How long did it take you to do a decent set of nails??

[Sei Bella]

On Wednesday, I finished day 3 of my foundation course with CND. I did my first full set of pink and whites on my nail model.... They were awful, big, bulky and funny shaped. :o I still have day 4 and 5 to go and want to be alot better than I am!

Yesterday I did a full set on my friend. They were better but still odd shapes with crooked smile lines. Grrrr.

I know its about practise practise practise.... but how long did it take you from when you did your course to be doing decent sets of nails. (I had absolutely no experience beforehand)

 

[hannajadem]

On Wednesday, I finished day 3 of my foundation course with CND. I did my first full set of pink and whites on my nail model.... They were awful, big, bulky and funny shaped. :o I still have day 4 and 5 to go and want to be alot better than I am!

Yesterday I did a full set on my friend. They were better but still odd shapes with crooked smile lines. Grrrr.

I know its about practise practise practise.... but how long did it take you from when you did your course to be doing decent sets of nails. (I had absolutely no experience beforehand)

Don't worry, I sometimes do wonky nails now. I trained in Sept 08, converted to CND in Dec 08 and went mobile in the February, but my prices were very low to start with. I started charging full price 4 months later, but according to my educator should have been charging the full rate way before this time. The best advice I can give you is to throw yourself in the deep end as much as possible. It is worrying whether or not Mrs X's nails are ok, but it's the only way you learn. Good luck. X
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[nailartist]

It took me about six months before I was happy with how my enhancements looked. Then it took another two years before I figured out how to keep them from lifting--mostly. That is a battle with a few of my clients even still!

You WILL get better with practice, but also with continuing education. Go to as many classes as you can, that is where you will experience your "Ah HA" moments and get seriously excited about what you're doing!

 

[jolie69]

Hi,
I also still feel like I'm too slow in finishing a set but i'm so intent on the end result I lose track of time and a full set still takes me about 2 hours!

My prices are still low because of that as local salons apparently produce great sets in 1 hour. I'm thinking of going to have mine done out of curiosity as they're double what I charge. But I wonder why anyone will come to me unless I'm cheaper?

The best thing I started doing was to do acrylic overlays on myself. I've never had enhancements as my nails are good and long enough but it'sd taught me a lot.

1. if you can do them on yourself - i think you can do them on anyone
2. You can see how they wear and I.D any problems with lifting etc
3. You can perfect your smile line, filing etc in your own time- no pressure

I also bought a "Nail Trainer" great for practicing a whole hand at speed!

 

[Jemima]

I only did my training a few weeks ago, the bigest problem I'm having is with the tips I'm using, I trained with Salon System products and it seems fine, however the tips I bought are Cuccio (they didn't have Salon System in stock at the time) almost everytime I use them they split, the only thing I can think of is that they are too curved, but I'm not sure.

As for producing good sets of nails, I've been pleased with my UV Gels (done two full sets and an overlay), although I know there is room for improvement. I really need to practise my acrylic pink & whites and sculptures.

I've also dropped my prices to start with, I'm just charging for cost of materials really but have put together a full price list as well so people know what my prices will be in the future.

 

[Sei Bella]

Thanks for the replies....

I think I'll do close friends and family for free but only for first few weeks until I find my feet. I'll then start charging a low price to cover costs. £10. When I'm confident and can do a decent set of nails in a decent amount of time I'll start charging full price.

I will definitely keep practising - I have my nail trainer and I'll try practising on myself. I do plan on continuing my education with CND.

 

[shedunlop]

It's more to do with how many sets you do rather than time, but I am sure that is what you meant. I would read everything you can and watch as many turorials as you can and, as everyone will tell you, practice, practice, practice. There are no real short cuts to this but you seem to have your head screwed on the right way so you will do well. Don't be put off by the odd bad set you will inevitably do, we all do, learn from mistakes and you will do just fine!

By the way, welcome to our world!

 

[chocolatepickle]

I trained 7 months ago, my time is about 2hrs per set, often up to 2.5 for forever french and i'm starting to do sets where i think its starting to go well and each time it may just be my best yet, then i go and do something silly like over file it or not finish it well or not realise its too bulky until the end. I'm having real ups and downs now (probably as i'm doing more sets) but hopefully i'll work through it and come out the other end a decent nail tech. I think it is more to do with how many sets you do rather then time, i didn't do too much until the last 3 months so didn't progress as quick as i could have. The real difficulty for me though is in the re-balance... that's a whole other challenge in itself to tackle!

 

[RachFace]

On Wednesday, I finished day 3 of my foundation course with CND. I did my first full set of pink and whites on my nail model.... They were awful, big, bulky and funny shaped. :o I still have day 4 and 5 to go and want to be alot better than I am!

Yesterday I did a full set on my friend. They were better but still odd shapes with crooked smile lines. Grrrr.

I know its about practise practise practise.... but how long did it take you from when you did your course to be doing decent sets of nails. (I had absolutely no experience beforehand)

Hey!! Im with you there! I feel like im complete rubbish and will never get it! Im trying to practise but with 2 small kids (one of which wont go to bed grrrrrrr) and taking 3-4 hours to do a set when my husband is working really long days and were away on holiday all next week i dont know how im going to be good enough to pass assessment by 3rd June. Im sure youll be much better than me :o

I really want to do lots of practise but am struggling I spent most of yesterday evening just practising mix ratio because i dont think i was doing it right and have figured ive been working too dry. Could do with some guidance on how to press the bead once its on so ive been reading through the tutorials on here and ive ordered Gigi's Nailclass book

Youll be fine btw - your nails werent awful at all!!! I know the white has chipped on my mothers thumb

 

[shedunlop]

Hey!! Im with you there! I feel like im complete rubbish and will never get it! Im trying to practise but with 2 small kids (one of which wont go to bed grrrrrrr) and taking 3-4 hours to do a set when my husband is working really long days and were away on holiday all next week i dont know how im going to be good enough to pass assessment by 3rd June. Im sure youll be much better than me :o

I really want to do lots of practise but am struggling I spent most of yesterday evening just practising mix ratio because i dont think i was doing it right and have figured ive been working too dry. Could do with some guidance on how to press the bead once its on so ive been reading through the tutorials on here and ive ordered Gigi's Nailclass book

Youll be fine btw - your nails werent awful at all!!! I know the white has chipped on my mothers thumb

Really brings it back to me. When I started I was a single mum with a 5 year old that didn't sleep before the witching hour! Really difficult to get the practice in but worth every grey hair!

Have a look on here, Gigi's book is fab and if you have a look on the Young Nails website or youtube you will find fab video tutorials by Greg Salo.

 

[Sei Bella]

Really brings it back to me. When I started I was a single mum with a 5 year old that didn't sleep before the witching hour! Really difficult to get the practice in but worth every grey hair!

Have a look on here, Gigi's book is fab and if you have a look on the Young Nails website or youtube you will find fab video tutorials by Greg Salo.

Thanks! I have Gigi's book already and it gives really good tips and I will try and practise the techniques taught. I'll definitely have a look on youtube for those tutorials..

Rach! - Thanks for the encouragement. I'm sure you'll be fine too. Your mums nails looked fine to me - really! much better than my sorry attempt lol. I'm sure we'll all pass, we can do it, and the knowledge is right there in our books, but we just need to keep practising afterwards so we can get alot better at doing them.