Sculpted extensions?

[tashadilly]

I've attatched a couple of pictures of extensions I have done. One was for training and did take me a while and the other 2 took me around 3 hours to do a full set!! :o

Is this normal???

I don't have tip cutters yet so I literally have to file EVERYTHING. My technique is that I do one finger on one hand then switch and so on..

How long do you guys tend to take? Do you have any tips for speed? I've currently been charging £25.00 for extensions and will be putting this up to £30 as for the hours i'm putting in I feel I am doing it all for nothing.

Also, i'm using Bellissima gel

Any advice, tips or guidance would be soo greatly appreciated! :Love:

 

[Rinn]

Hi, I can't see your pictures as I'm on my phone.
The most obvious thing to me In terms of reducing your times is to buy a tip cutter. They're not expensive and would save you all the unnecessary effort of all that filing.

 

[RayneBow]

I'm
Confused are you doing tips or sculpted nails with forms? X

 

[KirstieLou]

Not sure putting price up to £30 will gain clients especially if you've only just qualified??

 

[Wooshka]

Your post is a tad confusing, in your title you say sculpted nails but in your post you mention the lack of tip cutters as being the issue why these sets took the time they did.
So did you use tips when doing these sets?
Or did you use forms?
Sculpted nails are when we build the entire nail from product and we use a form, this enables us to build out the free edge.
Tipped nails are exactly this, when we use a plastic tip that we glue onto the nail, blend and cut length down with tip cutters before applying any product and it's the plastic tip that is used as the platform to build the free edge.

 

[tashadilly]

I'm using forms and doing sculpted extensions. When I was trained I was shown to use tip cutters to reduce the length and to tidy up the edges then file.

I was just asking what your routine is for doing sculpted extensions?

Sorry for the confusion. My tip cutters have now arrived so that should speed me up a little

 

[tashadilly]

Not sure putting price up to £30 will gain clients especially if you've only just qualified??

I was unsure whether to increase or not but at the moment I have a small client base so I thought if my prices were at £30 then that gives me opportunity to reduce the price as an 'offer' until my sets of sculpts are done in a timely manner and of course still a high standard.

I had a few clients say that I was very cheap which has spurred on that decision.

 

[izzidoll]

If you are sculpting on forms then you should only sculpt out the length you require and tidy up the length with a file during your finish filing. No need for tipcutters at all, cutting down the length this way can cause micro fractures in the product and lead to service breakdown/breakages. Not to mention the waste of your product lol sculpting out too long a nail in the first place.
Hope this helps but I too think its a bit early to put your prices up,let people know that your current price is an introductory price and once you have your timings down to an hour and a half then go for £30.

 

[Wooshka]

Ok, I've got it now

The way you were taught is a not usual way by any means.
As izzidoll has said, the joy of sculpting is you make it the length and shape you want/need when building the nail, this itself reduces time because is all you have to do is refine the edge to ensure it's smooth/even.
If you cut an sculpted (or even a tip) extension, it will cause micro fractures 9.9 times out of 10, you might not be able to even see them but they will be there and again as izzidoll has said, this will cause service breakdown and reduce the time the set lasts and this will result in unhappy clients and possibly not returning clients.
I suggest tweaking your skills and learning how to get the ideal length and shape while building the free edge and as you get better with this, you will see doing it this way reduces time a lot more than using cutters and it eliminates any possibility of problems being caused by micro fractures.
To me, tip cutters are meant to be used for exactly that, cutting plastic tips.
In regards to doing 1 finger on one hand then going over to another finger on other hand, this will be slowing you down for sure. The time it takes to change hands, get client positioned correctly again etc etc, all adds up to many minutes over a full set.
Were you taught this way or is it just something you have picked up on your own? The reason I ask is, usually we are taught to go from one pinkie across the same hand, onto thumb on next hand and across to pinkie, this avoids the fuffing about of changing hands every nail, it's much quicker to just pick up the next finger than it is to swap hands every nails.
Good luck, hope this helps a little

 

[tashadilly]

Ok this is super helpful.

The way I was taught was to:

Apply form and do a wet layer from the free edge to the desired length and shape then add a second layer over the wet layer and cure.

Add another layer but this time onto the middle of the nail plate and down to the cuticle area and then up over the new extension. Cure this and then do 'sausages' or strings to even out everything so that there is a nice curve.

Remove the form and trim with tip cutters to desired length and file to shape. Then do the colour layer etc.

Initially when I was removing the form I had excess gel to the sides of the nail so the girl that taught me told me to just trim these with the tip cutters and then tidy up with filing.

How do you guys do your extensions? What are your steps?

Also I was taught to do one finger then switch so that the gel doesn't move around while i'm doing the others. I was told that was the fastest way :/
I had one client the other day who I spoke about before. She asked for extensions so I did just that and had them done to a very natural length. She then kept on asking me to file them down until they were almost identical to her natural nails :S I felt horrendous because that wasted a huge amount of product!!

My prices at the moment are on introductory offer until I get my speed up but I had, had them at the introductory price only so I thought it was better to have my actual price there so people do know.

Thanks everyone

 

[tashadilly]

Anyone?

I've done another set since this and they turned out a lot lot better. No tip cutters in sight. I've found a video showing exactly how I was trained if this helps. Bella Forma Nails Education: Sculptures - YouTube

It took me just over 2 hrs to do this set so I think i'm getting there. I think my main problem was the switching finger to finger in and out of the lamp. This time I did four fingers, cure, other four, cure, thumb, cure, thumb etc.

Thanks again everyone x