Trained or Not That is the Question

[ValencianNails]

So I just wondered where others feel the line is drawn between hobby / DIY and moving on to making it more of a profession and needing REAL training? Maybe taking it from this point of view will help move the debate on and draw in those who never normally post their opinion because they are too timid!

I really hope that we get more hobby/amateurs replying as I think we desperately need their input.

I personally think that as soon as you do anyone elses nails other than your own that training is required.
I started off by doing my own nails, I thought I was doing a good job, until I did my initial training. Looking back I was doing it all wrong, I didn't really have a clue. How on earth I didn't get a greenie is beyond me as I never used to use a nail cleanser!

 

[newintown]

Ok here goes!!!
I started a with love of nails years ago and it turned into a part time hobby, When I was mad redundant from my first full time job they bought me lots of products from a high street store. Such as acrylic sets and cuticle clippers, nail art supplies. I had on training but only ever did them on myself (Badly might I add). I looked around to find out about training but there was no one place to go to get good information.
I found a one day training course in a hotel which cost £100, Why alarm bells didn’t start ringing I don’t know. Any way there was 10 on us on the course and they showed us how to do a set of nails on each other, the woman who was showing us was saying "why should you know what all these disorders/diseases are ??? you are not a doctor !!!”
When I got home I felt good I had completed a full set of nails, but then the nails I had done on me started to hurt and were red and sore. The next day the enhancements fell off , I started wondering if the ones I had done on the girl had fallen of or if her fingers were sore.
Last year I decided to do the EN home course and it is good but I am struggling to do it at home.
Next August I am getting made redundant again and I have decided with the money I get I will do a classroom based course to get the skills I need to be a good nail tech.
With all the money I have wasted over the last couple of years on nail products for the amateur I could have done a nail course and be fully qualified by now.
Thanks to the Nail Geek and fellow geeks I have information on courses and products to make a informed decision on what rout to take next.
I think you should not be aloud to practice unless fully trained as I know how much my fingers hurt after a unqualified person got hold of them.
:cry: :cry:

 

[Chiodi.dk]

this is a huge problem here in denmark .. there are tons of ppl who don't have any training at all and still do nails ...
I advertise a lot on a danish site where there's also a lot of untrained "tech" advertising ... I get the same question every time - why are you so expensive compared to the others .. ( some charge £ 17 for a full set and does a rebalance for free - my prices are £45 .. ) When I tell them that it's because I have training and know what I'm doing and that my work should speak for itself they are surprised .. "oh .. didn't know you could get an education in doing nails"
the are also a lot of trained tech ( believe it or not )that are selling gel and l&P kits ... saying that it's oooh so easy
have had many discussions with them on why they call them self profs and still sell kits to the untrained .. but nobody wants to answer me :lol:

 

[Dessi]

Hello from beauty Greece!
Here i dont know noone who makes nails without certificate for nail tech, but allmost all mobile nail techs are without insurance including me, as i said on one other post u need to work on salon for one year to can get the diplome with it u can open your salon or working legal as mobile(all the salons are full of nail tech so its difficult to find free place), in this case the only chance u have is to find some friend who is owner and to write u in the salon like u work (in fact u dont and u have to pay all the insurence)
Like the athers i have certificate for nail tech(man/ped,L&P and gel) but finding this site i understood i dont know nothing and i cannot improve my cerficate.
Like Geeg said this site make me feel hunger for more education and i understood that i have to be trained with the trade i will choose to work with, so i'm starting straight after New Year:green::green::green:

 

[oey]

I am one who fully agrees that to do a good set of nails you need to be fully trained.

However, with people being able to buy products on the street and from Argos etc, then joe public will always think that if they can buy them so easily then they must be easy to do! and will have a go at anybody to make some easy money!

 

[Pink Pink Pink]

I am one who fully agrees that to do a good set of nails you need to be fully trained.

