Product safety and overexposure are huge issues that face our new technicians and teaching them to work safely, not over applying and getting their product ratio's is of utmost importance to me.
While I'm sure your method works, and it is how we used to do things, I've come up with a few other things that help my students work safely and according to manufacturer's directions.
Because there is a lack of "guinnie pigs" I have found that a heavy duty kitchen glove (like the kind you use for cleaning an oven) filled with salt and secured at the ends gives a pretty realistic "hand" for them to work on. The nails can be soaked off and redone, we average about 10-12 sets before we have a "blood spill" (small hole where salt is leaking) and our "client" is no longer safe to work on. We can practice custom blending, smile lines, zone sculpting and finishing techniques, along with our timing.
For beginning smile lines I have them pretailor a reduced well tip to resemble a smile line and then using a pressing and guiding technique follow their pretailored well with the white. Once they get used to that, we move on to sculpting. We may go through a little more product than others, but in the long run we are protecting our clients from possible over exposure and developing allergies which would prevent them from receiving enhancements.
Doug Schoon's book is awesome, there is so much important chemistry information, written so the non chemist can understand that I recommend it to them and will let the "check" mine out from my library for a week or two. They usually end up having me order it for them.
Gigi Rouse's book- Nail Class also has great info in it and I direct all of my nail enhancement inclined students toward this site and her book. I've ordered a couple and I know that my students register and at least go through the published tutorials available on this site.
Our regulating agency checks on our teaching methods and cirriculum often. I have been involved in getting our laws updated and changed becoming somewhat of an "icon" in our area about safety and sanitation. When there questions involving application techniques or safety/sanitiation issues my former students still call and know that I will have the data or resources to back it up.
My school prides itself on keeping current with trends, techniques and product developments. Our goal is the future, training and educating for today's competitive market of knowledgable consumers.
We focus on manufacturer methods and techniques, and I'm always open for new ways to deliver information. Lecture materials, games, ideas that spark creativity or different methods to get the information out are always welcome.
