What faults are obvious to clients?

[Lauz]

When you have done a set of enhancements & you can quite clearly see there are faults (i dont mean deliberate faults, things like apex a little more in zone 1 than it should be etc) do you think the client notices?

Do you think you see all the faults possible because you are a nail tech but only certain ones are noticable to clients/people who are not nail techs?

The reason i ask is, if i do a set of nails on myself or my mum or sister, i can see some faults straight away and am never happy with them and then in my mind they are awful, but you can guarantee i always get comments about them, saying how lovely they are/look.

I put a set of nails on myself and when i went to work today (supermarket not a salon so no nail techs there) i had 4 compliments on how nice my nails were and i am thinking "are you people real? can't you see that one of them is shaped slightly different to the others etc" obviously i didn't say it but i was thinking it. Then i think to myself well maybe they don't look so bad after all if 4 people have said they are nice!

So if you think only certain things are more noticable than others then what things do you think they are? Do you think we tend to look further into them because we are trained/training?

I hope you all know what i mean, sorry i have rambled on a bit but i been thinking about it for a while!

 

[CadenceAlex]

I have been absolutely gutted at some sets I have done.. and fretted so much over them... but the clients have been made up and come back... which always surprises me :lol:

We are most criticial of ourselves, however, I am conscious of doing a set of nails as I worry that the client has had them done somewhere before me and their nail tech was brilliant... whereas mine aren't!

Good thread.

 

[Lauz]

Yes i always worry that i could be compared to another tech who is much better and then end up with a bad name for myself before i even get started!

If someone asks me to do their nails (a friend of mine has asked me recently to do her nails at the end of may to go to a wedding) for some reason i agree to it (because i get caught off guard and don't have a good enough excuse) but then everyday i try to think of a good excuse not to do them! My friend who wants them done at the end of may, i have even considered saying that i am giving up doing nails and selling all my stuff just so i don't have to do them! But she has seen my own nails so thats probably why she has asked me to do hers.

I also really worry about how many years its going to take me to get everything right, smile lines, apexes, zone 3 flush, application the right thickness, finishing perfect etc and i think by the time i get everything right and i am ready to peoples nails, i may not have many years left to actually have a career in nails!

 

[CadenceAlex]

Yes i always worry that i could be compared to another tech who is much better and then end up with a bad name for myself before i even get started!

If someone asks me to do their nails (a friend of mine has asked me recently to do her nails at the end of may to go to a wedding) for some reason i agree to it (because i get caught off guard and don't have a good enough excuse) but then everyday i try to think of a good excuse not to do them! My friend who wants them done at the end of may, i have even considered saying that i am giving up doing nails and selling all my stuff just so i don't have to do them! But she has seen my own nails so thats probably why she has asked me to do hers.

I also really worry about how many years its going to take me to get everything right, smile lines, apexes, zone 3 flush, application the right thickness, finishing perfect etc and i think by the time i get everything right and i am ready to peoples nails, i may not have many years left to actually have a career in nails!

Get yourself on a skillbuilding class... worked wonders for my confidence!!!

Everything is hard to do when we lack confidence :hug:

 

[jee-nails]

Did you girls never get your nails done before you became nail techs? I did and I used to think that the girl (mobile tech) did a great job, until I trained to become one myself. I always thought that the burning on my nail plate was just part of getting them done, and the file cuts at the side of my fingers that were sore for days, especially in the shower. The fact that she did my whites halfway up my nail and straight accross, not a smile in sight!, made no difference to me. No sanitizer, dirty towel, no buffing, pored monomer back into container, shall I go on??

Im not saying that any of you do this. My point is that as a client I saw no fault in what this girl did. She came, rebalanced my nails and left and I always thought I had beautiful nails, and that the pain was part of it. As trained nail techs we know whats right and whats wrong, after all we have all paid a lot to get our training. Clients see regrowth, possibly some lifting ect, and then beautiful nails again..........

 

[izzidoll]

I always think the main things that even someone who knows nothing about nails, and is a first time client, will still notice would be.

1. If they are not all the same length
2. If they are not all the same shape
3. If they are thick at the sidewalls and cuticle area.
4. If there are rough spots or surface imperfections...i.e. they are not a glass like finish.

These are the areas I concentrate on during a Foundation class and expect my students to score at least 9 out of 10 in these categories.

C curves, apex placement, lower arches are not something a client will notice..HOWEVER when you have finally cracked these areas your client will think that her enhancements are the best she has had, she just won't know why!!!!!

But YOU will!!!!

 

[Bagpuss]

I thin k alot has to do with the client....when i was a client i did notice everything...purely cos i had been to lots of different places and so knew what was right and what wasnt...(i also had a huge interest in nails)....

I have had clients ask why when it comes to buffing to make smooth just before applying the top gloss, i do this...as they think they look done. Then i show them the difference...the hand not finished off and the hand finished...some say they cant see the difference and others say ohh yes i see what you mean....but I can see the difference !!
xx

 

[min11]

As a client for 10 years before I started training I did notice faults and was incredibly hard to please although until AnneVera no one ever knew it. I'd say what Izzy listed for points is pretty much what I picked up on although I did notice the apex as to me my nails just looked unbalanced sometimes. I was aware of that sort of thing and quite often went home, took the polish off and reshaped them myself. One of my pet hates was a line in my polish where zone 3 wasn't blended flush to the nail and left a ridge. Thats eventually why I started training I think, I really wanted to learn how its done

 

[hayls]

I agree with Bagpuss, when I was a client, I noticed everything! Apex placement, application, shaping...the lot. I had'nt started training yet, but I had studied nails done by experts, I used to try and correct the technician, not by telling them you are doing this wrong or not quite right, just simple things like bringing in the side walls, as I hate to have wide nails.


