gutted .. did really poor job on a client, bad day or am i just not up to scratch

[sarahc]

have been shellacking and minxing for little while now, im not perfect i'll admit but thought i was making good progress but new client just left and i could cry
she seemed happy enough but i think she was just being polite!
she chose rock royalty and it took me about an hour - had to do 3 coats as was still quite patchy after 2 and as she had slim nails with a deep c curve i was too scared to go in too close to the side walls and so missed bits along walls and just didnt have a very nice finish.
the minx silver/black polka dot took about 1 hr and half just couldnt get big toes right - even after cuticle push the cuticle had sharp slant .. i charged half price for both treatments and am thinking of reviewing my prices - perhaps im just not ready yet to charge full price - really feel deflated, and for a moment thought of chucking it all in .. but have spent too much on this so really need to get it right
have any of you had set backs like that? how did you deal with/ get over, it? i just cant undertand it because i practiced so much prior to charing full price, wasnt nervous at all about being a new client she was lovely so that not it
dreading the weekend now as have pamper party booked for 5, even thinking about cancelling as i just know im going to be worrying its going to turn out like today!

also any advice to deal with the problems i encourtered would be much appreciated
my friend is coming over shortly for shellac, ive a good mind to hide the rock royalty, lol

 

[weezie]

No advise for technique as I dont do either but jump back on the bandwagon and do the pamper party, things can only get better and now this has happened you will improve. We all have off days. :hug:

 

[shedunlop]

We are all funny! We are deflated by one client where we couldn't get things right and dismiss the hundreds of treatments that went well. You just need to get this into proportion with the rest of your clients my darling.

All of us have a day like this every now and again and a lot of the time the client is fine it is just us being too picky!

Don't cancel your party it will give you your confidence back. :biggrin:

 

[MissConfused]

i haven't trained in shellac or minx so can't advise you on that but as for just wanting to cancel your party and give up then don't, honestly. every set you do is another set to improve your skills so it'd be silly to cancel and miss out on the extra learning (not to mention the income!).

everybody has off days and i don't believe anybody that says everything they do in life is perfect 100% of the time so try not to worry too much. at the end of the day you haven't hurt anybody, and she got an half price nail treatment. x

 

[sarahc]

thanks for your reassuring words, going to spend the evening looking on youtube studying the fingernail fixers videos lol

also i have only ever done shellac clients with fairly long free edge but she had really short nails so was really hard/messy to cap - any tips or advice there also would be welcome

plus her toe nails were very thick and fairly short again so was hard to get nice finish on the free edge there also and wouldnt be suprised if she phones to say one of the minx has peeled off

 

[shedunlop]

You see? You know that this client had certain challenges so you are not so bad after all are you? We all struggle with clients with no free edge and toe nails can be a nightmare. I am sure she is fine and loving both fingers and toes! :biggrin:

 

[sarahc]

thanks shedunlop, you're too kind
i think i may still review my prices though, until im 100% confident in my ability .. perhaps i started charging full price a little too soon? may just offer 20% off across the board, might confuse my regulars though lol

 

[Vetty]

thanks shedunlop, you're too kind
i think i may still review my prices though, until im 100% confident in my ability .. perhaps i started charging full price a little too soon? may just offer 20% off across the board, might confuse my regulars though lol

If you have regular clients that pay full price and come back then you should be charging full price. Don't reduce across the board, maybe do what you did today and offer a reduction if you feel you need to on a case by case basis.

FWIW we all have days like this. And I bet the next time you see her the nails wont look anywhere near as bad as you think they do. I remember doing a set that I thought I'd really messed up the smile lines and when I saw them at the rebalance they looked so much better than I remembered!!!

 

[weezie]

I've done that too Vetty, clients have come back and I've thought "they look good wonder where they've had those done" and then they say "my nails have really lasted" and I realise it's my work that I thought wasn't great at the time!

 

[roo09]

As everyone else has said, don't beat yourself up when there probably was not an awful lot wrong with them. If you have other clients and you have been happy with your work on them, then you are probably being very harsh on yourself.
I did a Shellac for a friend today and wasn't madly happy, thinking that the edges weren't as neat as I would have liked. When I mentioned it to her, she laughed and said, 'You're a strange woman, you must have a touch of OCD......I think they are great'. So you see, our perception of our work is sometimes a bit flawed. Don't reduce your prices, draw a line under it and eat a bar of chocolate.....:hug:

 

[sarahc]

aww thanks everyone, i will try and draw a line under it and move on and as sugested will perhaps offer discount for minx and shellac only as happy with other nail treatments
the problem is party is for 5 minx toes and if it took me hour and half to do my client today will be there into the early hours lol - usually takes me 45 mins but havent done them in a while, so perhaps why was a little out of practice - im thinking of being honest with the host as she knows im still new to nails - might offer to do full minx on her toes and big toes/paint on her friends and offer them 20% off full set of minx to be taken at a later date - what do you think ?
i have been looking at finger nails fixers vids, she's an angel .. feel little better already, going off to find a spare daughter to practice on now, lol
thanks again everyone x

 

[JERSEY JOCK]

It just shows that you take pride in our work and want everything to be right, I think it would be more worrying if you didn't care and wasn't bothered what your work looked like.:Love:

 

[sarahc]

aww thanks jersey rock .. yes i do take pride in my work, my heart sank when i got the first big toe on and i said to the woman "is that alright" and she just looked blank and took a while answering, not exactly enthusiastic .. think that set me up for a fall the rest of the treatment, lol

trouble is after i moved away from a bad marriage, i lost contact with all my friends so have literally been practising on my 3 teen daughters and cpl random guinea pigs, same people, same nails all lovely condition then when i come across someone with short or thick nails i struggle, so i guess i am still in effect practising but on my clients! not good