Tips .... do we love them or hate them and why??

[Enhanced-Barbie]

I prefer sculpting, because I find it less hassle, although Young Nails tips are fab to use!

I think that techs that only do tip and clear overlay (like how the NSS's do them) are substandard techs.

In saying that, I'm not including new techs who intend to train with white powder/tip blending/sculpting etc.

I would say that my snobbery is more towards techs who do the minimum amount of training, to do the easiest/quickest type of nail enhancement, and who don't intend to expand their skills.

 

[Vetty]

I would say that my snobbery is more towards techs who do the minimum amount of training, to do the easiest/quickest type of nail enhancement, and who don't intend to expand their skills.

I agree with this completely! I couldn't tip and sculpt well immediately it took training and practice and in the case of sculpting more training to become good at it.

Spot on!

 

[geeg]

I think that techs that only do tip and clear overlay (like how the NSS's do them) are substandard techs.
I would say that my snobbery is more towards techs who do the minimum amount of training, to do the easiest/quickest type of nail enhancement, and who don't intend to expand their skills.

I think we all feel the same as you do about this. But there are so many reasons people get into nails and so many of those reasons do not involve passion or artistry.

People like this DO nails ... they are not nail artists; to them it is a means to make money not a passion. These ones rarely if ever succeed. Once they run out of family and friends who indulge them, they are history. We see it here on the site every day of the week.

You can just TELL the ones with passion form those who are playing at it or those who just see nails as a quick and easy way to make some dosh ... boy are THEY in for a wake up call. It ain't quick it ain't easy and they will never make money without the skills and the passion. So don't worry about them.

Over my past 25+ years in the industry I have seen them come and go like the ocean tide. Not worth your waste of energy thinking about such ones.

Didn't mean to change the topic but we can if you want. :lol:

 

[~Emmsybabes~]

lol flexibility I LOVE IT :green: (or was you just joking lol... here go's anyway.....brace yerselves )

Its like I was saying the other day... I have chose to have 'Nail design' with my new business name...why ?? Because I don't feel like a nail technician as such.... there are tonnes of them... probably everyone you meet will know of at least 2 friends or family members that 'do nails' or call themselves a 'nail technician'
So although my qualifications say I am one... (and yes technically I am lol)
I think of myself more as a 'nail artist' or a 'nail designer'
I DESIGN a nail. or a set of nails before I even get the brush out.... its there mapped out in my head what I am going to do, whether any special requirements are needed for the client in particular.... or for the style of nail I want to create....

To me personally Nails aren't Technical. they are a work of art... something created from nothing....
To me technical is fixing a TV, or working out how to amend a website :grr: (Thats another story lmao)
When you see someone who loves their job creating a set of nails... it almost 'flows' from their brush.....

Omg listen to me lmao.....sounding like some kind of art expert :green:
I sounded a bit posh for myself then...it gave me a fright lol :lol:

 

[Enhanced-Barbie]

I think we all feel the same as you do about this. But there are so many reasons people get into nails and so many of those reasons do not involve passion or artistry.

People like this DO nails ... they are not nail artists; to them it is a means to make money not a passion. These ones rarely if ever succeed. Once they run out of family and friends who indulge them, they are history. We see it here on the site every day of the week.

You can just TELL the ones with passion form those who are playing at it or those who just see nails as a quick and easy way to make some dosh ... boy are THEY in for a wake up call. It ain't quick it ain't easy and they will never make money without the skills and the passion. So don't worry about them.

Over my past 25+ years in the industry I have seen them come and go like the ocean tide. Not worth your waste of energy thinking about such ones.

Didn't mean to change the topic but we can if you want. :lol:

You know what, even in my short time in the industry, in this tiny country, I know plenty of techs who lack passion and just think of it as a job.

In fact I don't think I have met 1 tech, including my tutor who shares my passion! (I mean physically met so no offence to anyone on here!)

If I had to choose between nails and my finace, I would lean towards being a single woman!

