Feeling so useless

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*Carly*

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I did my first gel polish (Nubar Gelicure) pedi the other day. My client kept pointing her big toe upwards and the gel ran back a bit and ruined the perfect margin I'd created. I do very thin coats and the other nails were all fine. Client was very happy, but I thought the cuticle area looked a mess on the big toes. Dread to think how they'll look as they grow. She had a ton of cuticle, which took me forever to deal with and I still didn't leave her with the perfect set I like to achieve. I'd really have preferred to soak first and give her a standard pedi, but she was going away so I just had to crack on and do it dry.

Fast forward to today when I've come to do my own mani pedi. I took off my toe polish- super glittery China Glaze lacquer, which I soaked off like gel so I wouldn't have to scrub. Well underneath all that lacquer my toenails looked dreadful, so much damage, white marks galore. I hadn't worn gel on them in about a year. That damage has clearly been caused by me and my cuticle work ;( my nails also never have gel and I noticed they do have a few white marks and don't look great.

How can I call myself a nail tech and work on other people when I am somehow ruining my own? It always feels like there's cuticle, as in I can feel the tool catching, I can see what I'm doing and it doesn't feel like or look like I'm causing damage but I must be. I swear I am careful, I have watched Holly's video, I have obviously been trained and I've watched countless YouTube videos etc. I do my cuticle work and when I'm done it looks fine, but then when I come to remove my polish I can see slight damage on quite a few of the nails.

I then went on to give myself an iLac rockstar pedi and had even more disheartening troubles. I desperately tried to use only the teeniest bit of topcoat, I tried to do only a few nails at a time. I tried everything, but on most of the nails the topcoat still ran into the cuticle area and sidewalls. I can only do my own feet with legs crossed and holding my foot in front of my face, so it's pretty much pointing straight up, which I know isn't ideal but it ran all over the shop. I ended up having to use old nippers and a file to remove any excess. Also, after 2 topcoats, I went in to cleanse and some of my glitter went silver in patches. I had fully covered it with topcoat though, 2 coats and clearly there was enough because it ran everywhere. I usually only do one coat on pops and never have this problem. My only thought was I may have accidentally used the dehydrator to cleanse, I don't think I did though. The second foot I top coated thinly 3 times just to make sure and it was fine thankfully, apart from the topcoat flooding.

I feel like an utterly useless failure. My painting skills are good. My work always gets compliments, but I'm still really struggling with problems that no one else seems to ever encounter! My nails always looked so lovely back in the days when all I did was paint them and basically ignored my cuticles. Now I feel like I'm destroying mine and quite likely clients!

I'm sorry this is long winded and all round the houses. I love doing nails. I spend all my free time reading salon geek, watching YouTube and practising on pops etc. I've invested so much and want to be the best I can. I feel like completely giving up and like I should throw my cuticle tools out the window! I'm so upset with myself I just want to cry. I know I need a kick up the rear but I just can't figure out how I'm having so many issues. Xx
 
Aww dont feel like that. How long you been doing nails for? Do any of your clients have this problem?
My toenails were a right mess when I took my hard gel off. Looked like the toenail had lifted away from the underside a bit but I just put some more gel polish on and ignored it! My toenails never look as good as my clients cos you have to hold them at such funny angles. Don't feel down about it x
 
We all have crap days it's part of being a woman but go buy some wine and chocolate and have a treat.

Getting to your points I have one or two naughty clients who try "help" loft foot up and sometimes knocks the top colour before it sets , so I make them keep their foot flat and keep the base of the gel or led lamp on the bottom and only replace or move the machine (both mine can disconnect bottom plate and top)

Second point: Your nails sound dehydrated this happened due to various reasons like dos you use base coat before using China glaze or perhaps the polish was left on too long this happened to one two clients till I clicked what or why .
Use cuticle oils and also use shinner buffer and that bring the oils back to the surface.

Third: painting your own foot. I also can't paint my own toes unless foot is facing me! So I managed to sit on small stool or chair and put your foot up on table and so you are practically having your foot Infront your face this helps and saves you trying to do yoga moves
 
Hi There ,


On my way out but just had to say . Why are you putting 2 or 3 coats of Top gel on ?

You should only need one

All the other 'issues ' you feel you are having are completely normal and I will reply a bit more in depth when I have time but that top coat thing was bugging me lol
 
