Nail art popularity in Magazines

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geeg

Judge Gigi-Honorary Geek
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My main thought now looking at the poll is that I wish the professional magazines reflected what we are seeing.

My personal opinion is that there is a disproportionate amount of space given to nail art as a whole, when it is pretty clear that it is not the main revenue generator for most of us in the salon.

I am NOT disrespecting nail art or the artists. Yes we all like to look at the photos and some of the work is amazing and I applaud the artists ... but to be realistic My feeling is that there are many more technicians who could learn a lot from these magazines (rather than thumbing through the pages of photos) if knowledgeable, interesting, and readable articles were written about the issues that affect our businesses.

I think many of us would like to know about the labyrinthian chaos of NVQ vs VCTC and how it will affect our futures as technicians, then see technicians every month talk about ridiculous 20 million dollar manicures -which are all hype and no substance.

Some may have made a niche for themselves doing photo shoots for magazines etc. but it is not for everyone and it certainly won't make anyone a secure living. How about the 'normal' technician who works hard all day every day in the real world ... what about helpful topics that affect them?

And what about seeing some of the nail enhancements that normal nail technicians turn out so that other technicians can maybe compare their work with them. So many technicians are out on a limb with no one to guide them or with whom they can compare notes.

Thank you Geek for this site, where real hard-working nail technicians can come for real and factual answers to the questions that affect them everyday in the workplace ... these are the ones who are the back bone of our industry.
 
here - here
:thumbsup:
 
I think the nail industry is rather like the clothing industry. The catwalks and magazines are full of beautiful creations which show the skills at the forefront of the industry, but there are far more people designing and making clothes for the normal high street market - this being where the vast majority of people work & earn money.

The designers at the shows keep the media interest up, it gives a direction for the styles we like, just that we wouldn't actually wear the things on the catwalk.

I see myself as the Marks & Spencers of Nails - good reliable quality, but no fashion statements here.
 
I love that, Ella!
 
geeg said:
And what about seeing some of the nail enhancements that normal nail technicians turn out so that other technicians can maybe compare their work with them. So many technicians are out on a limb with no one to guide them or with whom they can compare notes.

You're right Geeg - I LOVE seeing everyone's nail art, but I'd also LOVE to see sets of pink and white acrylic that nail technicians create for their everyday clients!

Anna from Toronto has some beautiful nails on her site and Ruth often posts pictures of her nails, but as a beginner I'd love to see more sets of pink and whites to see what I should be aiming for.

Regards,

Karen
 
I think we all enjoy the posts of peoples work - nail art - or what we see the most in the real salon world of pink and white enhancements.

keep them coming girls and boys ... don't be shy .. post those photos.
 
Mrs Geek said:
here - here
:thumbsup:

Ditto - I totally agree - maybe this needs split to a topic of it's own rather than being lost in amongts this thread - I almost missed it LOL.

Maybe we should start some kind of poll as to what we want to see in our magazines.
 
hi

Im a big fan of nail art it may not be to everbodys likes but some people i know only have extensions purely for the art work.

In the beginning i only did free hand but i got so into it i went on the a/brushing course.

A/Brushing seems to be the most popular as you can do different designs like fades and french which is liked by everyone regardless of age.

If someone was unsure i would offer to do one nail which could easily be removed but more often than not you complete the set and the clients are hooked.

cristine :)
 
So Geeg,

What are the metro's classed as if you do a French Set? Is this nail art? It's just that seems to be one of the things that alot of people may be interested in?
 
Let's not miss the point of the poll and the point of the present discussion.

We all know that a certain proportion of clients just love their nail art.

The poll was to ascertain just what percentage of your business revenue is generated by nail art services. Now I know it is not conclusive, but the poll bears out what I was thinking which is, that as a proportion, nail art is a very very small part of salon business. Of course there are exceptions to any rule, but 42% have indicated that less than 5% of their business revenue is generated by nail art. That is a large proportion indeed of technicians who are doing little or no nail art. And in reality I think it is much larger.

This being the case, my next question was ... why is so much space devoted to nail art in every magazine? Naturally, visually, it generates interest and it is fun to see some of the great ... and beautiful work that some people do but is it reality? Is so much space devoted to nail art really useful to nail technicians who are working hard in their salons doing very little nail art?

Personally, I would like to see less space devoted to it, and more space devoted to the issues that affect us and our industry. For instance BPO (what is that you say?) NVQ vs VCTC, IHBC etc etc. do we need it?, don't we need it? NSS are they all evil are they all using MMA. Council taxes, requirement for salons setting up, laws and regulations? In other words, the kinds of questions we get asked every day on this board.

What other issues would you like the magazines to tackle?
NVQ,
 
Oh no, I get the point of the poll, I just genuinley wondered what Metro's come under?

As for what I would like to see in the magazines, well I am interested in things like how people got where they are today, and seeing their very first set of p&w's compared to a set they do today.

I really enjoyed reading about Creative in this months 'Nails'. It was good to see where you started out, and how far CND has come from then.
 
geeg said:
Personally, I would like to see less space devoted to it, and more space devoted to the issues that affect us and our industry. For instance BPO (what is that you say?) NVQ vs VCTC, IHBC etc etc. do we need it?, don't we need it? NSS are they all evil are they all using MMA. Council taxes, requirement for salons setting up, laws and regulations? In other words, the kinds of questions we get asked every day on this board.

What other issues would you like the magazines to tackle?
NVQ,

I too think there is too much Nail Art in the mags.

I would like to see more information aimed at those who do not work in large salons. There are lots of people, like myself, who work as sole traders - we do not at the moment need in depth information on staff employment, etc. What we need is how to keep a basic set of books, informing the tax man, NI etc.