But yes this is exactly what I was talking about, the techs who don't care about anything but getting as many clients through as they can.

They are the substandard techs, not the ones who use tips!

 

[c-b0t]

I don't mind using tips. They're a life saver when the person comes in asking for extensions when they have absolutely no free edge to work with!

I prefer sculpting because I love the transparent glass like look the clear gel gives out. With a tip, it's not as clear looking.

But I have to say, I really don't like white tips. They look flat and too crisp to me

 

[debi.nails]

But yes this is exactly what I was talking about, the techs who don't care about anything but getting as many clients through as they can.

They are the substandard techs, not the ones who use tips!

thanks for qualifying which are the substandard techs, enhanced-barbie!

i only do glass glaze (silk, resin & activator) enhancements. i trained on all systems back in the day, but as i worked from home and felt that the L&P left too strong an odour in my home, decided to concentrate only on silk wraps. (can't explain what happened to the gel nails either - i just never loved them the way i do the silk!)
so, unless a client comes to me with a bit of a free edge, i have to tip them - no sculpting option for me.

also, i do nails because i still love it so much. my circumstances have changed in the last few years, and i need to give much more attention to running our (my husband & my) business than i used to. i've had to set up a "nail station" in one half of my office, so that i can continue to see clients and be at my desk 2 minutes after i've finished a service! not ideal, i know, but the only way i can continue to do what i truly love.
bottom line - i love tips.

 

[Trinity]

To me personally Nails aren't Technical. they are a work of art... something created from nothing....
To me technical is fixing a TV, or working out how to amend a website :grr: (Thats another story lmao)
When you see someone who loves their job creating a set of nails... it almost 'flows' from their brush.....

As usual us Geeks are a mass of contradictions, I don't believe I have an artistic bone in my body, I can't draw or paint, I loathe patterns of any kind on clothes, furniture or walls.

That said, I love my job and to me nails are all about the technical stuff, creating the perfect foundation with the tip, the perfect shape before applying the overlay (whichever system you chose to use), structuring the balance right of pink to white, consistent, even smile lines. Ensuring the stress area is perfectly placed - to me these things are technicial, and I strive to turn out a perfect 'structure' which is what I find 'attractive' and 'pleasing to my eye'. I'm not looking for pretty, although, a good nail is both pretty and well structured.

To me it's more like architecture

 

[geeg]

As usual us Geeks are a mass of contradictions, I don't believe I have an artistic bone in my body, I can't draw or paint, I loathe patterns of any kind on clothes, furniture or walls.

That said, I love my job and to me nails are all about the technical stuff, creating the perfect foundation with the tip, the perfect shape before applying the overlay (whichever system you chose to use), structuring the balance right of pink to white, consistent, even smile lines. Ensuring the stress area is perfectly placed - to me these things are technicial, and I strive to turn out a perfect 'structure' which is what I find 'attractive' and 'pleasing to my eye'. I'm not looking for pretty, although, a good nail is both pretty and well structured.

To me it's more like architecture

I think we are getting into the realms of semantics here.

Technical, artistic, things are always a combination of the 2. If something is technically well structured it follows it will be pretty and pleasing to the eye. It's when things are not that it screams out ... WRONG!! Like flared nails!! ugh! IMO I don't think we need to get hung up on semantics. People see things differently and define words differently ... it still all boils down to the same thing ... creating beauty.

 

[mely-bely]

Hi Geeg, great thread!

I am not a fan of tips, but I don't feel like I am a "snob" either. I certainly don't think I am a better tech because I don't use them.

I dislike tips because I find (personal experience) that the enhancements aren't as strong. I hardly every see a stress crack in a sculptured nail, whereas with tips - I saw it all the time.

I also can't stand faffing around with glue - I would almost always get it on my fingers. I also don't like blending the full well tips - too much work when I can stick a form under a nail and be off to the races!

Most of the techs where I live only use tips and gels as there is very little time spent in school teaching them the art of sculpting. I do feel that sculpting is an art form - but I still don't believe I am "better" because I do it.

Are there really people out there who do?

 

[VHunter]

Anybody going to answer or comment or argue my post?
I want to know the 'right' answer :cry:

pretty please?

 

[geeg]

Good question.
For example: someone with flattish nails would be better with tips because the tips create a c-curve and a form following their natural nail wouldn't do so 'quite as much', I don't think?
Tips don't in my opinion create a c curve other than at the free edge/zone 1. A beautiful c curve is created by building your product in a c curve. This can be done with forms or tips.

BUT then the question is: if we want them to look as much like the client's natural nails as possible, then they SHOULD be flattish (meaning the c-curve), no? It depends if you want to enhance the look of the cleint's nails or just give them what they've got but longer.

My other questions/thoughts are these:

- I thought adhesive was porous, and so not the greatest thing to use due to it's porosity, and also that a better adhesion was achieved with the uv gel or the L&P than any adhesion created with 'adhesive'?
Adhesives do eventually break down in water, but by the time that happens, the tip should have grown off. There is nothing wrong with something being porous .. most products are porous and it is not a detriment to the product nor is it a better product if it is not porous.
It is true that the product bond to the plate is a different kind of bond than that of adhesive. But the adhesive bond is sufficiently good to do the job it has to do.

- If despite the variety of tips you have, you still don't have a set of tips that perfectly match the shape of the client's nail... won't the tip STILL try to revert to it's natural shape and therefor be more inclined to 'pop off' or pull at the nailplate? (read this somewhere, not saying it's right or wrong...just questioning it) Maybe in an extreme case, but in 99 out of 100 cases a well chosen tip will fit perfectly adequately for there to be no tension there.

- My impression was L&P/UV Gel was 'stronger' than the abs (again, thought I read this somewhere, I don't know the truth of it AND YES, I know about the apex...) or whatever used to make tips, and so if a portion of the 'thickness' at the free edge is made up of the tip, then it would be less strong than an enhancement that is made up of only L&P/UV gel??? Just asking, not making a statement here. Even if what you say was true ... we are nit picking here ... the difference in strength would be not noticeable. Tipped nails last every bit as long as a sculpted nail if the nail is built well. With the new well-less tips, they are adhered to so minute a portion of the free edge that it really is a sculpted nail to all intents and purposes.

- Re: saddling biters. Why is it better to saddle a tip than sculpt a biter? Forms can be bent/snipped any which way and if the strength is in the product and in a well shaped apex.... then why is it better to do that? Not sure I ever understood that one. Because the tip provides a nice strong side wall at the natural free edge and when most people sculpt, the overlay is in fact thinner in this area than it should be for lasting strength .. neither is the thickness of the product uniform which leads to weakness and breakage or splitting at the point of the free edge.

Don't get me wrong, just raising some questions I've had for some time. Until a year ago, ALLLLLL I ever did was tip AND I seem to remember 'defending' my choice of tipping, at the time and being told by others that it wasn't as strong, and I had to argue it. Some accused them of breaking more often etc....

I had no interest in sculpting. When I finally gave it a whack, fell in love with it and didn't want the headaches of tipping anymore (as they were well listed by Mrs. Clooney and oh yes, I HATE getting glue on my finger and feel so embarassed when I get inadvertently stuck to my client:grr: at my free edge of my own nail when it's pressing the 'ears' down of a french tip, grrrr)

Now..... if you take my forms away... I promise to give you a solid whack LOL:smack:

Sorry V. but your post was not answered because of the time and effort to answer so many questions at one go. I've done it now ... whew! Hope it hepls.

 

[VHunter]

Sorry V. but your post was not answered because of the time and effort to answer so many questions at one go. I've done it now ... whew! Hope it hepls.

THANKS!!!:hug::green: Sorry it was so long... lol but I had remembered a debate of some time ago, where peeps had told me some of those things, and they've stuck in my head all that time....

Ok.....
Umm where to start LOL

Tips don't in my opinion create a c curve other than at the free edge/zone 1. A beautiful c curve is created by building your product in a c curve. This can be done with forms or tips.