Aww dont feel like that. How long you been doing nails for? Do any of your clients have this problem?
My toenails were a right mess when I took my hard gel off. Looked like the toenail had lifted away from the underside a bit but I just put some more gel polish on and ignored it! My toenails never look as good as my clients cos you have to hold them at such funny angles. Don't feel down about it x
Thanks Mrs B. I am really tough on myself and I'm a total perfectionist. I just feel like I shouldn't be allowed near anyone, not even myself! I've not being doing nails long, did my mani pedi about a year ago and my gel polish 4 months ago. I haven't worked much, I do a bit of adhoc work in a salon just doing gel polish on nails and a few people at home. The pedi client was my first real own client that had come to me and not the salon and was someone I didn't know. So I haven't really had any repeat clients to know! Silly as that sounds. The only repeat client I've had in the salon picks her gel polish off, so she's not really an example! I just keep getting problems with top coat running all over the shop and I'm convinced I am wrecking nails with cuticle work. I am so careful, but if I feel the tool catch I assume it's doing its job and catching on cuticle so I keep going at it. Had one client in the salon the other day who came in with lovely nails and it looked like I'd scratched the plate, but I was convinced it was stuck on cuticle. My toenails looked like someone who's been having gel dug off by someone's teeth! I only ever wear lacquer (today I wanted to try a gel pedi for practise) and they never used to be bad at all, so I'm convinced I've been destroying them with cuticle work. I've had two lots of training, I can't afford any more atm, especially as I felt the last 2 weren't that great (well it's still left me with problems) and I can't afford to keep laying out and being left feeling unhappy that the training didn't meet expectations. Xx
 
We all have crap days it's part of being a woman but go buy some wine and chocolate and have a treat.

Getting to your points I have one or two naughty clients who try "help" loft foot up and sometimes knocks the top colour before it sets , so I make them keep their foot flat and keep the base of the gel or led lamp on the bottom and only replace or move the machine (both mine can disconnect bottom plate and top)

Second point: Your nails sound dehydrated this happened due to various reasons like dos you use base coat before using China glaze or perhaps the polish was left on too long this happened to one two clients till I clicked what or why .
Use cuticle oils and also use shinner buffer and that bring the oils back to the surface.

Third: painting your own foot. I also can't paint my own toes unless foot is facing me! So I managed to sit on small stool or chair and put your foot up on table and so you are practically having your foot Infront your face this helps and saves you trying to do yoga moves

Thanks, I'm def having a sensitive moment today!

She kept pointing just the big toe up. My husband and I figured out that probably her knees weren't bent enough. I think if I'd have got her to put her feet closer towards her and I just leaned more then maybe she'd have kept them flatter. She didn't knock the gel but I find if the foot or hand isn't flat the gel can run. I'm not sure what u mean about the lamps. I took the base off mine and lifted it over her foot. Is this not the best way to do it?

I always use base coat and never have polish on for too long. Not sure what base coat I used though. I think I had my pedi on for maybe 3-4 weeks, which is pretty standard. They were dehydrated from acetone soak off I have them to get the glitter off, but they looked like damage lines, not just dehydration. I am a bit rubbish at moisturising my toenails. My finger nails don't look too bad, but there are some signs of damage. I change my polish once a week, always use base coat and moisturise/oil my hands/nails often. I do have a thyroid condition which can account for some nail issues.

I will def try the postition you mentioned. I am so used to doing "yoga poses" for my pedi lol but it makes the topcoat run.

Xx
 
Hi There ,


On my way out but just had to say . Why are you putting 2 or 3 coats of Top gel on ?

You should only need one

All the other 'issues ' you feel you are having are completely normal and I will reply a bit more in depth when I have time but that top coat thing was bugging me lol

Haha I do know where you're coming from! 3 top coats isn't normal!

I did 2 because it was over glitter rock stars, but when I removed the inhibition I got a couple of small patches where the glitter went silver! As I said, it is possible I accidentally used the ink dehydrator instead of the cleanser. I wasn't sure though so for the other foot I just did a third topcoat just to make certain the glitter would stay blue. On clients I do 1 coat top coat or 2 over glitter and I've never had a problem. Honestly I had so many problems, what with topcoat running, glitter turning silver etc, that I'm not sure which nails got 2 coats of top and which got 3 Xx
 
Carly who did you train with ? Xx
 
Carly who did you train with ? Xx

It's a bit of a long story, but my mani pedi was with an artistic educator and her mum who is a NVQ assessor. It was just us and models at her home salon, no other students. Some of it was good, some really wasn't. Felt like they hadn't put enough thought into how to teach so much in a short time, in fact it felt like they had no plan at all.

My gel polish training was with Nubar and it was good, but obviously it's more about the products than manicure training. Even then though, top coat pooled into one side wall of my models thumb (I've since worked out a method to avoid this but it feels awkward). Also it was just me as the other student had cancelled, so although I had application and removal done and shown on me and I did an application, I never got to perform a removal. I am still slightly terrified to remove Gelicure as the one time I tried on myself it wouldn't budge. I'm in the process of switching to iLac now as it just falls off so I'm not scared of it lol. X
 
What tool are you using for cuticle removal x
 
Oh luv. I promise you it will get better. However, I've just started using ilac and I find their Rock topcoat quite runny. The first time I used it I had pooling in the sidewalls which really shocked me. If you were using it over rock stars, the temptation is to encapsulate the glitter with a slightly thicker topcoat but you can't do this with ilac. Everything about it needs to be super thin.

