Essentials nail course info?

[luxurynails]

Hi,
I'm training my friend up in a couple of months, she has never done nails and lives serious miles from me, she is coming down for a week intensive training from moi then I thought about her going on the Essential Nails home course for Acrylic nails. Can I get some feed back from peeps that have done it or if you know of geeks that have... it seems like a great start for her what do you reckon?? Do you think that it would be enough with the wk training too or would she need more?? I haven't heard much about this course so feedback would be fab x

 

[JuicyLucy]

I'm not being funny or having a go, but, to be honest, I think if your friend can afford to take a week off work and travel to you, plus afford an Essential Nails Home Course (they don't come cheap), then perhaps she should spend her money on a professional course:!: It will be better for her in the end.

She will not be able to get insurance after "training with a friend" or buy professional products herself.

 

[Snugglepuss]

Gotta agree with JuicyLucy - I bought each and everyone of the Essential Nails courses and some of them are still in the box!

I couldn't be disciplined enough to complete the courses - and found it far better when I attended professional courses. I really enjoyed being with a group of like minded people and had such good fun :green:

Sorry not much help I know (as I can't really blame Essential Nails )- but I do think for most, we have good intentions and then fall by the wayside, when doing Home Learn Courses.

Hope your friend enjoys her time with you and manages to gain her professional qualifications :hug: which ever route she takes!

 

[sadie123]

i personally would not recomend essentail nails for trainning,i only wish someone had told me this before i spent a fortune with them as i still had to go to collage for proper trainning.if she has nt got the time (i spent a year just doing nails and still felt lost) why not just invest in a nail trainner and then maybe do a conversion course with some company(i dont know if thats poss mind without your nvqs etc maybe someone else can add to this)but any way essentail just basaically give you a nail trainner and a few products and a dvd,so maybe if money is the issue perhaps collage is the way as you can pay in instalments just a thought,but youd really need your cert for insurance, hope this helps :lol:

 

[nailzoo]

1 question ? : Would you go to a dentist or (even worse) a gynecologist that qualified through correspondence? nuf said .....

 

[AGENT1]

I personally think ur being a bit harsh, i trained through essential nails and thought it was great and i would consider myself to be a proffesional.........

i worked full time and couldnt afford to take time off work to do a classroom course, you have all the information and equipment provided with the courses and u can also chat to them for tips advise and help on the course, i was always intouch with someone if not by telephone i spoke by email, they are very helpful and informative, i think if she wants it badly enough and is willing to b strict with herself then why not, you send your work off for assessments and they give you all the feedback you need to perfect your work.

its all personal choice but I say go for it,

 

[Retired]

For what it's worth, I personally did the 9 month college course which gave me a VTCT qualification - and hence my insurance. I found it easier in the classroom with other girls (only 8 in our class) and we had fun as well. Plus the tutor was always on hand for questions. Now, I am having a one day skill-building course with NSI to pick up professional tips and give me more confidence. So, if you have the time and the money (college isn't cheap but you can pay monthly) I think it's the way to go, but it's all down to personal choice. I'm sure she'll enjoy whatever she does.

xx:hug:xx

 

[nailzoo]

i suppose it does depend on what degree of professionalism and respect you want
of course this training is at least a "stepping stone"

 

[beauport]

I am with you I have done the essential nails courses and although it is great to use a practice hand / trainer hand it is a very lonely process and there is no one to point out if you are going wrong. I suspect they know that you will not pass first time and therefore need to buy more stuff from them and they are in it for the money - it costs a fortune and the only reason I chose to do their course was becuause I could pay for it monthly and haven't yet found a beauty school that will let you pay in installments. If you know of any let me know as I want to do fibreglass next to add to my repertiore

Gotta agree with JuicyLucy - I bought each and everyone of the Essential Nails courses and some of them are still in the box!

I couldn't be disciplined enough to complete the courses - and found it far better when I attended professional courses. I really enjoyed being with a group of like minded people and had such good fun :green:

Sorry not much help I know (as I can't really blame Essential Nails )- but I do think for most, we have good intentions and then fall by the wayside, when doing Home Learn Courses.

