Scuplting! please help me before I lose my sanity!

[jodie_glo]

Hi gals and guys,

heres how the story goes....

im learning sculpting and i must admit i love it. so much better than blending tips lol! So the sculpting i did on my course wasnt half bad and i was really happy with my progress, although obviously i know it wasnt perfect it wasnt half bad.

so i have been rounding up models to practise on and my mum bless her was only to happy to help! i did a hand of sculpts and i was sooo unhaopy with them i could of cried. she has very flat and wide nail beds and very short nail beds to. obviously probley not the best nails to practise on but at some point i would have to do a client with less than perfect nails so i thought id give it ago. (i do like to challange myself!)

anyway it went horribly wrong i could seem to build a nice arch and the nails looked very wide and thick. i hated them sooo much i insisted she soaked them off so no one would see them.

so this morning while looking for inspiration i decided to have a read up of my encylopedia of nails and it said that sculpts were not suitable for flat nail beds!

so my question is really would you sculpt on flat nail beds and if you do any tips you could give me i would really appreciate!

im not gonna give up with the sculpts as in my area i cant think of a single salon that does them so if i can perfect them it would make me different from everyone else!

sorry for the long post!

thanks in advance
Jodie x x

 

[NailsByAgnes]

in my opinion theres no such thing as not suitable nails for sculpting, its more difficult to stick tips on "difficult nails" , as flat, or too short etc. whilst with sculpting forms u can do anything u want, u can even shape them to the nail if necassary. what u need to do to be better and better in any aspect of nail work is practising and patience.
also try to "pinch nail" and use pipes to make them look more natural and not too wide.
have look in my gallery-album "difficult nails" on what u can do with wide and short nails!

wish u all best!

 

[wendy malley]

Have you had a look at the tutorial on here brill as usual.Were you shown how to adapt the forms to fit different fingers and how to bring the side walls in so perfectly straight and pinch in the c curve. You will probably get a better idea from the young nails videos on youtube and i think its on nsi website how to customise the form.Have a go at extending your mums nails with cover pink have a look at the stilletto on nail angel,shows how on there.hth x

 

[wendy malley]

in my opinion theres no such thing as not suitable nails for sculpting, its more difficult to stick tips on "difficult nails" , as flat, or too short etc. whilst with sculpting forms u can do anything u want, u can even shape them to the nail if necassary. what u need to do to be better and better in any aspect of nail work is practising and patience.
also try to "pinch nail" and use pipes to make them look more natural and not too wide.
have look in my gallery-album "difficult nails" on what u can do with wide and short nails!

wish u all best!

i just looked they are fabulous

 

[angel fingers]

i dont know if i would say flat nails are not suitable for sculpting, but they are certainly harder to do. a preformed plastic tip will add instant shape to a flat nail but you can sculpt a decent set on them with practice.

i would recomend that you pinch the form tightly together so that it creates a more accentuated c curve and build up the product down the centre of the nail more than ususal to take away the flat look .

 

[jodie_glo]

in my opinion theres no such thing as not suitable nails for sculpting, its more difficult to stick tips on "difficult nails" , as flat, or too short etc. whilst with sculpting forms u can do anything u want, u can even shape them to the nail if necassary. what u need to do to be better and better in any aspect of nail work is practising and patience.
also try to "pinch nail" and use pipes to make them look more natural and not too wide.
have look in my gallery-album "difficult nails" on what u can do with wide and short nails!

wish u all best!

thank you hun and im glad you said that. as i have also been under the impression that there was no nails that were unsuitable for sculpting. Georgie smedley is who is teaching me sculpting and i do know that she sculpts nearly everything so i guessed it was possible. i have been taught to pinch but im still at the stage of sometimes missing the pinch so theres something else i need to work on.

i also want to learn to sculpt without needing to pinch. as i know some of the top techs are able to create the pefect c curve without the pinching technique!

i will be practising every day until i peferct it as i know once ive mastered it im going to refer it to tips -in fact i already do! lol

had a look at your pics your work is fab!

thank you for replying hun sometimes i just need to be reminded of what i already know lol and i wanted reassuring that is okay to sculpt on any nail!

Jodie x x

 

[jodie_glo]

Have you had a look at the tutorial on here brill as usual.Were you shown how to adapt the forms to fit different fingers and how to bring the side walls in so perfectly straight and pinch in the c curve. You will probably get a better idea from the young nails videos on youtube and i think its on nsi website how to customise the form.Have a go at extending your mums nails with cover pink have a look at the stilletto on nail angel,shows how on there.hth x

hi hun,

i was shown how to adapt the form although i didnt! lol i know that sounds mad but at the time of doing it i didnt struggle to fit the form so i just used the ezflow form as i had been taught to do. in hindsight i should of done so. as i mentioned to agnes im still at the stage of not being quite sure when to pinch so i need to work on this to!!

thank you for your advice and i will check out young nails and nsi website for the videos you have mentioned!

thank god for this website if i didnt have it id prob be lost. its so good to have so many peoples angles to look at and so much advise!

