Oh dear! First go at tips and acrylics outside of course

[Louisa Goldstone-Smith]

Hi guys, my first post on here!

I'm not at all happy with the way today turned out. I took 6 HOURS to do cuticles, filing, tips and french acrylics on my first practice client to gain the experience for my coursework.

Everything I didn't expect to happen, happened and I can't believe she was ok with me for taking so long!

She had very damaged hands and hard skin, a nail biter and ingrain dirt everywhere. The tips I had didn't fit a few fingers very well and while shaping split and tore up so had to reapply. The length she asked for turned out not to be manageable for her so I had to re-do that. The acrylic brand I was using was the not the same as I had used in the course so it didn't work as easy as in class.

Background
My course was 2 weeks ago, it was 3 practical days for a complete nail technician 5 in 1 course with Next Step Beauty. We only got to watch and do 3 nails in each of the different techniques/systems in person, in clear and french with tips. I must say I couldn't afford the acrylics until today, so I couldn't practice in time but I had videos that I have watched.

I still have time to perfect with practice but I'm not sure if this is normal or whether I'm just not cut out for this. I guess you want to see pictures.

Before and after (I had already scrubbed the grime with a nail brush) and did a top coat of UV gel that seemed to shrink quite a bit at the sides (as I applied, it didn't want to stay put).

Do I stick with this, do you all start this bad and I mean the time mainly?

p.s. We did talk the whole time which prob didn't help!

Thanks for any help in advance!

 

[Alison :)]

Your nails don't seem to have an apex which gives shape and strength. They look nice and even though [emoji4]
What brand are you using?
French tips are a lot easier than having to blend normal tips, it took me 4 hours to do a set of gel extensions I was dreading my exam [emoji23]. How do you cut that time in half!
Practice, practice and practice!!
I'm not sure how good your training was but If you feel need any extra tuition I work within a training school in Essex with excellent tutors. City and guilds qualifications.

Good luck and stick with it! [emoji7]

 

[Sara-Jane]

It took me about 3 hours on my first set, from what I've found people expect a timing of around 1hour 30mins ish, I qualified in March, and still take around 2 hours - I've struggled with everything possible as I suspect most people starting out have.

Now 6 hours is way to long as you already know, what took the most time?

I think personally that probably wasn't the best course to do, 5 technique in 3 days, people struggle with 1 method, but again another mistake a lot of people make, including me, I done essential nails at home course, and now I'm waiting on INK London to release their course info so I can do a conversion course and learn with them, and get some 1-1 time to brush up on problems I have.

If nails is what you want to do, I wouldn't quit, just keep practising and get yourself some 1-1 or do another course.

As for your nails, they are good for your first go, they won't be perfect yet (I cringe when I look at my first sets) I can see a few things with them but what do you think of your application? What problems can you see looking at the pictures?

Also what brand are you using? I noticed a remarkable difference between what I was given for training to what I use now, and the brush made a huge difference too.

 

[Louisa Goldstone-Smith]

Thanks for the support girls!

I used full well tips and Brillbird iron acrylics. The brush is a no.8 kolinsky.

When putting the beads on the pink section, I had to do 2 layers to make it the same height as the white tips. The whites were thick because the first nail didnt have full white coverage with a thinner application.

Getting the right tips is what I need help with for sure!

I'm going to go and get a practice hand today to help me! Lol

Thanks again!

 

[CocoAllure]

Hi Louisa welcome to SG [emoji8]

I personally don't think the course was sufficient. Would you consider retraining with another brand? The products you have used seemed to have let you down and have caused a lot of your excess timings. I feel confident in my products and it's much more of a breeze to do a full set knowing this.
I also find talking slows me down. I normally ask how things have been and let the client do all of the talking and me all of the listening so I can crack on with the set. Works a treat this way!
From looking at the nails they are OK from far but zoomed in you can see they are uneven and there's no apex for strength and the basis of the structure of the nail. Your filing needs to improve. All around the cuticle, it's not flush or even. Did you get a hand trainer with your course? I would practice on this every night doing around 5 sets of hands a day and in about a week you would halve 6 hours easy! And yes we all start somewhere, acrylic is a bit like driving once you get the hang of it u can do it subconsciously [emoji8][emoji8]

 

[Sara-Jane]

White acrylic is always a pig in my opinion, you can pick your bead up then dab the back of your brush on your tissue to drain some liquid, this will help keep the whiter brighter, I've never used brillbird so can't comment on what it's like to work with.

I did notice when I zoomed in some look like your consistency might have been to runny causing it to run into side walls and cuticle, which can contribute to issues and then you can't file it to well because you'll be hitting clients skin - work on your powder to liquid ratio, pick up beads and wipe them away until you can do it perfect, then I would do like coco said, practice, practice, practice. When I was learning I used to do 4 hours per day (2 hours in the morning, 2 at night) on my hand trainer, and I done that for around 2 months, and like I said in my previous post I still feel like I need more training and that's with just one method


And just so you can see - this was my first set

This is a recent set - holiday nails for a client x

So practising is worth it, quality products are worth it and don't give up! x

 

[blossom]

Try cut out tips instead of full well, should save 15 mins or so.

Is your brush nice and pointy? I remember trying to do whites with a square brush once [emoji33]

Also have a brush that's big enough do you don't have to make loads of balls

Draining liquid from the back of the brush when applying the white is a good tip.

I ask questions so they have to do the talking, not me. If I have to think, my hands stop working! So I ask about holidays, pets, grandchildren, their house/garden, etc etc

I've been doing nails 12.5 years and I would still take a good 2 hours to do those.

Sounds like you had a nightmare prepping too, which won't be the case most of the time.

I never took pics of my first set but really wish I had! I think you're all very brave putting yours up, hats off girlies [emoji5]️xx

 

[pure]

Thanks for the support girls!

I used full well tips and Brillbird iron acrylics. The brush is a no.8 kolinsky.

When putting the beads on the pink section, I had to do 2 layers to make it the same height as the white tips. The whites were thick because the first nail didnt have full white coverage with a thinner application.

Getting the right tips is what I need help with for sure!

I'm going to go and get a practice hand today to help me! Lol

Thanks again!

Don't use full well tips. Ever. They're just not necessary. Buy wellless ones or with a minimal well. Pro Impressions make good quality tips.

Your white didn't have full coverage because you worked with a mix ratio which was too wet. Practice your ratio, you want to achieve an even, opaque colour.

Keeping your nails thin keeps filing to the minimum which equals quicker nails. The only area which should be thicker is your apex.

A practice hand is an excellent idea. Spend time practicing blending tips, perfecting your mix ratio and creating your apex.