Hope your friend enjoys her time with you and manages to gain her professional qualifications :hug: which ever route she takes!

 

[AGENT1]

I am with you I have done the essential nails courses and although it is great to use a practice hand / trainer hand it is a very lonely process and there is no one to point out if you are going wrong. I suspect they know that you will not pass first time and therefore need to buy more stuff from them and they are in it for the money - it costs a fortune and the only reason I chose to do their course was becuause I could pay for it monthly and haven't yet found a beauty school that will let you pay in installments. If you know of any let me know as I want to do fibreglass next to add to my repertiore

i agree it can be a lonly process but i PASSED First time at distinction level so i think its all personal preference, as far as having people at hand to help, i thought they were very helpful and always willing to help in any way. jmo

 

[blossom]

1 question ? : Would you go to a dentist or (even worse) a gynecologist that qualified through correspondence? nuf said .....

Well good point but the analogy is a bit over the top

 

[Vetty]

Well good point but the analogy is a bit over the top

Maybe this comparison is over the top, but would you be happy with a hairdresser that had only trained on a plastic head and hadn't done hair on a real human before charging money for the service?? I know where I stand on this!

EN can be a stepping stone to classroom training, but then why not do classroom training tostart with?? Creative wont accept EN as a qualification to do a conversion course.....

 

[luxurynails]

Thanks guys, there a number of personal reasons why my friend can't attend a local college, she isn't working at the mo and loves nails so I wanted to help her out of a difficult situation by providing some of my knowledge to her and getting her on this course so that she can then go back home and practice on her friends and family and earn a little keep.... obviously not charging the same as what I would as i've done loads of courses over a number of yrs.
I just thought it would give her a good idea of the industry by coming round with me for a week to my clients and getting her models, then going on essential nails course, then maybe after that if she feels confident enough then she could do another more detailed course..
Any thoughts??

 

[blossom]

would you be happy with a hairdresser that had only trained on a plastic head and hadn't done hair on a real human before charging money for the service??

Indeed I wouldn't! That's why I said "good point". But you can hardly liken dentistry or surgery to having a set of nails imo.

But hairdressers do use dummy heads for training. And nothing wrong with that. I wouldn't imagine anybody would ONLY do an EN course before starting work on the paying public. Surely, no matter who you train with, the training is just the beginning. A bit like the driving test. You learn what to do and show you are competent but the real learning curve only begins when the L-plates come off and you are let loose on the road alone lol!

As always, practice, practice and more practice, before working on the public I say. I've seen a few appalling sets of nails by supposed Creative techs who obviously should have got in a load more practice. And no I'm not knocking any company here, simply pointing out that you can have top quality training and still turn out nails below par if you don't put the practice in, even if you have been taught by a hands-on trainer. JMHO

 

[AGENT1]

As always, practice, practice and more practice, before working on the public I say. I've seen a few appalling sets of nails by supposed Creative techs who obviously should have got in a load more practice. And no I'm not knocking any company here, simply pointing out that you can have top quality training and still turn out nails below par if you don't put the practice in, even if you have been taught by a hands-on trainer. JMHO

totally agree with this statement, it sometimes comes across that if your not creative trained then ur not a good tech, there are many training companys at different levels but unless the individual puts the hard work in and like you say practice practice practice they will never be as good as they want to be,
just because a person is trained in a different way than another doesnt make them inadequate at there job and not intitled to carry out a service on the public, jmo

 

[Vetty]

But hairdressers do use dummy heads for training. And nothing wrong with that. I wouldn't imagine anybody would ONLY do an EN course before starting work on the paying public.

But EN advertise that after doing their course you are 'fully qualified to work on paying clients'...... and there must be techs out there that are doing that after only working on a nail trainer...... From geeks that have done the EN course most I think go on to do classroom training. If the EN course was cheap then maybe it could be looked at as a gentle introduction, but it's not!

