News from the newbie!

[maceyratbags]

Right, I've done my Bio Sculpture Gel training, and have been practicing attentively on friends and family before I take the plunge and start advertising for clients in a couple of months (I intend to go mobile).

I'm extremely pleased with the extensions I have done so far and have successfully managed to give myself a full set of French manicured extensions which are attracting a lot of positive attention when I'm out shopping etc. Great advertising.

I'm approaching my first problem. I have a friend who has completely flat nails that are bitten, and are extremely wide. If I wanted to use tips rather than sculpt, where on earth would I get flat tips from? I would imagine the usual tips to just pop off if they're too curved. And if I sculpted them would I just add the C-curve with the gel? Is it that simple?

Thanks,
Ange

 

[The Geek]

Take a medium C Curved tip (i.e. Formation)... One that is 1-2 sizes too large... And file in the sides to fit... Viola! Flat tip.

Hope that helps

 

[geeg]

The Formation tip by Creative is a flattish tip that is a good one for nail biters as it has re-inforced sidewalls for extra strength.

Yes you can add curve and dimension by building with your gel.

Just remember, nail biters as a whole are not good clients to practice on when you are new to nails. There are a few reasons ...

1. They pick or bite the extensions and then tell YOU they just FELL off.
2. They're not used to looking after their own nails and they are not usualy interested in any homecare of their artificial ones. SOMETIMES at first, they are keen, but then the old ways set back in.
3. They drain away your new found confidence as you tend to treat THEIR problems as YOUR fault.
4. There are special techniques for dealing with nail biters, and unless you have already learned them, chances are you will do a nail biters nails like any other normal client's nails and sucess will not be guaranteed.

I always say ... A brand new doctor does not go right in to brain surgery and neither should a new technician have biters as practice models. Best to stick to normal type nails to begin with - gain confidence in the lasting ability of those nails on those clients - and then you will know it's not necessarily your fault when your bitten nail clients have problems and want to blame it on you. The majority of your clients will not be nail biters - but rather women who LOVE their nails and want to keep them perfect all the time.

I know there are exceptions and some biters do become great clients BUT it is hard for a beginner to do bitten nails. Creative do a Master class that covers the techniques that really work for nail biters but it is considered a Master class and not a beginners class.

 

[Sharon]

I heard somewhere that if you cut a V shape into the well of a tip the tip will give a good fit to a flat nail. Is this right? I have never tried it.

 

[geeg]

Yes, cutting a 'V' in the tip can help to 'release' the curve and make the tip flatten out a bit. Be careful when blending though that you do not file over the area that is cut out! Sometimes this technique can cause a vertical split in the tip later on, depending on how much pressure you are putting on the tip to force it to flatten.
Also removing the well of the tip (not a technique that is for nail biters) can have the same effect.
I used to keep Formation tips especially for nail biters as they are already fairly flat amd also re-inforced at the sides.
The Eclipse tip is already 'notched' but you will need to use the Geeks trick to make them flatten.