Doubting if nails are for me

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Tannie

Member
Joined
May 22, 2014
Messages
7
Reaction score
3
Location
Croydon
Hi all first time poster here.

it's a bit of a long one.

I've got my level 2 beauty therapy in Febuary and always felt like I struggled the most with polish application, but I still managed to pass (thank goodness). I didn't do any treatments until Sept and i mainly focused on manicure and pedicure. I still wasn't feeling happy with my finish so I got the essential nails manicure pedicure and gel polish and im currently working through that.

I've started working in a nail salon doing pedicure and manicures, whilst there im also being taught how to do acrylics (I'm going to study NVQ level 3 in nails in Jan)

I Just don't feel like im improving. Some days im happy with what I have done, most days im not.

today was a bad day i did an infill and my client said she'd come back when the owner was in so she could fix her nails. she was very polite about it but it just had me thinking shouldn't I be getting the hang of this by now.

I take over an hour for a pedicure. I also take close to 2 hours for a full set. I've been told I need to cut both those times in half.

how long does it usually take for your work to look of a professional standard? Is it that some people are naturally talented and im wasting my time.

any advice input is welcome
 
The girl I used to go to for gel took 2 and a half hours and she had years of experience. Stop putting yourself down and put more energy into practice.
 
Hi :)
I am a nail tech in Malta where I got certificates for gel, acrylic, mani and pedi. I got had the gel course over 3 years ago and the others about 6 months ago.

My first full set of gels took me 5 hours! I was always the last person to finish in my class.. and as I started to practise more I narrowed it down to 3 hours and couldn't improve my time anymore.

About a year ago I got the opportunity to start doing nails in a hair salon so i started practising more and after 6 months i managed to get those 3 hours down to 1 hr 45 mins / 2 hrs.

My current timing is :
Full set long nails 2 Hrs, short 1 hr 45 mins
Infills long nails 1 hr 30 mins, short 1 hr 15 mins
Mani 1 hr
pedi 1 hr
gel Polish 45 mins

Now my main goal is to get infills to 1 hr since a lot of nail techs do it in 1 hr but till now i can't manage to do it. Although I prefer having an extra 3o mins and get the result I want rather then doing everything in just 1 hr and end up having a crocked nail or other mistakes ...

After all this talking :p my main point is to not to worry about the time ur doing, time will get better by practise. make sure that you are not losing time over doing things.. and always keep working while talking.

Never give up if you are loving what you are doing and always Believe in yourself :)
 
I qualified over a year ago and just started my part -time home based nail business. I was really happy when my full set today only took 2 hr 15 (with gel polish, glitter fade & crystals on the accent nail). Don't be so hard on yourself. Get the nails looking right first, then work on speed. Last week I did a fill of an overlay but then extended out the nail into long coffin shape, painted the nails 3 different colours and added nail art on the accent nail. It took me 3 1/2 hours. I just got my gel polish down to 45 min for a new and 1 hr for a removal and redo. We all start somewhere. I only do one client a night after work so I don't have to be rushed, but my times are coming down and so will yours. Keep your chin up :) I do warn my clients what my times are right now so that they can make the decision if I'm right for them at this time, though. That way they aren't mad when it takes me longer than they are used to.
 
Thank to Tannie for your brave post and to everyone else as this has helped me as well. After 10 years of natural nails only I am halfway through my Polygel course. My first set of sculpted on my own nails took 6 hours on Friday and a set on a brave friend took 5 hours yesterday, and I was feeling very low today. I feel like I have been top of the class as school/college/high school, moved to a new subject and am now bottom of the class.
Thank you for making me not feel a dunce , don't give up Tannie we all start somewhere.
 
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Thank to Tannie for your brave post and to everyone else as this has helped me as well. After 10 years of natural nails only I am halfway through my Polygel course. My first set of sculpted on my own nails took 6 hours on Friday and a set on a brave friend took 5 hours yesterday, and I was feeling very low today. I feel like I have been top of the class as school/college/high school, moved to a new subject and am now bottom of the class.
Thank you for making me not feel a dunce , don't give up Tannie we all start somewhere.
Don't worry. I too struggle with skill based learning because I've always caught onto knowledge based learning very quickly. You'll get the. My first set took over 4 hours. An hour improvement after one set is great. Cant beat practice when it comes to Nails.
 
Thank you eveyone who's replied. You have all made me feel so much better. I just need to keep practicing and I will improve. I also need to stop worrying about how long im taking, think I've just been over thinking and definetly over stressing lol.
 
