear]

Hita yes it is possible to learn in a day, one of the girls i work with did it if u go to college u learn everything the anatomy, contra-indications etc etcwith college u go through everythin, were as with the day courses u cover the basics but still get ur certificate. A lot of beauty/nails/mani's etc is practice practice practice
Hope this helps xx

 

[laurakate]

I did a one day course initially and i found it stressful and confusing. Theres more to manicure than filing and polishing.

I definately recommend doing the college course. Better to get confident over a period of weeks rather than have a lot of doubts and questions trying to cram it all in in one day.

 

[geeg]

Of course you cannot learn in a day the same amount you can cover in 13 weeks .. ridiculous for anyone to imagine they could. One day = Nil practice and nil retention AND a jolly old certificate that means nothing at the end of it.

If you really want to become an expert manicurist and polisher (because if you are not you will not be able to make any kind of polish work for you or make it look as if it has been applied by a professional) then make your money and your effort count by enrolling on the best course you can possibly afford. Do you want to earn money after learning how to manicure? Take my advice.

You want and need lots of supervised practice. Poor practice (on paying clients) never made anyone better at doing anything and it never made them any money either.

I even can't begin to express to you how ignorant I think one of the posts above is or how flippant or how unhelpful to anyone who really wants to be good enough to earn money in a business; or how insulting to we who are dedicated to what we do. It's a really simple question to ask yourself ... do you want to be a 'messer' who never gets anywhere or do you want to be serious about the job?

 

[Belle Vie]

I did a combined mani/pedi 1 day course with Carlton Institute and really regretted it. I found all the information leading up to the course incredibly misleading 'you will be fully qualified to work as a manicurist' etc and it took a lot of time and dedication to get my knowledge and service up to the standard I needed after the course. Every single person on the course 'passed' even the ones who were given the answers or visibly copying from others!

I came away with a black and white booklet detailing some contra indications a step by step procedure for an outdated manicure and pedicure, incorrect information on sanitising/sterilising and with no idea how to properly paint a nail.

Thank goodness for Gigi and Marian who's books and tutorials plus a hell of a lot of practice sorted me out!

 

[Sharny]

I studied at college for 2 years full time, it did include Hairdressing, Wigmaking, business studies etc but I got a CIBTAC qualification which is the best out there.

I cannot even imagine how you could possibly learn all there is to know in a day, what about all the different nail disorders etc.

Go on a college course is my advice x

 

[Belle Vie]

I studied at college for 2 years full time, it did include Hairdressing, Wigmaking, business studies etc but I got a CIBTAC qualification which is the best out there.

I cannot even imagine how you could possibly learn all there is to know in a day, what about all the different nail disorders etc.

Go on a college course is my advice x

Absolutely agree, you can't! You can retain just enough information to answer a couple of multiple choice questions at the end of the session which is all you need to get a certificate in my experience, I really think there should be more regulation around this, it's all too easy for anyone to do one of these courses and think that's all there is to know when it's just the tip of the iceberg.

 

[evangelinegrace]

This debate has happened many times before. I agree that 1-2 day intensive courses are most certainly not the way to go.

I'd also like to say that some college courses are rubbish too. In my local college they use a 180 on the natural nail (to shape and to 'remove the shine' before enhancements), as well as turning out some ugly nails that lift. The products used are quite often substandard. So my point is you really need to do your research and make sure the quality of teaching is high enough. Another thing to think about is the student:teacher ratio... They can be very high (I've heard of 25:1).

I'd recommend a course from a respected manufacturer e.g. CND, NSI, Young Nails...

 

[Mommabear]

in addition to my first message can i add that i did state ""a girl i work with did it"" NOT me, ive been trained for 8 years in college and training on the job at the same time, i do however not know what a day course would entale, the girl i work with did it, but i do know that it is an approved course by the guild of beauty therapists AND u can further ur knowledge by being awarded a VCTC, providing you go through the right portals!! i will not however be ridiculed for a comment i made answering a question someone made, everybody has there opinions, no need to slate people for trying to help

 

[angelina221]

I have done a lot of one day courses, some good, some absolutely atrocious.
It all depends on what you learn on the day and how much you are going to practice after.
I got my sister to do a manicure course with a well-known company. I did the course with her and we painted a total of 2 nails each on the course.
My sister was aghast when we left the course and said 'So I've got this certificate now and I can go and work on the public even though I have no idea how to file or paint a nail'. I said that she was.
We did actually get our money back. She ripped her certificate up and wouldn't even contemplate working on the public.
It is scary to think that some people would have come out of the course and just gone and worked on the public and not even given it a second thought.
Had the training been good then she would have still had to practice, practice and practice some more until she felt confident enough to work on the general public.
So if the training she had, was of a higher quality and she hard learned the basics then she would have just needed to practice.
It's madness to think that you are going to do a course one day and then work on the public the next. You will still need to practice like mad.
Unfortunately some people do not see it this way and will be working on the public the very next day but it will show in their work!

 

[Belle Vie]

in addition to my first message can i add that i did state ""a girl i work with did it"" NOT me, ive been trained for 8 years in college and training on the job at the same time, i do however not know what a day course would entale, the girl i work with did it, but i do know that it is an approved course by the guild of beauty therapists AND u can further ur knowledge by being awarded a VCTC, providing you go through the right portals!! i will not however be ridiculed for a comment i made answering a question someone made, everybody has there opinions, no need to slate people for trying to help

My course was accredited too, I had no problem whatsoever getting insurance. Sadly, that doesn't seem to mean an awful lot.

 

[laurakate]

I did a combined mani/pedi 1 day course with Carlton Institute and really regretted it. I found all the information leading up to the course incredibly misleading 'you will be fully qualified to work as a manicurist' etc and it took a lot of time and dedication to get my knowledge and service up to the standard I needed after the course. Every single person on the course 'passed' even the ones who were given the answers or visibly copying from others!

I came away with a black and white booklet detailing some contra indications a step by step procedure for an outdated manicure and pedicure, incorrect information on sanitising/sterilising and with no idea how to properly paint a nail.

Thank goodness for Gigi and Marian who's books and tutorials plus a hell of a lot of practice sorted me out!

This is exactly what i did and i can very much relate to what you say here. I dont think someone can learn one of those things in a day so it is ridiculous that they try to cram manicre and pedicure into one day. A morning of mani then an afternoon of pedi doesnt come even slightly close to whats needed. In hindsight it was really bad. I think for french we were told to simply swipe it across and when we were doing the practical bit it made me feel so thick because i didnt really umderstand what i was meant to be doing and was really worried about hurting the clients with all these tools id never seen before.

Not a good experience but it waa something that highlighted the importance and need for good education.

 

[blondie9]

I did a week's course at Carlton Institute which covered gel, acrylic, manicure and pedicure etc. I did not feel confident at all when I finished and would certainly not have gone straight out and practiced although some of the younger girls on the course were going to do just that.

I spent some time in a friend's salon taking friends in and practicing on them and she was marvellous and gave me loads of advice and help as she has been doing nails for years. I could not thank her enough and realised just how little I knew.

I have done loads of research and practice since then and also a 1 to 1 for acrylic and now feel much more confident about acrylic and gel nails. I agree that a few days course or a week are not good enough.