Wow, this post about Contours took me way back to the 1980's! This is an interesting thing thats been happening in the industry for years, but not a new one or one to worry about. I feel compelled to respond to this because i was once a Contours user years ago. Do i still use it now? No. but it did get me into the nail industry at a level i could afford and made me want to learn more about nails. Obviously the more you educate yourself, the more you learn about various products and what you choose. It worked fine for me as a new learner, but i later switched to other brands and then now use Radical. I have been a nail tech and hairdresser since 1986 and I still absolutely love this industry. I hate to repeat the obvious, but i am not sure why some of you are up in arms over this. Maybe this is new to your country. In this industry all over the world there are sooo many nail products being sold everywhere and arent giving any eduation with it and also selling products containing ingredients that are unsafe for even an experienced professional to use (MMA). I did some looking into this store on the net that is selling Contours and it is no different then Sally's here in the US. Now i buy products from what i like to think of as a professional distributor, but I can also say that the convenience of Sally's has saved my ass numerous times on Saturdays and Sunday because they are open and in convenient locations. My state is licensed in nails, but that doesnt stop my own clients buying powders and liquids in drug stores. At first, to be honest it pissed me off because i would have clients say they werent able to afford coming in to me regularly and were going to try and do it themselves. I thought i was going to lose my clientele. Can i say, those people all came back and were my most loyal clients. One even ended up working at a salon i worked at years ago. Like another post i read on here, what is the difference between this and all the hair colors you can buy in the drug stores? From what i can see, at least this company has tried to help this industry by giving some education to the person purchasing the product, which is more than alot of distributors give. Lets be honest, the real problems in our industry are the products containing MMA that are harmful for the nails, or what about the people doing hair or nails in the salon that havent updated their knowledge since they first learned (scary!), or people ripping apart clients nails and skin with drills or charging $9.95 for a full set of nails in 30 minutes??? These are the issues that cause problems in our industry and make those of us that work hard to be as professional as possible look bad. There are lots of people that are former hairdressers and former nail techs that deserve the convnience and ability to still purchase items even after their license may have expired to do their own hair or nails. From what i have seen, the people that buy these products just want to work on themselves or a friend, not open up a full business to compete with us. If anything, i'd say this sort of exposure helped my business out. Its good for them to have a try and then actually appreciate the fact that can come to the salon for the real deal. Besides, like I said, that convenience has helped me out in a pinch with needing products several times and i am happy for it.
I dont mean this in anyway to minimize anyones concern, i just wanted to share from first hand experience with this product that it helped me not only to get started in the nail industry, but Sallys being open on the weekends helped me so many times when i ran out of things.
Just keep focused on what you do and be thankful like i am that at least you know there is a convenient last minute option to help you in a pinch that is safe for the natural nail. This is NOT a bad thing, but a real good move to help you.