Jodie x x

 

[jodie_glo]

i dont know if i would say flat nails are not suitable for sculpting, but they are certainly harder to do. a preformed plastic tip will add instant shape to a flat nail but you can sculpt a decent set on them with practice.

i would recomend that you pinch the form tightly together so that it creates a more accentuated c curve and build up the product down the centre of the nail more than ususal to take away the flat look .

thank you so much for your advise. i will try again following your advice and see how i get on. thinking about what you said makes alot sense.

im such a pefectionist i get flustered when i cannot do something. although i do like a challange!

this evening attiude is going to be.... i can sculpt any nail its just going to take some practise! also thank you for clarifying that a flat nail is harder i feel better already!

 

[shedunlop]

I recently tried Entity forms and they are excellent. The normal ones are so easy to use but they also do 'corrective' forms that have 2 ends to them, one way round they have a curved nail bed edge and the other way round they have a straight edge for flat and bitten nails which tend to have a straight free edge. They both fit fully around the finger and do not budge once in place.

Someone else may do forms like this but these are the first I have tried like this and they fit perfectly in seconds and make sculpting so much easier!

I pinch, started this a couple of years ago and my nails are much more consistant than before. It is the look and strength of the nails at the end of the day that you should consider rather than who does and who does not pinch.

 

[jodie_glo]

I recently tried Entity forms and they are excellent. The normal ones are so easy to use but they also do 'corrective' forms that have 2 ends to them, one way round they have a curved nail bed edge and the other way round they have a straight edge for flat and bitten nails which tend to have a straight free edge. They both fit fully around the finger and do not budge once in place.

Someone else may do forms like this but these are the first I have tried like this and they fit perfectly in seconds and make sculpting so much easier!

I pinch, started this a couple of years ago and my nails are much more consistant than before. It is the look and strength of the nails at the end of the day that you should consider rather than who does and who does not pinch.

thank you hun! i will look into the forms you have mentioned. i have been taught to tailor forms but its good to look at the different options. for example i have just been waiting the young nails videos and seen the way greg customises his forms so im also going to give that ago.

your right with your last paragraph i do opten find myself worrying about what other people do and what certain people would think of me doing certain things. im my own worse enemy i make things so difficult for myself sometimes lol which is why im so glad i have the support of all the geeks on here to bring me back to reality sometimes!

i will call entity tomorro to see of i can get a small roll or sample of the forms you mentioned and see if that makes life easier

i shall also have to start working out when the exact right time to pinch is lol

do you use your thumbs to pinch or c curve sticks?

thanks for your advise hun i really do appreciate all the input that you and everyone else has given me!

Jodie x x

 

[NailsByAgnes]

i shall also have to start working out when the exact right time to pinch is lol

do you use your thumbs to pinch or c curve sticks?

thanks for your advise hun i really do appreciate all the input that you and everyone else has given me!

Jodie x x

u need to know ur product very well, so eventually u will find out how long can u spend doing a nail before pinch, perharps for now ud be better use slow dryin liquid which give u more time...
sometimes i use my thumbs to pinch, but usually i use "twizzers", as well as curve sticks, if natural nails are nice, u may be able not to use any of this if form applied correctly

just btw way- for gel sculpting we have special clips that allowes create c curve whilst curing in uv lapm

 

[jodie_glo]

u need to know ur product very well, so eventually u will find out how long can u spend doing a nail before pinch, perharps for now ud be better use slow dryin liquid which give u more time...
sometimes i use my thumbs to pinch, but usually i use "twizzers", as well as curve sticks, if natural nails are nice, u may be able not to use any of this if form applied correctly

just btw way- for gel sculpting we have special clips that allowes create c curve whilst curing in uv lapm

ok thats good to know. im using ezflow q monomer and a polymer at the moment so i love the product i think its great. its back to that old chesnut that i will only learn by practising! i do try to make sure the temp isnt to hot so i get more setting time but im still not quite sure when to pinch. i will speak to Georgie about this tomorro.

at the moment im using my thumbs although i do have c curve sticks. how do you choose what method of pinching to use? i suppose ill pick this all up in time.

Jodie x x

 

[lelaah]

I sculpt all nails as I find tips too fiddly. I pinch the form to be very curved to begin with, then once nail is done and I remove the form, I use young nails magic wand to get a great curve.

 

[jodie_glo]

I sculpt all nails as I find tips too fiddly. I pinch the form to be very curved to begin with, then once nail is done and I remove the form, I use young nails magic wand to get a great curve.

i hope one day i can say that i sculpt all nails lol! i just had a little google of the magic wand and WOW! it looks great!!! i think i may invest in one looks fab!!!!!!! i always wear a set of enhancements so it will prob be a god send so i dont have to touch the product with own in enhancements!!!!

thank you hun!