I honestly used to be just like you, I still kinda am but I am hair and tanning 10 years and I still doubt myself and hope clients are happy with my service... a good technician of any industry always thinks they can do better, and this is what makes them great!
 
Tannie, which part is taking you so long? Have you timed the different parts to the manicure individually? Are you "faffing"?
Perfection takes time x
 
I'm so glad I've seen this post! I feel that I take so long on my treatments, I often feel like giving up! At the moment I'm trying to get gel polish down to an hour (currently at around 1hour 15 mins). Looking at how long I used to take makes me feel so much better. Tannie the way I look at it is that we can only get better, keep your head held high and stay calm!

Nina x
 
Tannie, which part is taking you so long? Have you timed the different parts to the manicure individually? Are you "faffing"?
Perfection takes time x
that's a good point I have never timed each strop individually. I'm definitely going to do that so I can see what's taking me longest.
 
Like loads of people have said on here, you’re still quite new and you’ll get it.
Now I’ve been doing it for 2 years and I still get bad days!
Don’t keep putting yourself down.
I struggled with lifting on acrylics for a long time. It takes a long time to master especially getting to know your products. One day it will just click.
If you haven’t already follow nail professionals on social media and YouTube. That’s how I leant to better myself at the application of acrylics near the cuticle.
I was thrown in at the deep end and everything I’ve learnt (more or less) I’ve learnt on YouTube as my boss was never in and I worked on my own.
Keep at it! You’ve got this! ❤️
Ps still takes me 2 hours to do a full set of acrylics with gel polish.
 
My older siblings are two of the best nail techs that I know, and this is their timing for the following procedures:

Mani, 10mins
Pedi, 15mins
Gel mani, 15mins
Full set 30mins

Even though they are fast, they do it with skill, not sloppily. It should be of no surprise when I say one of them brings home 10K every 2 weeks.

Understand that nails just comes easily for some people and for others it might take some time and for some not at all even with a lot of practice. You must invest at least 3 months of pure practice into it before you categorize yourself into one of those 3 groups.

Im in the last group. I know a lot about nail products, disease control and chemistry, but when it comes to the actual application, I fail miserably.

The 2 things you must master if you want gain a loyal clientele base are the following:

Shape
Smooth polish
 
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that's a good point I have never timed each strop individually. I'm definitely going to do that so I can see what's taking me longest.
This is an excellent thing I never thought of. Last week it took me 2 hr 1/2 for a fill with full nail art. It doesn't seem so bad, but I timed myself and it took one hr for gel polish removal and prep. Way tooo long. I ordered a better bit for my efile and I'm going to focus on getting that time down. Does anyone have any tips?
 
My older siblings are two of the best nail techs that I know, and this is their timing for the following procedures:

Mani, 10mins
Pedi, 15mins
Gel mani, 15mins
Full set 30mins

Even though they are fast, they do it with skill, not sloppily. It should be of no surprise when I say one of them brings home 10K every 2 weeks.

Understand that nails just comes easily for some people and for others it might take some time and for some not at all even with a lot of practice. You must invest at least 3 months of pure practice into it before you categorize yourself into one of those 3 groups.

Im in the last group. I know a lot about nail products, disease control and chemistry, but when it comes to the actual application, I fail miserably.

The 2 things you must master if you want gain a loyal clientele base are the following:

Shape
Smooth polis h
These timings are crazy fast. Are clients happy with this? Do they not feel rushed?
 
These timings are crazy fast. Are clients happy with this? Do they not feel rushed?
I know I certainly would, even if the job was done well...
 
These timings are crazy fast. Are clients happy with this? Do they not feel rushed?

The faster the better as long as the nail tech do a good job. Obviously, you slow down at parts like the massage. The majority of clients simply don't have time. Clients have actually returned within a week because how fast and well the pedicure was done. They don't return that early especially for pedicures.

To reiterate, practice religiously for 3 months and see where you fall in the aforementioned groups.
 
The faster the better as long as the nail tech do a good job. Obviously, you slow down at parts like the massage. The majority of clients simply don't have time. Clients have actually returned within a week because how fast and well the pedicure was done. They don't return that early especially for pedicures.

To reiterate, practice religiously for 3 months and see where you fall in the aforementioned groups.
Many of my clients have stated that they don’t like other salons as they feel rushed and prefer to enjoy their appointment and feel pampered. It’s not just a set of nails, it’s time out for them and they enjoy the chat.
 

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