Worst nails from lazy tech's

[mdskora]

what's the worst or laziest thing you have seen come from another salon?..,

Today I had a lady come from a salon about 15mins north of me.. her normal nail tech has had a baby..... when i took the polish off they were thick, yellow and had about 3 fill lines in them...
when i started to file out the lifting and take down the length and rebalnce the nail she asked what i was doing....
I knew by that statement this had never been done before... I asked her how long a normal infill took her previous tech... 20mins!.... I asked her if she used an efile... No just by hand she said... OMG.., no wonder she didn't even file away the lifting... just "roughed" up the nail plate and slapped a little more product on....
After I was done with her (1hr and 10mins) she asked me to soak them off:smack:!!!!!! OMG.... she said she loved how nice and pink they were and could not have that "yelloe crap" on the ends a min longer...... I rebooked her in next week for a soak off and a fresh CND NNO...
I was gob smacked.. she has been going there for alomst a year and said that she knew no better.....
polish hides mortal sins i say

 

[karentriff]

Funny things I have heard from clients over the last few weeks. I usually take them with a grain of salt because the clients don't always know what procedcures we follow. A common one I get though when I ask my clients to wash their hands and then sanitise them is that they have never had this done before. Today's client when I prepped her nails said she had never had this done before. Her last set done in town lasted three days only and when she went back they wanted to charge her for a new set and told her it was her own fault because her nails were too short for enhancements. One I had last week had gel nails over tips. Tips were not blended and only one layer of gel was used. There was a ledge where tips joined her nat nail and the tips were visible. She said the tech took less than an hour to do these. They lasted two days.
This I know is mostly due to pressure to get as many sets done in a day as possible. Are all techs in salons put under pressure to pump clients through? Or do some salons value quality over quantity? This worries me that when I go to work in a salon they might expect me to take shortcuts to save time and I won't do this as I am still trying to build my reputation with quality nails.

 

[VHunter]

I WISH I had thought to take before and after pics of the worst I've ever seen.

Newbie client, now a regular of course.

How many things were wrong with them? Here's the list (and I HOPE I never see tis again)

• About 4 or 5 rings of fire on EVERY finger!
• The acrylic was yellow
• When you looked down the barrel, they were uneven and lumpy from sidewall to sidewall (and I mean EXTREME DIFFERENCES!).
• When yoiu looked at the nail sideways, they were uneven and lumpy from eponychium to free edge.
• Ultra thick
• They were not only hats, they were literally "fan" shaped at the free edge. Going wider than the sidewalls.
• Acrylic was applied UNDER the free edge (because the client had complained about dirt getting underneath or something?)
• Visible lift that hadn't been removed completely before refill.

This from a tech claiming 15yrs experience and ALL on one person

At the time of the 'rebalance/repair", I was afraid to remove them because of the visible damage and how tender they were. I thought she might be too uncomfortable, and suggested we just rebalance. I was very concerned about a heat-spike of gel over damaged nails. WELL just for the rebalance, the filing of the product caused her discomfort such that I did what I could, but told her I'd thin them out more at the next appointment.
I had lopped off the ends, and sculpted new ends.... So there wasn't a tonne of "yellow" acrylic left, but... she was still uncomfortable and squeaking?
By the end of the 2nd appointment, they had a good shape, but she was still having discomfort whenever I went anywhere near the "old zones" that had been worked on by the previous tech.
I felt so bad for her discomfort. She said she didn't know... The other tech had told her it was normal to be uncomfortable and that she was over-sensitive.

Now 2mths later, she smiles and laughs through the service, and LOVES her nails.

Another time, a client showed up with: yellow acrylic, rings of fire, HOLES that pierced her actual nails (we had removed the old product) from over filing by previous tech (pics on my site somewhere), she had infection, etc.. it was bad.

While I always feel great about re-educating clients and showing them that nails can be beautiful and painless: I HATE seeing that sort of destruction of the natural nail.

 

['chelle]

I just had an ex NSS client today and I wish I had had a camera with me, I was GOBSMACKED despite everything I know.

Following her NSS nails she had developed an infection in her nails, causing not only greenies, but oozing yellow stuff and the lot, shortly followed by her nails falling off. She received a course of antibiotics from her doctor and she is now recovered, but the nails that have grown back are discoloured and are a horrendous shape. She told me that the infection in her nails was the worst pain she has ever experienced.

I did a full set custom blend for her to cover her permanently disfigured nails, and she was over the moon with the results. I've seem some bad work in my time, unattractive and thick nails, but this is the first time I've ever seen a client whose health has been affected, and her nails permanently disfigured.

 

[naturalnails]

Whilst I can understand where you are coming from with this, do we really want to be seen to criticise other peoples work.

We know that this is not the correct way to do a rebalance but what if this tech was trained that way, and does not know any better, she may not be a member on here.

Alternatively what if she has recently joined and is now realising that what she was trained to do is actually seen as a no no.

