Essential Nails? Start up help

[kirsty dunlop]

Hi everyone,
I've been debating learning nails for years and this year I'm biting the bullet! Trouble is where do I start? Could do with an at home course due to having a little one.
Anyone had an experienced with essential nails?
Also what brand of acrylic do you find 'the best'?

Thanks for your help xxxx

 

[Sara-Jane]

I've just completed the essential nails acrylic course, I honestly liked it, but would have loved someone being there watching me and guiding me, their support is good and it's gave me a good foundation to build on, hence I'm now going to be doing the NSI conversion course after trying out a few trial kits from different brands x

 

[kirsty dunlop]

I've just completed the essential nails acrylic course, I honestly liked it, but would have loved someone being there watching me and guiding me, their support is good and it's gave me a good foundation to build on, hence I'm now going to be doing the NSI conversion course after trying out a few trial kits from different brands x

What's a conversion course? I literally know nothing! Xxx

 

[SEM812]

Hello
For what it's worth, my advice would be to find a local, non brand specific trainer and get some basic mani (and pedi too maybe) training. Don't focus on brand at this stage. Make sure you find someone who offers an accredited course so that when you have done it, you will have a recognised certificate which means you can register with pro sites to get insurance and buy products. Look at (for example) BABTAC website to search for someone local to you. If you do 1 to 1, you should get much better attetion during the training. You can do a mani qual in a day. (Not that that means you are 'good to go ' obviously as that's where the practice comes in but it is your starting point and will also give you an initial insight as to what it's like).

Then practise, practise, practise (the basics) and get your confidence up. And then figure out your next step is, whether this is natural nails, extensions (acrylic, gel, etc) .

Essential nails courses are good and their support is great, but the initial 1 to 1 was, again in my opinion, essential (ha!). Then with kids at home EN courses are good but you do need discipline!

BTW, a conversion course is where you have done some training in one brand but then do a course with another brand to learn how they do it. So you 'convert' from one brand to another.

Finally, if you ask people what the best brand of acrylic is, you will get a zillion different answers!!! It's a bit like asking what everyone''s favourite washing powder is! Don't necessarily focus on brand at this stage.

Just my thoughts, hope that helps.

 

[oni]

Hi everyone,
I've been debating learning nails for years and this year I'm biting the bullet! Trouble is where do I start? Could do with an at home course due to having a little one.
Anyone had an experienced with essential nails?
Also what brand of acrylic do you find 'the best'?

Thanks for your help xxxx

Hi I did a essential nails course and to be honest I regretted spending my money on the course , because when I wanted to do further training in nails and people asked what manicure / pedicure certificate I got . I would say essential nails they were a bit funny with me and said they prefer it if I had been shown by a tutor watching me not by a DVD . So I have decided to redo my certificate in a class . Xx

 

[Sara-Jane]

What's a conversion course? I literally know nothing! Xxx

Conversion course is just switching brands to learn their techniques/system, I'll probably do some 1-1 classes to for anything after I'm not sure on, but like a previous post I don't regret doing it, from what I see a lot of people do a number of courses anyways building on skills, so I wouldn't say it's money wasted, it worked for me though with 2 children under 2, but you do have to put in the practice and focus, I sat for a few hours everyday for about 3 months practicing, brushing up on parts I wasn't happy with, and then getting advice off here on how people thought my work looked x

 

[kirsty dunlop]

Thanks everyone. I did start a nail course a few years ago so already have my mani/pedi qualification. Just didnt finish it. I think I'm gonna look into it abit more before I sign up to anything. Xx

 

[NailtechJoe]

I did 6 courses with EN last year (all with distinctions except for mani and pedi courses as they are pass or fail) but you will need either additional courses and go vendor specific or do your own research (books or reputable web sources - not magazines) and lots of practice. Some courses of the EN range I'd say would benefit an update like the gel nails course.