However, with people being able to buy products on the street and from Argos etc, then joe public will always think that if they can buy them so easily then they must be easy to do! and will have a go at anybody to make some easy money!

Embarrassed now to admit it but I bought the 'Rio UV Gel nail kit' from Argos. Only did on myself but my God they were rubbish. Made me realise how hard it was and def. made me sure of the fact I needed training!

 

[pennijar]

Embarrassed now to admit it but I bought the 'Rio UV Gel nail kit' from Argos. Only did on myself but my God they were rubbish. Made me realise how hard it was and def. made me sure of the fact I needed training!

Don't mention Rio to me last Christmas my Mum bought me the Rio UV Gel Kit and Lamp for my Christmas present, because she knew I was doing my nail training at college. I hadn't asked her for one but bless her she thought she was doing me a great justice and she was chuffed to bits that she had "got me something I really needed" I only tried it once but it was rubbish, but because Mum has now passed away it is sitting gathering dust on a shelf upstairs, one day I will get rid of it, but for now it was stay there just because it was my last Christmas present from her.
They are even selling them on QVC now, so how many joe public are going to have rubbished nails for Christmas.

Joan

 

[pennijar]

Tonight I have had a little spat on another topic with a tech who she herself states is fully trained after a 2 day training course, this is why I feel this topic should get both sides of the story, but this and other short training course techs don't want to seem to get involved. I think they should, they feel they have such a valid point.

One thing raised was the subject of insurance, I don't feel it is right after a 2 day training course and with no other training, the tech can go out and get recognised Insurance. The tech who has trained fully on all aspects of Health & Safety, Anatomy Physiology, Nail diseases and disorders, contra indications and contra actions, will pay just the same price for their insurance, where is the justice in this.. I feel there is none. The thread in question if you would like to check it out was Training (sorry I don't yet know how to add a link.

Also the tech in question states that after only a 2 day course she is eligible and can use Creative products, correct me if I am wrong but I thought if you had no training you had to complete the Creative Foundation Course to be fully qualified to use their products. Something is wrong somewhere with her statement, or it could be me who just got the wrong end of the stick, but either way if what she says is true it laughs in the face of the numerous topics of how strict Creative are about who use their products.

Joan

 

[florence2004]

Firstly I am not sure where I fit in. I have completed 5 day CND foundation course, Creative spa manicure and sp pedicure (1 day) and 2 days LCN gel training (in house). I also work 1 day per week in a salon doing nails

Does this make me a fully qualified tech or am I one of the ones that has only attended short courses and is then let loose on the public that you all seem to loath lol?

I think I am somewhere in the middle. I am intending on doing more training and once in Canada would like to attend some sort of nail tech college course.

My foundation training was good. Covered all the right stuff like hygine, contra-indications, prep, salon set up etc as well as how to do nails.

My Gel training was awful and only covered how to do gel nails. now this isn't so much of a problem for me as I had done the foundation training and most of the other girls are beauticians so had done man and ped training at college, but there was one girl on the course who is wroking in the salon 2 days a week doing ver short manicures - 10 and 15 mins tops. She has never attended any kind of training before and now has a certificate to say that she can do gel nails and is able to purchase products from LCN.

We had no hygine covered, no contraindications even things like what grit to use on the natural nail were not talked about. We were just shown tipping and applying products and then we had to carry this out on models.

My gripe here is that:
Why are a reputable company like LCN not worried about hygine and contra-indications when they train?

Why does our salon manager not seem to recognise these things as problems?

I am not surprised that hobbyist techs continue to practice when the professionals seem to be so laid back about these things.

Even creative who have excellent training still allowed me to purchase products before I had started my training.

I think that training is just the tip of the iceberg. If more salon checks were made and visits carried out on mobiles, this would flag up a lot of the issues and then more emphasis would be put on training.