Jodie x x

 

[lelaah]

I did my training with youngs, they teach to sculpt first.. so I just practiced with what I was taught for the first month, then when I went back for day 2 of training and we did tips!!! I found them fiddly, I couldnt match the right size well and hated messing with glue lol so I did practice more before returning for day 3, but I have just never been comfy with tips.

You can get a type of magic wand from a auction type website search "cuticle tweezer"

 

[jodie_glo]

I did my training with youngs, they teach to sculpt first.. so I just practiced with what I was taught for the first month, then when I went back for day 2 of training and we did tips!!! I found them fiddly, I couldnt match the right size well and hated messing with glue lol so I did practice more before returning for day 3, but I have just never been comfy with tips.

You can get a type of magic wand from a auction type website search "cuticle tweezer"

see this is where my training is difficult. i trained nearly a year ago with a lower end brand and was only taught tips not sculpting. therefore i felt i was missing a large part of my training. so i decided to do a progression with Georgie Smedley and Ezflow. the training is in a different league and she has done the same she has taught me sculpting before tips. ive learnt soop much from her that was missed from my original training so the progression course for me is worth every penny!

its a weird route to take and i wish i had done the foundation course with Georgie as it would of saved me alot of time and money! never mind hindsight is a wonderful thing lol. alot of things i know i found from reading on here and reading my nail bibles lol

so basically i already can do enhancements with tips but i sooo badly want to perfect my sculpting and never use tips again lmao!

thanks for ur advise hun its sooo nice to know what others do!

Jodie x

 

[Bev Rose]

Hi Jodie,

I understand your frustration with sculpting.

I decided to sculpt everything that came in my salon 3 years ago - nowadays there's only the odd client that I do tip - for one reason or another.

if I get a nail biter, I personally prefer to sculp them than messing around tailoring the form etc, however there are some bitten nails that just need tips & not sculpts - those with over bulbous skin at the end of the finger.

As for pinching.....pinch the form, not the nail - IMO & Doug Schoon's book confirms it, that it a great way to introduce damage to the natural nail....see attached link

http://www.schoonscientific.com/downloads/article-book-Nail-Structure-DEC.pdf

If you pinch the form to create the shape assuming your form is correctly fitted, you should be able to sculpt your product to create the correct c curve & apex & structure the nail correctly.

If you have not already got Doug Schoons book - I highly recommend it as an extremely valuable source of information for any nail tech - regardless of experience.
It is called 'Nail Structure & Product Chemistry' and is available from Sweet Squared...also 'Nailclass' by Gigi Rouse is another book any nail tech learning her craft should not be without! See this link....

Education and Training

Happy reading!

 

[jodie_glo]

Hi Jodie,

I understand your frustration with sculpting.

I decided to sculpt everything that came in my salon 3 years ago - nowadays there's only the odd client that I do tip - for one reason or another.

if I get a nail biter, I personally prefer to sculp them than messing around tailoring the form etc, however there are some bitten nails that just need tips & not sculpts - those with over bulbous skin at the end of the finger.

As for pinching.....pinch the form, not the nail - IMO & Doug Schoon's book confiems it, that it a great way to introduce damage to the natural nail....see attached link

http://www.schoonscientific.com/downloads/article-book-Nail-Structure-DEC.pdf

If you pinch the form to create the shape assuming your form is correctly fitted, you should be able to sculpt your product to create the correct c curve & apex & structure the nail correctly.

If you have not already got Doug Schoons book - I highly recommend it as an extremely valuable source of information for any nail tech - regardless of experience.
It is called 'Nail Structure & Product Chemistry' and is available from Sweet Squared...also 'Nailclass' by Gigi Rouse is another book any nail tech learning her craft should not be without! See this link....

Education and Training

Happy reading!

thank you hun!

i dont have the doug schoon book! but i think that might be a very worthy investment!!

i already have nail class as well as the complete nail technician and the encylopedia of nails.

i love reading and love learning and have learned soooo much from all my books as well as my scratch subscription!

sometimes though i feel there are certain "grey areas" for example in my encylopedia of nails it says clients with a flat nail bed are not suitable to sculpt on. but my educator sculpts on everyone and judging by all the geeks kind enough to offer me the valuable advise alot of people do sculpt on flat nail beds! so i find myself sometimes confused on what to do!!!

i suppose that comes with such a big industry with so many different companies and techniques! i learn so much daily from here and in a way i hope the learning never stops as thats what makes things sooo interesting!

thank you so much for the advise and the links for me to have a read through and i will be investing in the doug schoon book asap!

Jodie x x

 

[wendy malley]

No need for the men in white coats to take you away now!!!!!!!!! sanity in tact i hope x

 

[jodie_glo]

No need for the men in white coats to take you away now!!!!!!!!! sanity in tact i hope x

lol i should be okay for today now hun! although i got alot to think about now lmao! lots of advise being mulled over in my head now, id like to say my sanity was fully in tact but truth be known i havent been fully sane for a while now lmao!


thanks for all ur help hun!

Jodie x x