We should not judge people who do things differently to us as they may not know that they are doing it incorrectly.

 

[karentriff]

Whilst I can understand where you are coming from with this, do we really want to be seen to criticise other peoples work.

We know that this is not the correct way to do a rebalance but what if this tech was trained that way, and does not know any better, she may not be a member on here.

Alternatively what if she has recently joined and is now realising that what she was trained to do is actually seen as a no no.

We should not judge people who do things differently to us as they may not know that they are doing it incorrectly.

And if we didn't criticise these un healthy practices on here and they had just become a member, how would they learn that their techniques are wrong. If a technician's work is putting a clients health in jeopardy then I do want to be seen to critisice. Far better than to turn a blind eye. If we did ignore these practices, how could we ever hope to stamp them out. We are not finger pointing or mentioning names, merely pointing out un healthy and un sightly work we have seen on clients who have previosly been elsewhere

 

[Doorie]

the worse I've seen was in Zurich last March at the salon. the girl had done her nails herself, tips and gel. the problem wasn't only froom the fact that she'd used a poor gel, didn't blend it at the cuticle area, chose the wrong tip size, added some nail art (a shoking blue in weird shapes), she was the meanest person I ever worked on. luckily she was the last of the day and I told her (in English, as she didn't (want to) speak French or German) that I only had the time to do a 3d flower (I was supposed to only do flowers...) and I start and I do a wonderful dark blue rose on a blue spot of hers... and when I'm done she talks to her friend and says (in Italian) I would of loved it in red, we would see it more, this girl is dumb. fact is, I speak Italian, red would of been awful, so now go away...

 

[naildoctor]

the worse I've seen was in Zurich last March at the salon. the girl had done her nails herself, tips and gel. the problem wasn't only froom the fact that she'd used a poor gel, didn't blend it at the cuticle area, chose the wrong tip size, added some nail art (a shoking blue in weird shapes), she was the meanest person I ever worked on. luckily she was the last of the day and I told her (in English, as she didn't (want to) speak French or German) that I only had the time to do a 3d flower (I was supposed to only do flowers...) and I start and I do a wonderful dark blue rose on a blue spot of hers... and when I'm done she talks to her friend and says (in Italian) I would of loved it in red, we would see it more, this girl is dumb. fact is, I speak Italian, red would of been awful, so now go away...

So did you answer her in Italian?!

 

[naturalnails]

And if we didn't criticise these un healthy practices on here and they had just become a member, how would they learn that their techniques are wrong. If a technician's work is putting a clients health in jeopardy then I do want to be seen to critisice. Far better than to turn a blind eye. If we did ignore these practices, how could we ever hope to stamp them out. We are not finger pointing or mentioning names, merely pointing out un healthy and un sightly work we have seen on clients who have previosly been elsewhere

I agree, but there are ways of doing it. That was all I was trying to say. Point being that the technician might not be being lazy as the title says, but merely doesnt know any different.

 

[1999judy]

I had a client who once had a colour and glitter but the tech filled with natural when she got fed up with them and painted them. They looked odd when I got to her but I suppose some people work the quickest and cheapest way??

 

[Doorie]

So did you answer her in Italian?!

when she said I was dumb, I did look up and look in her eyes in a very... you know, way meaning I totally understand what you just say.

then I smiled in a wicked way and said goodbye, in Italian. she left in a hurry lol.

right after that, my boss told me that I could choose the nails I wanted to work on, and could refuse anyone. lol.

 

[naildoctor]

when she said I was dumb, I did look up and look in her eyes in a very... you know, way meaning I totally understand what you just say.

then I smiled in a wicked way and said goodbye, in Italian. she left in a hurry lol.

right after that, my boss told me that I could choose the nails I wanted to work on, and could refuse anyone. lol.

Too funny!! Maybe this a wrong assumption, but don't most Europeans understand more than one language?

 

[1999judy]

the worse I've seen was in Zurich last March at the salon. the girl had done her nails herself, tips and gel. the problem wasn't only froom the fact that she'd used a poor gel, didn't blend it at the cuticle area, chose the wrong tip size, added some nail art (a shoking blue in weird shapes), she was the meanest person I ever worked on. luckily she was the last of the day and I told her (in English, as she didn't (want to) speak French or German) that I only had the time to do a 3d flower (I was supposed to only do flowers...) and I start and I do a wonderful dark blue rose on a blue spot of hers... and when I'm done she talks to her friend and says (in Italian) I would of loved it in red, we would see it more, this girl is dumb. fact is, I speak Italian, red would of been awful, so now go away...

Just be careful hun. Word travels VERY fast in this industry and it doesn't matter what language you speak all you need is 1 enemy and that could lose you many potential clients.
A little modesty never goes amiss in these situations.
Act like every client means something to you and one day they actually will.

 

[Doorie]

nail doctor, I don't know. but in my country, we have 4 official languages, and at school you learn at least 3 (what I did) plus English

1999Judy, thanks for the advice but I'll be fine... I am not a "common nail tech" (not in a pretentious way) as I only work for special events (ie beauty shows) or to replace a tech in my area and being partner who's sick... so it wouldn't have any influence.
needless to say my name wasn't even displayed, and that tech and me aren't playing in the same playground at all...

had it been my own stand, had it basically all been different, had I screwed up, I would of reacted differently, but I tend to be mean at the end of the day when ppl act wrong. because she forced me to nail art on her whereas we were supposed to have finished, and she pretended not to understand, and all that.

still, I did do her a beautiful rose, maybe the best I'd done in 2 days..

 

[fairynice]

A lady had said to me that she wears polish on her acrylic nails as she has GREEN bits underneath..... what made me cringe more was.... the fact that her tech said it was HER FAULT FOR BEING A NAIL BITER!!!!!!
OMG..... and this person calls herself a tech????
what are people like this doing in our industry????

 

[sarahpoppy24]

Ok I have a positive story to come from a nagative theres a lady who im very greatful to who I practiced on all through college..I had such bad flue I couldnt do her nails one time and she went to the nieghbouring town. Came back no prep sanitation, white tip half way up nails and she doesnt have short nails nice long nail beds!! The white tip was so badly fitted that mascara etc went underneath and was black and horrible!! The cheek of the woman said to my friend... "oh when your girl learns some business sence she wont use natural tips only white!!!" How RUDE!! neadless to say this lady hasnt been back since...seeing this has made me want to train and train so my nails are perfect and if another tech saw them then they would say "good Job". xx

 

[sknight]

Funny things I have heard from clients over the last few weeks. I usually take them with a grain of salt because the clients don't always know what procedcures we follow. A common one I get though when I ask my clients to wash their hands and then sanitise them is that they have never had this done before. Today's client when I prepped her nails said she had never had this done before. Her last set done in town lasted three days only and when she went back they wanted to charge her for a new set and told her it was her own fault because her nails were too short for enhancements. One I had last week had gel nails over tips. Tips were not blended and only one layer of gel was used. There was a ledge where tips joined her nat nail and the tips were visible. She said the tech took less than an hour to do these. They lasted two days.
This I know is mostly due to pressure to get as many sets done in a day as possible. Are all techs in salons put under pressure to pump clients through? Or do some salons value quality over quantity? This worries me that when I go to work in a salon they might expect me to take shortcuts to save time and I won't do this as I am still trying to build my reputation with quality nails.

i agree the main thing i get is the client saying they have never had their hands washed and sanitised

 

[kerry.peniston]

doesnt it make your blood boil! Sterilise, Sterilise, Sterilise. What is wrong with people. There's no excuse. I love working for myself and I dont know if I would be willing to let others loose on my clients. I know it sounds selfish but I'm a perfectionist. I do each and every treatment or set of nails as if it were the clients first and wouldnt let them leave unless I were 100% happy with them myself. Maybe some nail techs who work for other people dont have that committment as if they were working for themselves, although this does not apply to all. As for the nail tech who blamed the woman for having green nails because she's a biter, I am lost for words! How many other clients has this infection been passed on to I wonder? Where are the Health & Safety Inspectors when you need them

 

[roLLerGirL]

From a clients perspective I think it's important to discuss things like this. For both Techs & Clients knowledge.

If it wasn't for SalonGeek, I would probably be sitting in a NSS getting my nails done, getting inferior work & extra little greenies. As long as we don't publically name the Salons in question what's discussed is valuable.

Knowledge is power!

Anyone who is doing things the wrong way either didn't learn properly (maybe at all?), and/or are trying to cut costs/time etc. If they're losing customers and actually care about it they'll find out the right way. I commend the Techs who ask questions on here
because they obviously care about what they do.

Anyway, one of my experiences:-

I went to a salon who did an infill. To create the white in the pink & white she put a heap of white acrylic from the tip to halfway down the nail (think a glob of Blu Tack). She then "cut" the smiley line using a plastic tip whilst it was still wet - think of cutting shapes out of Play-Doh) and then spent ages filing it down with a drill.

Not only did some of the white drag down underneath the pink acrylic, but the smile like was way too far down the nail. She said she did this to save me money - as I would only have to pay for a natural infill, rather than a pink & white infill next time. Needless to say, I never went back!

 

[mdskora]

well there are a heap of horror stories out there... I understand that some people may not be educatored in nail tech... but they have eyes!... if your nails are turning green alarm bells should be ringing... if any other part of your body went green you would be straight to the dr.... surely people are not that silly... also don't people look at other ladies nails?... when i was a client long before i trained i would look at other peoples nails to see if their were better than mine.. If so I asked for their salon name and went to them... if you are paying for a service you want it to be the best..... I expect all my clients to leave feeling happy, pampered and with healthy nails most of all...
only takes a few bad words to hurt your business..