I would also like to see how people are set up - table layouts etc. and your career path into nails.

I think in reality there are probably far more people not working in salons who read the magazines.

In saying all the above - even if nothing changes in the mags, I would not be without them LOL - I would still buy them all.
 
Hi guys,

It's really interesting for me to read your views on the mags.
As you know I've actually added a nail art gallery to Nails recently, and the response to it has been fantastic. This is a magazine for you – the techs – and so far readers seem to be really enjoying the opportunity to see their work in the mag. But there is no reason why these opportunities need to be limited to nail art.
I'd love to hear any ideas you have for articles within the magazine, and always love feedback – good or bad – it all goes towards creating a magazine that works for you. Please email me your suggestions: [email protected]

Kelly
Ed.
 
Kelly,

I really love Tech Talk to find out about genuine 'everyday' technicians. Maybe you could devote a larger portion of the magazine to finding out more about us technicians and what we do in an average day. Maybe this could include photos of where we work, our art but also plain nails. I also think it would be good to include before and after shots.

I would be really interested to see if this could be done and if it is could I be the first one!!!!!
 
Sawasdee kha geeg

I can not say if to much nailart in magazine but i will say some thing nail art give people chance to do something with nail that can not make acrylic or gel or other nail .

I think from young people that start in nail art like me then after them want to learn do nail enhancement .

Young girl today make nail tech future and maybe some lady buy magazine for nailart and can only do nail art so good for she .

In magazine i see nails and nail pro i not see too much nail art i think right .

I see many company selling products and i think if have for learn bit more better for lady want learn some things about nail .

I want see more pic of pink and white and some beautifull french and if them same nail art show do this do this do this and show photo for lady make nail good then i think very good .

Lady who buy magazine not only professional nail tech and i think maybe some of them want help some time .

I think if have magazine for every body good and nail art good for some lady .

Kop khun mak mak na ka mui .

Geeg i hope you happy and enjoy .
 
I am going to share my thoughts....

I do not do nail art for the % of my income that it generates. Nail art is something else entirely. My nail art promotes my whole business. Nail art is like my business cards. If I sat down and figured out what % of my income was created because of business cards alone it would probably be low...but without business cards how can you run a business?

When my clients wear my nail art..other people notice..and my clients get compliments. Everyone feels good when they get attention and compliments. People keep coming back...and tell everyone they know. My business is booming because of nail art (among other things)
and....
the reason anyone here even knows my name is because of my nail art. It is my calling card and has served me well.

oh..the poll? 99% of my clients wear nail art. Seriously..few get out the door without it...all walks of life..all ages. I am contagious....lol "try it...you'll like it"

Now...what I want in the magazines? and this is my pet peeve.. Where are all the competition winners pics? I know pics are taken of every winner.. I want to see a head shot of the winning tech..and the winning nails..for every placement.. of every competition. If some magazine does not do that soon I am going to do it myself. It will be a magazine made up completley of competition winners.. and everyone will want to read it because they want to see what awesome nails really look like... I would subsribe...

whew...K Sam.. how is that? I think I have exhausted myself..lol.. see ya in 6 weeks...j/k...
 
Well if nothing else, I'm glad my poll generated a response form Christie, because it is a long time since we have heard form her. And I have no doubt in my mind that nail art has been Christies signature and a great tool in the marketing of her business because she does beautiful nail art and lives in the perfect place to attract people who wear it as part of their everyday life and not just for an occasion.....

I agree with her 'want to see in the mags' idea as well.

It totally burns me up that so little recognition is given to those competitors - winners and other participants - who devote their time and money and skills - sometimes traveling miles to compete - and they get a big fat nothing for it in the way of recognition, either in the magazines OR even on the day (here in the uk) when they are handed their prizes!! They are never allowed to speak or to offer a word of encouragement to others or to thank those that may have helped them on their way ... nothing. The prize ceremony in the UK is a farce. It's a wonder they even attract competitors to these competitions.
 
hmmmm had a big think about this and as i was in the october scratch for my nail art i have to defend that... I will never be a competition winner for nails at any level... age/family commitments/time/ability... all the reason so this is my small tinsy tiny piece of fame at something to do with nails that i love and can do reasonably well...however... i too would love to see the perfect pink and whites (if only to see my self go green in the mirror lol) i would also love to see the salons of other techs there working days wether or not they do nail art... i love nails no matter what it be and i appreciate the serious/hard working side to nails the techs that strive for perfection and work hard to open and run salons And compete i respect them, but shouldnt there be a fun side too... cant we have a mag that represents that.... I (mistakenly) get TWO copies of a trade hair mag each month...there are ads/tips/techinques/retails bits/'normal' hairstyles and fun wacky hair styles (the ones you Dont wear to tescos !) And definately if someone can explain the difference between vtct and nvq and which one i need well that would make my year!!!
 
Christie's Nails said:
Where are all the competition winners pics? I know pics are taken of every winner.. I want to see a head shot of the winning tech..and the winning nails..for every placement.. of every competition. If some magazine does not do that soon I am going to do it myself. It will be a magazine made up completley of competition winners.. and everyone will want to read it because they want to see what awesome nails really look like... I would subsribe...

Christie, I agree with you totally! We need more competition winner photos!!! The only set of competition nails that I've ever seen are your own from the Nail Olympics and the ones that Ruth and Faye posted on this board! Away from this board I've NEVER seen a set of competition nails! Perhaps I'm not looking in the right place???

Christie, if you publish a magazine of competition winners you've got your first subcriber - ME!!! :D

Karen
xxx
 
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