I have noticed that tips do curve. And we can tighten the curve by pinching acrylic. But, if the client has flattish nails, what is considered 'better' and why? Because if you fit the form to 'follow' the curvature of their own nail.. while there may be some curve, I haven't seen flattish nails sculpted look as curved as tipped nails. Or maybe I'm not pinching the form enough? (I pinch it to a point at the end).
So, when we say it's 'better' to tip sometimes, why exactly? What's different?

It depends if you want to enhance the look of the cleint's nails or just give them what they've got but longer

Now I'm confused. (no surprise there :lol
We always enhance. What do you mean by 'enhance'? I usually try to improve the look of the nail, but if the nails are flattish to begin with, I don't try to give them a c-curve that isn't there. The point is to be natural, including the differences. No?

Even if what you say was true ... we are nit picking here ... the difference in strength would be not noticeable. Tipped nails last every bit as long as a sculpted nail if the nail is built well. With the new well-less tips, they are adhered to so minute a portion of the free edge that it really is a sculpted nail to all intents and purposes.

That's what I thought too! Just, I was parroting what was said to me. THANKS for clearing that up.:hug:


Ok, so having said all of that (I'm sorry.... I'm being a PITA here:o)

What then, would the criteria be to decide one way or the other, and 'specifically'.
Example: In other words, you prefer to tip biters by saddling..
Why? Why is it better than say creating a free edge, then slipping a form under it OR just going straight to the form?

What sort of list of criteria could one use to say "Yay" to tips or "Nay"?

:hug:

(do you still love me? lol)

 

[geeg]

THANKS!!!:hug::green: Sorry it was so long... lol but I had remembered a debate of some time ago, where peeps had told me some of those things, and they've stuck in my head all that time....

Ok.....
Umm where to start LOL

I have noticed that tips do curve. And we can tighten the curve by pinching acrylic. But, if the client has flattish nails, what is considered 'better' and why? Because if you fit the form to 'follow' the curvature of their own nail.. while there may be some curve, I haven't seen flattish nails sculpted look as curved as tipped nails. Or maybe I'm not pinching the form enough? (I pinch it to a point at the end).
So, when we say it's 'better' to tip sometimes, why exactly? What's different?

Well I never pinch the acrylic as you put it. I BUILD the curve in by creating a spine or backbone down the center of the product I apply and keeping it thinner at the sides. It's not amatter of being better to tip .. it is amatter of it being easier to tip.

Now I'm confused. (no surprise there :lol
We always enhance. What do you mean by 'enhance'? I usually try to improve the look of the nail, but if the nails are flattish to begin with, I don't try to give them a c-curve that isn't there. The point is to be natural, including the differences. No? You have the choice. You don't always enhance the look just by applying an overlay. If I had flat nails I would prefer to have them look more curved myself. I would always add more curve to a clients 'look' unless she specifically requested me not to, if she had flat nails. Flat nails aren't pretty ... I make pretty. It might be natural for someone to have flat or ski jump nails, by natural I would mean enhance them to look naturally perfectly shaped.



That's what I thought too! Just, I was parroting what was said to me. THANKS for clearing that up.:hug:


Ok, so having said all of that (I'm sorry.... I'm being a PITA here:o)

What then, would the criteria be to decide one way or the other, and 'specifically'.
Example: In other words, you prefer to tip biters by saddling..
Why? Why is it better than say creating a free edge, then slipping a form under it OR just going straight to the form? I would choose a tip here becasue it is easier and faster for ME to get the look I want and it is immaterial to the client how I do that because one does NOT last longer thanthe other and one method is not BETTER than the other. They are equal as long as the result is good, strong and lasts and is sttractive. I decide by what is easiest and quickest for me .. there isn't a BETTER.

What sort of list of criteria could one use to say "Yay" to tips or "Nay"? answered above.
:hug:

(do you still love me? lol)

I still love you but you are being too pedantic about what is better .. or not better. You have to take into account what is easy and practical in a commercial setting. If both methods result in something that is equally good then it comes down to what is easiest and quickest.