Super thin top coat and then reapply over rock stars and you'll stop pooling and the finish will be amazing. X
 
What tool are you using for cuticle removal x
I was trained to use a metal pushie and curved cuticle knife, as well as a double ended pushie my EA told me to buy from Erlinda. That one has one end that it very sharp and shaped like a tiny wallpaper scraper. I'm probably causing issues because I'm using that, but the point is I can feel it catching, as Holly says, so I assume it's cuticle I'm removing. I also have another pushy which is shaped like the OPI safeguard one, sort of like a half cup but pushie sized (not curette) and bent so it goes flat against the nail plate. I tried using that for the pedi but I switched to my detailer/scraper because it wasn't getting it all off. I do have a curette too, but I'm scared that's also scratching the nail plate and I'm not a huge fan of it.

Hard to explain without photos! I'll try and add some in a mo. X
 
Oh luv. I promise you it will get better. However, I've just started using ilac and I find their Rock topcoat quite runny. The first time I used it I had pooling in the sidewalls which really shocked me. If you were using it over rock stars, the temptation is to encapsulate the glitter with a slightly thicker topcoat but you can't do this with ilac. Everything about it needs to be super thin.

Super thin top coat and then reapply over rock stars and you'll stop pooling and the finish will be amazing. X
Thank you so much! I am so so glad it's not just me who had this! I did go super thin, I had so little on my brush, which is a pain because obviously you can't float on such a small amount. I did exactly as you said and got pooling on almost all my toenails. The fact my foot is pointing up is def not helping. I tried the other position someone mentioned and my knee was in the way. I can only seem to paint my own with my foot held infront of me, which I find comfortable but it makes the gel run. Only the topcoat though, colour coats were fine. I haven't used iLac on any clients yet. Everyone keeps choosing the Gelicure colours I have.

I worry so much. At some point in the future the goal is to compete, to push myself to be the best. Right now I just feel so useless and like im just not good a what I do. Xx
 
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These are my various cuticle tools so you can see what I'm talking about.
 

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What cuticle removing product are you using? If you could use CND Cuticle Away or inkLondon cuticle remover it would do a lot of the hard work for you. Left for a min it will breakdown the stubborn cuticle making it easier to gently ease the rest of with your Cuticle tool ☺
 
I have the 3rd tool and love it. Keep practicing with one tool. I doubt your doing anything too bad to your clients nails. You need to make sure all the cuticle is removed but there shouldn't be any bad marks or anything on the nail plate. If you do decide to use a cuticle remover make sure you dehydrate well before applying products otherwise they will lift as they tend to be oily. I would always prefer to work dry personally x
 
What cuticle removing product are you using? If you could use CND Cuticle Away or inkLondon cuticle remover it would do a lot of the hard work for you. Left for a min it will breakdown the stubborn cuticle making it easier to gently ease the rest of with your Cuticle tool ☺
I'm using the Ink London one, but it seems to evaporate off the nail really quickly. Like I'll apply, leave it for 30 seconds or so and the first nail I applied it to will look dry like it's totally disappeared. I usually add a drop more when that happens because I prefer to have something slightly wet to use the tool on. I bought it Excel so it's definitely new. It is really good, but I still find I have to do a lot of work with the tool. x
 
I have the 3rd tool and love it. Keep practicing with one tool. I doubt your doing anything too bad to your clients nails. You need to make sure all the cuticle is removed but there shouldn't be any bad marks or anything on the nail plate. If you do decide to use a cuticle remover make sure you dehydrate well before applying products otherwise they will lift as they tend to be oily. I would always prefer to work dry personally x
That's my newest one and I'm still getting used to it. I used it on my pedi client the other day but ended up switching to the small chisel detailer as it just wasn't getting it all. I def need to practise more with it. Thanks, I hope I'm not! I couldn't see any marks on my own nails until I removed the polish, they weren't visible when I did the cuticle work. Thanks, I've been deactivating with water on a cotton pad and then dehydrating twice to make sure the nail's super clean. I'd like to do it dry and this is how I was taught when I did my gelicure training, but I just find it takes too long on most people (on myself I often do dry because I do it regularly) and when the tool catches I go over the area and it looks marked, but I think it's just cuticle lifting up- I can't tell though! x
 
Why don't you just book in with someone for gel polish manicure, just make sure it is a good place and experience what a qualified nail technician is doing :) sometimes that helps :)
 
Why don't you just book in with someone for gel polish manicure, just make sure it is a good place and experience what a qualified nail technician is doing :) sometimes that helps :)

Gel grips on to me very well, the only one that's ever actually come off has been iLac so I've been too nervous to wear it. All the salons in my area are pretty poor and tbh I wouldn't trust any of them to go near my nails. When I did my gel polish training the educator actually over buffed them to remove and caused quite a bit of damage on a couple of nails, also left a lot of colour on most of the nails. That's was an experienced tech! So you never really know what you're going to get. I wonder if there's anyone on here who would be up for a service swap and could check my work. I'm in Camden if anyone would be willing to help.

xx
 

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