As always, practice, practice and more practice, before working on the public I say. I've seen a few appalling sets of nails by supposed Creative techs who obviously should have got in a load more practice. And no I'm not knocking any company here, simply pointing out that you can have top quality training and still turn out nails below par if you don't put the practice in, even if you have been taught by a hands-on trainer. JMHO

But, if you are practising using the wrong techniques you will only perfect the art of doing nails incorrectly..... To quote Gigi 'perfect practise makes perfect'. The difference with being trained by a hands on trainer is that they will point out where you need to improve, and if you choose to ignore that advise tbh that's your look out. Distance learning can never tell you the 'thing' you need to change......

Last point, geeks are not made to feel inadequate on this site for not being Creative trained - we all come from different backgrounds, with different training routes and we help everyone.

 

[oey]

.......Last point, geeks are not made to feel inadequate on this site for not being Creative trained - we all come from different backgrounds, with different training routes and we help everyone.

I am not creative trained, i am trained by other providers and use these systems but have had nothing but help and support from those that are.

You cannot beet hands on training. I too started with the Essential Nails route but soon changed when I needed more support.

 

[Sassy Hassy]

We all have different ways of learning and what is good for one may not work for another. I take on information very quickly and like to learn at a fast pace ... with a tutor clipping me round the ear when I get it wrong!!!!! I don't have the style of learning that you just pick it up and put it down when you have a spare few moments ... and working on that nail trainer is in my opinion NOTHING like working on a real hand ... for a start a real person's nails never ping off when you file on them. Neither can I be faffed going back to college one night a week for a year, pushing myself to go out on dark winter nights when it's peeing down. So I always choose short courses because that's what works for me.

Your friend has to decide what she wants out of her nailing career. As you have said, you have done loads of training because you know it's not easy. your friend needs to know this too or she will jack it in before she gives it a real chance .... and thrown good money down the drain that she can ill afford.

Personally I think EN is a good way to test the water ... but really nothing but nothing beats an experienced eye actually looking at how you work and how you can improve it, and showing you different ways of doing things. But that is my personal opinion. I admire those that have the discipline to do the EN course at all, cos to me it's like those workout videos - always full of good intentions but never quite getting the thing out of the box!

Actually thinking about it - a comparison with workout videos is pretty good. Firstly you need the self motivation to get it out of the box, then you need to put youreslf under pressure to do it on your own without someone pushing you. If you go to a GOOD class then you tend to push yourself more because you want to achieve the svelt-like figure of your class mates. And you have a teacher to tell you if you are doing it wrong and pushes you to work harder. You just don't get this from Jade Goody yelping at you through the TV screen! People who go to classes, get better results than those who don't!

 

[adelekeegan1]

But EN advertise that after doing their course you are 'fully qualified to work on paying clients'...... and there must be techs out there that are doing that after only working on a nail trainer...... From geeks that have done the EN course most I think go on to do classroom training. If the EN course was cheap then maybe it could be looked at as a gentle introduction, but it's not!



But, if you are practising using the wrong techniques you will only perfect the art of doing nails incorrectly..... To quote Gigi 'perfect practise makes perfect'. The difference with being trained by a hands on trainer is that they will point out where you need to improve, and if you choose to ignore that advise tbh that's your look out. Distance learning can never tell you the 'thing' you need to change......

Last point, geeks are not made to feel inadequate on this site for not being Creative trained - we all come from different backgrounds, with different training routes and we help everyone.

Couldn't agree more, my friend trained with EN but she wasn't taught filing techniques etc. She has had to learn from this site and further training, and it is hard to un-learn bad habits. She would have chosen to train further with Creative but they won't accept her qualification. It has been a real struggle for her to move forward.

 

[beauport]

I am with Agent and Blossom and can tell you that if you can do nails on plastic and master that infernal hand you can do nails on anyone and also by the way I practised on people too and found that the EN course made me perfectly able to work on people a lot of colleges now use plastic hands and heads for various training courses in the beauty industry why oh why is there so much snobbery within the nail industry about correspondence courses for some of us they were the only option