For me for a nail biter, it is easier and quicker to tip instead of all that farting about building a longer bed and then adding a form and sculpting .... WAY too much time and effort for a person that will not appreciate or pay for it when I can achieve the same result or better using a tip and overlay with an opaque powder or gel and a white or coloured zone 1, in half the time. Get where I am coming from??

There is not always a better or a best! There are different methods that achieve the same thing. One doesn't have to be better or best. x

 

[VHunter]

I still love you but you are being too pedantic about what is better .. or not better.
There is not always a better or a best! There are different methods that achieve the same thing. One doesn't have to be better or best. x

Ummm I wasn't trying to be pedantic.:cry:
I had just been under the impression that there was a 'best' way to do things, and wanted to know how "I" would know, what/where/when/how/why.

But now I get it, which of course explains all the debates. It's all subject to opinion, just as shapes often are:wink2: (square versus almond).

THANKS:!::!::hug:

 

[Cathie!]

In the salon, I mainly sculpt for 90% of new sets....this wasn't always the case as it took me some 2 years or so to get round to mastering the art of sculpting.
I prefer to tip a nail biter, it's just easier for me.

I find that well less tips are a gift from the gods as they fit 90% of clients, even the biters.

I think we need to be able to do both as part of being full service techs.

I have some clients who insist on tips as they think they are stronger and suit them better, I have sculpted their nails but for their own reasons and having had their nails done elsewhere before with tips, didn't like sculpts....who am I to argue with their decision/psyche, they pay me, so I tip them and they tip me lol.

So I like both and am happy to offer both.

 

[Jessicles]

Good thread. I think it really comes down to the tech. You can have crappy tip/overlays and crappy sculpts. I was taught from day one to sculpt, so of course that is what I am comfortable with. If we're being honest, I never apply tips. But sometimes, I think to myself "if I had a tip that would fit this client, I'm sure the result would have been a bit better." A coworker that is also a client has a subtly strange nail shape...She has a square c-curve and it SEEMS like a slight ski jump, but I just can't pinpoint what it is. Every time I do a full set on her, I think to myself "I need to order those tips that fit a square c-curve" because I have an AWFUL time fitting her with forms and get leakage, unfortunately. But she also likes her service to be quick, so I know if I tried tips, I would take a LOT longer. I guess, to sum it up, I sculpt 100% of the time, but do not think me a better nail tech than one that tips 100% of the time, it depends on the result. But I will say, the tipped sets I see are not done correctly and look terrible. Sculpting works for me because of experience, but I know if I gave tips a real chance and practiced, I would find suitable clients to use them on.

 

[mdskora]

This is a great debate... I cant scultp.. never have been able to... they end up lop sided and they end up snapping off at the free edge..
So all of my clients are tipped... I love the CND performance clear/natural tips.. they are wonderful. I also like using white tips..
Sculpting is something that i would love to master
x mel

 

[lilly]

I can sculpt but prefer to tip ( well less when ever poss, which is 99 % ! ) as I like the instant shape and uniformity, I usually sculpt to repair or to increase a nail length if its shorter than the rest.

Its great to read all the coments I honestly was beginging to think tipping was second rate but thank goodness it doesnt seem that way now !

 

[RedAdmiral]

I tip but can sculpt quite well. Its just habit I never really think to reach for the roll of forms unless my cient has broken one of their nails. I love sculpting and sculpt my only nails ALL th etime - even my wrong hand. I find it much easier and sometimes get better results but seriously never think to sculpt on my clients
with nailbiters I acually find it easier to extend the nail plate and sculpt then to customise and blend and keep the product thin.
I use performance and they are brilliant so quick and easy and even velocity have changed recently. I find I do spend too much time customising so this week I'm gonna try and see if I can sculpt a full set and see how I get on.

Good thread - and i def believe there is sculpting snobbery but I dont mind as it helped me to become a sculpter!