So in my experience, they are OK to start off with if you know nothing about nails, but then again, it is dependent on how much time you put in and how much you want to learn. Yes having a 1 to 1 helps, but each person is different; I'd rather learn on my own and learn from your mistakes. They teach you enough to know the generic skills required but then you have to adapt and perfect to what products you use. The Nail Trainer is probably one of the best learning tools you will have and you might be tempted to sell it after you completed your training. I personally find it useful to create my own new designs on practice nails that I still have. Gel nail extensions is a skill that will come to you gradually and speed will be something you will need to practice on and you can use this to further that goal. There is nothing better than a human hand though, but understandably, not everyone has a real hand to practice on all the time.

The courses are Guild Accredited so you can get insurance from The Guild and do your own start up if you wanted to.

With regards to their products, they are not the best around (some which you can get much cheaper at your local Sallys) and I would learn how to use better products that are out there. They teach you the basics but can be adapted to many product ranges as long as you read their instructions careful.

 

[leanne7685]

I've just completed the essential nails acrylic course, I honestly liked it, but would have loved someone being there watching me and guiding me, their support is good and it's gave me a good foundation to build on, hence I'm now going to be doing the NSI conversion course after trying out a few trial kits from different brands x

hi I no this is an older thread but have you any pics of the test card 1 I'm struggling with what the acrylic nail just the over lay before filing should look like x

 

[Sara-Jane]

They are up in the loft somewhere, if you send a pic of what you have done so far I probably can give you some pointers x

 

[leanne7685]

They are up in the loft somewhere, if you send a pic of what you have done so far I probably can give you some pointers x

yey thanks I'm just not sure how it's supposed to look or if I'm doing right

 

[leanne7685]

not very good pics sorry

 

[leanne7685]

side view

 

[leanne7685]

these are the first lot I did I'm just working on pop sticks at the minute trying to get the application right x

 

[Sara-Jane]

Work as they tell you with the 3 ball method, try and make sure you get them side walls straight as possible, I lost a mark for mine being to bulky at the sides, just work with a smaller bead, and it will save you filing time after too, also I can see it's cloudy where you've blended the tip, which will show up even more once top coated, so need to perfect them 2 things, and there looks to be a ledge on the side wall near the cuticle, needs to be more flush, I don't mean to be overly critical! You are doing good, as I practiced more I ended up redoing half of my nails and replacing them with new ones, as my first lot were not up to the standard I could do by the time I was ready to submit my work, just so you know you are allowed to do that, they want your best work x

 

[leanne7685]

thanks that what I'm doing now haha they were my first ever attempt the card has been abandoned for now lol I'm just doing pop stick after pop stick trying to get the application right I'm struggling with moving the acrylic and picking up a big enough ball so been spending time practising picking up beads driving me mad x

 

[Sara-Jane]

The brush they supply you with isn't very good, neither are the products, just make sure you fully submerge the brush, get out any air bubble so the brush can absorb as much of the monomer as possible, and put your bead down and then pat it out to the sides, then blend it up a little so it lays flat at the back, don't want a ridge otherwise that will also show, I'd say with the essential nails L+P you definitely need the brush fully loaded, just dab once on the side of the dish and you don't need to much of a big bead, remember free edge 1 credit card thickness, apex 2 credit card thickness x

 

[Charlie87]

I agree with Sara-Janes comments! Iv recently got a distinction on the acrylic course and it's not as easy as some people think! I too kept replacing some of the nails I'd done haha! I can also see the cloudiness a bit where you've blended,and yes the acrylic brush is absolutely NAFF that they supply in the course :/ I managed to complete my course with it but God knows how,it went straight in the bin after lol! The mistake I made was making my side walls 2 thick as I wasn't applying it properly but I kept watching YouTube and would constantly watch how they did the side walls when applying which really helped! Also those particular nails are slightly 'humped' so once u put the acrylic on it makes the nail look like it has a huge apex! So I would file the top of the nail flatter then it's easier to tip aswell as apply your product without it looking like the apex area is too high! Hope that helps a bit xx

 

[leanne7685]

such a relief talk to other people that done the course yes the brush is rubbish my new one came today thanks god i realised i hadn't blended the tips in properly after I'd done a few more your right it really isn't as easy as it looks I'm back to beads and trying to pick up the medium and large beads how long did it take untill it clicks X

 

[Sara-Jane]

And the nails they supply, in the real world you just wouldn't use either! The course could do with a whole new structure, very dated x