Help! I feel like giving up with acrylics!

[anneliz]

Hi everyone..Im new to acrylics. Did VTCT Nail Treatments, then VTCT Nail Art and now currently doing VTCT Nail Extensions at local college. Im 44 and quite ill with Fibromyalgia..but trying not to feel sorry for myself, so keep trying! The rest of my class are 16-17 and seem to find it all so easy..

I am shocked at how difficult it is to apply good looking acrylics!! My teacher has told me that I shouldnt be such a perfectionist..and to just get on with it..also that I need more confidence BUT as a few others have said on here..I cant charge someone unless their nails look superb! Last night at college we had a trial assesment and it was the first time Ive tried to apply all ten nails!! It all went a bit wrong..mainly as I was far too slow (and the girl I was working on kept telling me so which didnt help!) My main trouble is blending the tips into the natural nail.

Im so scared of damaging the natural nail or blending away too much tip..or touching skin and making the client bleed..it all got too much last night that I ended up bursting into tears!! I am also worried about my son having an operation..but I just couldnt get a grip on doing 10 nails!! Today I feel like giving it all up and never going back, as next week we have our first proper assignment and I cant even get a client for it due to the time of the class.

I dont know what advice Im asking for but I just wanted to write and basically ask if anyone else felt like giving up and found it virtually impossible, and how many years of practice do you need to apply perfect nails? Also do you customise your tips while client is sat there before gluing on?..Thats how we've been taught but it takes ages!! Im even scared of the glue!! help..please, I need encouragement!!!

Thanks very much...Best wishes Ann :cry:

 

[xAnnaBannAx]

Hi everyone..Im new to acrylics. Did VTCT Nail Treatments, then VTCT Nail Art and now currently doing VTCT Nail Extensions at local college. Im 44 and quite ill with Fibromyalgia..but trying not to feel sorry for myself, so keep trying! The rest of my class are 16-17 and seem to find it all so easy..

I am shocked at how difficult it is to apply good looking acrylics!! My teacher has told me that I shouldnt be such a perfectionist..and to just get on with it..also that I need more confidence BUT as a few others have said on here..I cant charge someone unless their nails look superb! Last night at college we had a trial assesment and it was the first time Ive tried to apply all ten nails!! It all went a bit wrong..mainly as I was far too slow (and the girl I was working on kept telling me so which didnt help!) My main trouble is blending the tips into the natural nail.

Im so scared of damaging the natural nail or blending away too much tip..or touching skin and making the client bleed..it all got too much last night that I ended up bursting into tears!! I am also worried about my son having an operation..but I just couldnt get a grip on doing 10 nails!! Today I feel like giving it all up and never going back, as next week we have our first proper assignment and I cant even get a client for it due to the time of the class.

I dont know what advice Im asking for but I just wanted to write and basically ask if anyone else felt like giving up and found it virtually impossible, and how many years of practice do you need to apply perfect nails? Also do you customise your tips while client is sat there before gluing on?..Thats how we've been taught but it takes ages!! Im even scared of the glue!! help..please, I need encouragement!!!

Thanks very much...Best wishes Ann :cry:

When I first got my EN course through the post and started doing it I felt exactly like that! I couldnt believe how hard it was! I tried to laugh off my attempts and plough on but really I was sooo upset and frustrated....and I still have moments like that..im sure most of us do...its a bit like a rollercoaster ride...you fix one problem then something else goes wrong..its all part of the learning process and all I can say is....over time and gradually, things will improve bit by bit and then youll look back and wonder why you found something so hard...but now you have realised its not easy you can take a deep breath and stop being so hard on yourself because eventually it will all be fine.

I always think its a bit like learning to drive...the first time you get behind the wheel and the instructor tells you all the things you have to do you think omg how am I ever going to remember to do all those things AND do them all at the same time....it almost seems like an impossible task....but eventually you get better and better until one day you dont even think about it! Im not quite at that stage myself yet but things are definately not as bad as they was at the very beginning.