Im sure Joe Bloggs wont notice if your apex placement is not bangon. But I think alot of peeps will notice things like pink to white ratio and the fit of the tip. I dont know, maybe thats just me? xx:hug:

 

[1999judy]

I can find the most minute fault in any set of nails I do some days.
I thought one set was ready for the enamel last week and I spotted something that needed buffing out. It was a client I have had for years and she said "Judy....you know I couldn't see anything wrong with that nail??" So I pointed the fault out to her even though she said she would never of noticed.
I noticed though and I had to put it right. A few extra minutes makes a big difference sometimes...even if the client doesn't realise.x

 

[Peter Pan]

i have a client who had never had enhancements before, but when i done her nails - she was over the moon with them - but did say " oh that one hasnt got as much shine as the others" - id missed a tiny spot, when buffing etc. so to me i think if the client looks afer her nails anyway, she will notice every little "blip"

 

[melissaq]

I had never done my nails before and I was thinking of going to school so I thought I'd better get them done just to see what it's about......so had my nails done once before I went to school...the tech hurt me ...filed my nails till they almost bled....getting the tips burned,primer burned...I thought my hand were on fire! ...I had to wash in the middle of the service they hurt so bad....and I thought this can't be right .....come to find out it hurt because I had no skin left around my cuticles! scabs on all ten fingers.... ....but after they were done and healed I refiled them to make them better ......and thought ...I'll never do this!!

anyways I always see faults....I do my own now...and I don't like them until after the first fill...I mess with them for two weeks.....even though other peeps love them...I can spot whats 'not right' ....

the only time I've had a client notice there faults is when I had a lady who had BAD ski jump nails...when they grew out it was hard to get the shape she desired back.......so we just got in the routine of replacing her set about every 8-10 weeks.....

I have had a client being a bit to chatty and once when I did her polish I put only one coat on one hand...(was way lighter than the other ) designed her all up and never noticed until the day after:o ...she called and told me about it.....just laughed ...and said she'd see me next time.....

 

[JDs]

I had never done my nails before and I was thinking of going to school so I thought I'd better get them done just to see what it's about......so had my nails done once before I went to school...the tech hurt me ...filed my nails till they almost bled....getting the tips burned,primer burned...I thought my hand were on fire! ...I had to wash in the middle of the service they hurt so bad....and I thought this can't be right .....come to find out it hurt because I had no skin left around my cuticles! scabs on all ten fingers.... ....but after they were done and healed I refiled them to make them better ......and thought ...I'll never do this!!

anyways I always see faults....I do my own now...and I don't like them until after the first fill...I mess with them for two weeks.....even though other peeps love them...I can spot whats 'not right' ....

the only time I've had a client notice there faults is when I had a lady who had BAD ski jump nails...when they grew out it was hard to get the shape she desired back.......so we just got in the routine of replacing her set about every 8-10 weeks.....

I have had a client being a bit to chatty and once when I did her polish I put only one coat on one hand...(was way lighter than the other ) designed her all up and never noticed until the day after:o ...she called and told me about it.....just laughed ...and said she'd see me next time.....

Good God!! Hope you didn't pay for all that pain and damage.:cry:

I also see all the little flaws in a set of nails on a client. We are our own worst critic.
What I find worse is when you don't see them when you are doing them and when they come back in, you look at the nails and think.." did she have these done somewhere else?" come to discover that you are the last one to touch her nails ...

 

[IllumeGirl]

A passionate technician always will notice faults..so long as they are tiny i think its a good indication of your ongoing dedication to perfection.
My clients rarely notice anything amiss...and i definitely dont point it out..but i do berate myself silently for it,lol..but they are so valuable on that never ending quest for perfection..which i doubt that anyone has ever achieved to date!:hug:

 

[becki x]

1. If they are not all the same length
2. If they are not all the same shape

My sil always insists i do this,she says no ones natural nails are ever the same,i didn't used to do it until i found her one day doing it her self now i do them how she likes

 

[Tiger Jay]

My clients think I'm nuts!

While I sit there looking at sidewalls, apex placement, etc., they are sitting there thinking " what the hell is she looking for?"

Of course I do explain, and there are times when I say, "hold on, I'm not happy with this, just want to correct something!"

The client can not see what I'm trying to correct but together we learn.

My saying to them is, "....if I'm happy, you're happy!"

 

[leah82]

My clients think I'm nuts!

While I sit there looking at sidewalls, apex placement, etc., they are sitting there thinking " what the hell is she looking for?"

Of course I do explain, and there are times when I say, "hold on, I'm not happy with this, just want to correct something!"

The client can not see what I'm trying to correct but together we learn.

My saying to them is, "....if I'm happy, you're happy!"

Same here, lol when I do it they say "I can't see anything wrong with them". Had this happen on Saturday when I did a set & the thumb nails needed just a bit more blending & she was like its fine, but I explained I had to do it or it would bug me, lol!! I'm told I strive to hard for perfection but I'd rather do that then just go well they'll do!! Get compliments on my nails but still think well could have done that or maybe do this differently next time, lol!!! There's always something you think you could improve on!!!:lol:

 

[nailzoo]

the more you educate them, the more they know (and the more they notice)

 

[Tiger Jay]

the more you educate them, the more they know (and the more they notice)

I think this is a good thing! Then they can appreciate your standards. If they don't know the difference between a dodgy set of nails and a good set of nails then we wouldn't be able to lock them in! If you get my meaning.

 

[JDs]

Same here, lol when I do it they say "I can't see anything wrong with them". Had this happen on Saturday when I did a set & the thumb nails needed just a bit more blending & she was like its fine, but I explained I had to do it or it would bug me, lol!!

And She is your walking advertisement.:wink2: