Guest Blog: How to Become a Nail Tech pt.1

I know most of you play with your nails, maybe your friends' also. Maybe you have been polishing and artsing your nails for decades! Maybe its a new-found hobby. But how many of you have entertained the idea of making money...playing? You can offer art to anyone, you don't need a license for that! But if you are interested in offering natural nail care or enhancements, most states require a license. On that note, your first step is to look up your state's Department of Regulatory Agencies, easily found through Google, and determine if you need to head back to school! Once you know whether school is in your future, you can then find out the required hours for your state.

Then its on to researching schools. Some offer various separate programs, so you can just meet your hours for a manicurist license. Some, however, only offer one full course for a cosmetologist license, which is longer, more expensive, and for those who want nothing to do with hair or skincare, very frustrating! Research is KEY!

When I went to school, Colorado's required hours were 314, so it was 'quick n dirty'! While most states have similar requirements, DO find out for where you live or plan to live. Often, these licenses are NOT good state-to-state! FYI, some states do not require a license at all!

I started playing with my nails at about 7 years of age...obviously a long standing love :) When I started doing nails for money, I was not required to have a license, and I was slow. So, 26 years ago, my full sets were only $20.00! Rebases were only $10.00! My prices now, with my experience, sanitation practices and product knowledge, are $55.00 for a full set of pink and white acrylics; $35.00 for a backfill, (when I rebase and fill their white/color tips); $45.00 for a full set, shined or polished; $35.00 for an acrylic overlay; $25.00 for a basic rebase. I offer student discounts, for we all know students tend to be far past broke :) I never did, and likely never will, charge for broken nails; I don't charge extra for shortening or french polish. My prices are flat and fair; I do not nickle-and-dime my clients! I make sure that any extra charges for art, acrylic colors and shellac are known up front! In this industry,we offer a service, and we need to let our clients know they are important and are being treated fairly. Customer service is HUGE!

Researching shops in your area goes hand-in-hand (haha) with researching for your education! Checking salons from the discount places, (typically Asian, assembly line shops) to the high-end spas will help you determine your price scale, your competition and what the best services are for you to offer. The number one best way to do this type of research is to book an appointment. While this can be costly, it is the best way to determine the level of customer service, talent, cleanliness and prices that are common in your area. If you book an appointment for a pedicure, watch for true sanitation practices; ask what they use to clean the pedicure bowl, and if they clean after EVERY service...after all, if you plan on putting your feet in it, it had better be clean! If you book an appointment for a nail repair, watch for the care of their implements and files...if its not clean or you're not comfortable, LEAVE! Never feel obligated to stay or pay if you are not comfortable...you wouldn't tolerate that from any doctor!

I'm going to wrap here...but please ask any questions you may have! I will try to post part 2 Friday June 8!

News and Coupons

Another quick post :) If you haven't seen them yet these are the coupons I found for this month for Sally's and Ulta: 

And if you haven't seen Ulta's sale flyer yet it says buy 2 get 2 free on their Ulta products (yay nail polish!). You can bet I'll be in there at some point this month lol.


Sorry for not posting yesterday, I fell down some stairs Sunday and have been really sore :( But I am almost always on the Facebook page. So come check it out if you haven't yet. You may also notice at the top left corner I added follow bottles big thanks to Corrinne from Galactic Lacquer for the help with that :) I added a contact me page as well so anyone can get in touch with me. 

Pam promises a new guest post tomorrow, I don't know about all of you but I can't wait :)

Other than that I am just hanging out and filing my nails (boo I hate filing so much! Do you?) and thinking about what I wanna do next. 

Stop by and chat on Facebook or tweet to me on Twitter @LenaLovesNails. As always, thanks for stopping by :)

Toes

So if you weren't hanging around the Facebook page with me last night, I was doin my toes :) I decided to go with China Glaze's Dorothy Who? which I got the last time I went to Sally's. Can I just say I absolutely love love love this polish? Its got everything that appeals to me, blue and glitter. 

I stamped on what looks to me like one of those puffy dandelion things using MASH plate 17 and WnW White Tips. 


I also switched to doin collage type pictures since it saves on room. What do you think? Do you prefer multiple pictures or just the one collage picture?


As always, thanks for stopping by :)

Red Angel Review

I ordered the Red Angel plates from Amazon.com after extensive checking to see what was available price versus value and I have to say I'm very happy. It shipped very fast and you get a lot of designs for what you're paying. I did read all the reviews before I purchased and formed my own opinions.

There were some complaints that the plates were very sharp and that there isn't a backing on them like some of the other plates have, but I found them to be ok. The plastic film wasn't horrible to remove and as long as I didn't get any kind of cuts.

It comes with 21 plates for $12.99 plus $3.99 shipping. Which to me is a great deal since some of the more well known brands are upwards of $6 per plate.

As for designs there are some incredibly cute ones, including lots of flowers, leaves and some butterflies. That being said there are some designs I have absolutely no interest in like a full plate of smiley faces. This set has a lot of french tip and full plate designs some are bigger and some are smaller which could be a good thing. You can see all designs here.

The quality seems great on all the plates I have tried, the designs are etched deeply enough but not so deep that it causes problems.


Overall I would recommend this product, based on designs, quality and shipping. If you would like to see some stamping I have done with these just click on the label Red Angel on the right. To order these plates you can click this link here As always, thanks for stopping by :)

Gradients For Shelly *Very Pic Heavy*

If you haven't heard yet Shelly's Sassy Nails on Facebook has a contest every month. This month is gradient nails. (You have until 06/02/12 to enter). Well I've never done gradient nails, so I figured it will at the least be a learning experience :) After trying to find some inspiration on google images I found this picture: 

Isn't he cute? So I thought I'd go for something based on him :) I also found a couple other pics I really liked:

I love these!

These are so cute, I absolutely love them!
So the second isn't only a gradient its also amazing :) Anyhow enough yapping from me lol, onto the nails!

First, Naked Nails, the ladybugs stained :(

Its blurry on purpose to try to show how sparkly it is!

That is 2 coats of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Blue Moon (you can see it here and here). Then I used an eyeshadow applicator sponge thing to sponge on Wet N Wild Bijou Blue, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blue Me Away and LA Colors dark blue (seen here). I wasn't originally going to use the LA Colors but you really couldn't tell the difference between the Bijou Blue and Blue Me Away. I also decided I wanted some glitter since my frog was shiny, so I threw a coat of Pure Ice Oh Baby on the top. I think I liked it so much I procrastinated finishing it lol. I guess I didn't want to take the chance of ruining it. But I'm glad I finished since I really love it :)

Well hello Righty :)

I decided this one definitely needs all these pics to show off lol. I used an Art Deco in black to do the spots. While it doesn't look exactly like my froggie that's ok with me :) As always thanks for stopping by :)