As I said on a previous thread I think the best thing you can do when you first start learning is forget about trying to do a full set or even a full nail....get some really cheap tips and start off bit by bit...first practice getting your beads, getting a feel for the product and your brush etc...when you think your ok with your beads then practice placing and pressing them out....just practice bit by bit and you will be fine....perhaps you could have a private chat with your tutor and tell her your concerns, say your not ready for the assessment next week you need more help and more time x

 

[karentriff]

hi there would be barely one of us who hasn't felt like giving up at one time or another. My suggestion is to decide if its what you really want. Have a good think about it and then decide. If your teacher thinks you are a perfectionist, perhaps you are expecting too much of yourself at this stage. But again, most nail techs that I know are perfectionists and I don't know of many that would be happy with any set they did. This is why we get better and better. You must try hard not to be scared during your training. This is the time to practice and go for it while your clients are models. Also this is the time to take it slowly and try to conquer each stage till you are confident with it. Are you practicing at home on tips or a hand? Doing this will bring confidence with holding and angling your brush, working out product ratios and controlling your product.
Also I don't know about not being able to charge till your nails are superb. A lot of techs set a lower price whilst they are in training and increase them when they are confident in the nails. I have seen some pretty crap nails that clients have paid top dollar for.
cheers
karen

 

[anneliz]

Hi AnnaBanna..Thanks for that..I think I will have a chat with my teacher. Also Im going to go now and practice!! By the way..I cant drive a car either..Ha-ha..I can "mentally" just not "physically" cos it hurts!!

 

[Tracey Roberts]

Hi,
Dont give up, try and be more determined not to let it beat you, as for your age ?, well Im the oldest on my course at 41, and some of the younger ones felt hopeless for a while, you will get there, you just need a bit more confidence and practice, I used to practice on myself, as for blending tips, well I still dont like it, but I'm fine with it now.
It doesn't help if your worried about you son, quite understandably so, just dont give up ok, you will get there, and it will be well deserved, you'll look back after and think OMG why did I worry.
Confidence is half the battle, just bite the bullet so to speak :hug: x

 

[angelnailz]

Hey hun

First of all :hug:. I just wanted to say I felt exactly the same and not just once either! i have been in tears thinking why did i start this? but i kept on going - things got easier and my timings got quicker. my first few sets took me over 3 hours each and i could never imagine how i was gonna get quicker - but I did lol. Every stage in acrylics is a challenge, from prep to fitting to sculpting to infills and re balance every stage i though aarrggh!! If you really want to do this you WILL. It cant be easy for you with everything going on but if you have the time just practice practice practice it really does help.

Karen x

 

[user 28883]

Hi there, please dont give up. I feel like that sometimes with courses I do as I feel everyone else is ahead of me and when it comes to tests I am always the last one to finish. You always feel everyone else is ahead of you. I thought everyone was on my Barbering course, but last night I realised they were not.

If you need a client, where in Yorkshire are you? If your not too far I may be able to help you out.

Keep positive and we all have good and bad days. I even had a client last night who was telling me about his bad day on his course. It happens to us all.

 

[chantell simone]

I think we have all at some point felt like giving up!

You need to practice, practice and practice at every given opportunity

If this is what you really want to do then giving up is not an option

 

[pringle12]

hi hun!
Dont you dare give up hun, i had a night mare a few weeks ago with all my photos of my assesments go missing from my folder,the folder stays at college all the time,god nos where they are, i was very upset ,plus every thing went **** up on the nite.But i love donig nail its my life and i love doing them. But the next week went great.Acrylic is not easy hun we all have to have a lot of pratice .Pratice is the key.I couldnt blend a tip when i first started now its easy,i always found i didnt blend it enough to start with.Just keep praticing hun your get there, we all do in the end.Im at college and theres lot of young girls in my class in there 19 upword and im 37 .dont worry hun just relax and try to have fun dont let it get you down.your be great when youve had more pratice. xx:hug:xx

 

[geeg]

It's nice that everyone is so encouraging to you but can I ask you if doing nails is THAT important to you? Is all this angst you are suffering worth it to you? MY OPINION is that not everyone is suited to doing nails .... there's allot to this profession and you have to be strong in many different areas to ever make a success of it.

Everyone has said they have had days like you .... Well, I never did. It never occured to me for one second that I wouldn't be good at doing nails. I think that if you don't have a mind and feeling like mine that doing nails with any degree of success is going to be very hard for you .... so that begs the question above, "is doing nails that important to you?"

It's a hard enough and strenuous enough job when one is fit and healthy without the added strain of being unwell. I don't really understand why you are putting yourself through all this anxiety ... for what?

My advice would be to reflect very carefully on whether doing nails is important enough in the scheme of your life for it to make you so miserable and nervous about it. I sincerely wish you well but doing nails is not easy and that is just the doing of them .. then there is dealing with the public and running a business and keeping your family all in balance. If you're not planning to go into a business then nails will be a hobby for you and hobbies are supposed to be relaxing and fun. It doesn't sound like it is happening for you.