 

[Rachel Mary]

Hi,
I think that if I had been untrained and had come across this site and took all the information that I took in from here, I would still do a crappy job on a set of nails. I had formal training and then have come here and learned so many more techniques and information than what I had learnt from my course, but it wouldnt have really made sense and I would not have been able to put it in practice properly unless I had already knowledge of what the people were talking about. So in my opinion without a foundation first that wont fully understand what they are taking in here.
:green:

 

[ValencianNails]

Does this make me a fully qualified tech or am I one of the ones that has only attended short courses and is then let loose on the public that you all seem to loath lol?

By doing a 5 day foundation course you're on your way, look at it as being on a learning ladder, you've gone up a few rungs of that ladder and will continue to do so with more education.
The problem seems to be techs who assume that 2 days is enough and they don't need more education.

Skills and techniques don't come overnight, they need to be worked on and improved, new skills and techniques are learnt the further up the ladder we get.

 

[fats28]

By doing a 5 day foundation course you're on your way, look at it as being on a learning ladder, you've gone up a few rungs of that ladder and will continue to do so with more education.
The problem seems to be techs who assume that 2 days is enough and they don't need more education.

Skills and techniques don't come overnight, they need to be worked on and improved, new skills and techniques are learnt the further up the ladder we get.

I agree with this, people think if they spend a day or 2 training they are fully qualified and thats that. It tickles me at times people are quite happy to go out doing nails and treatments on people after half a day/a days training and people let them. If someone came round to your house to mend your boiler and he only had 2 days training, would you let him? Would these "fully qualified" 2 dayers? Why do people seem to think that working on the human body is a skill you can pick up in 8 hours?

 

[nail angel]

I did a 12 week vtct nail treatments course (mani/pedi) and am in the last weeks of my vtct nail technology course (16 wks) and i am still learning, although on paper i will be 'qualified', I think you have to practice, practice, practice aswell as keeping up to date with all the latest industry news. There is no way i could have learnt all that i have in 2 days then gone out to work on the public but then hey i suppose everyone learns at a different rate

 

[Pink Pink Pink]

Hi,
I think that if I had been untrained and had come across this site and took all the information that I took in from here, I would still do a crappy job on a set of nails. I had formal training and then have come here and learned so many more techniques and information than what I had learnt from my course, but it wouldnt have really made sense and I would not have been able to put it in practice properly unless I had already knowledge of what the people were talking about. So in my opinion without a foundation first that wont fully understand what they are taking in here.
:green:

Agree totally. I haven't been looking at nails long and still get quite confused by some of the things I read. It just makes me excited of all the things I have yet to learn. Shows you can never tire in this industry. Always something you don't know or can learn more of!!

 

[*sarah*]

I did the 12 day foundation course and there is no way I could have done a set of nails without the training! for 1 as said before health and safety is a biggie! and 2 even if I had all the info from this site I'd still not have had a clue! As someone who used to get nail enhancements before doing the Creative course I'd seen it done thought it looked easy:lol: pml now! bought a lit from boots could'nt even get a bead never mind a correct mix ratio bead to apply thank god or I'd have probably have wrecked my nails !
I think everyone should do a training course with a reputable company such as Creative who include health & safety as standard. I certainly would have never let someone who was untrained do my nails, also another wee bit about health & safety untrained techs could be picking up dieseases and passing them about without knowing it scary stuff !

 

[Nco London Gina]

I'm repling to this and i'll be honest, I haven't read all the posts, but I don't think the info on this site will harm the business of any properly qualified professional.

Look at B&Q for goodness sake - you can get all the DIY equipment in the world and pick up free leaflets on how to do the job.
Some people, infact many people have a go at DIY, but like anything, if you want the job done properly, you need it done by a professional !
Try and get yourself a good builder who isnt booked up for months !!

Gina :Grope:

 

[becki x]

I have just seen a post where an un trained person has given a newly trained tech advise,incorrect advise too.

Being an amature is fine,wether you intend to train or not as long as you only do your own nails imo,however giving out advise,all be it in correct is wrong,how can someone with no qualification whatso ever,think they know the answers or realise the problems this can cause.