How to Become A Nail Technician Acrylic Nails-Manicures-Pedicures-Nail Care:
? How much would it cost ? How long would it take to become a nail technician? Where should I go to train ? Will I be a good nail technician?
All these questions I have asked myself in the past and it was only recently that I went about answering them.
I have always wanted to become a nail technician and kept promising myself to pursue this venture. Due to work and family commitments this was not possible until recently.
To my delight I can now call myself a qualified nail technician. In this article I will do my best to help anyone who wishes to work in the nail industry.
Training to Become a Nail Technician The first question we need to answer is, ?
You need to seek out the best training school for nail technicians in your area. When I decided to pursue my dream of becoming a nail technician the first place I went to was 'Google'. There are many other places to go to should you not have access to Google.
Which School or College should I Train In?
There are your local newspapers. A lot of these are free newspapers you can pick up in your local supermarket. There are also your national newspapers. Another good place for information on training is your local library. Whichever way you find the place that suits you it is important that you shop around for the best value for money. Like all industries there are good and bad out there so be sure and train with a reputable school so as your Certificates are recognised when you are ready to seek employment in the nail industry.
Which Nail Course should I enrol in?
When I decided to become a nail technician I approached NSI in Swords, Co Dublin, Ireland. I liked what they had to offer so I enrolled in two of their courses.
I decided on a Manicure @ Pedicure course. I felt it was important to learn not only how to do Acrylic or false nails but to also learn about nail health care and nail anatomy.
What is a Manicure A manicure is a cosmetic beauty treatment for the fingernails and hands performed at home or in a nail salon by a Nail Technician. A manicure consists of filing, shaping of the free edge, treatments, massage of the hand and the application of polish.
There are also manicure services that are specialties for the hands and feet. For the hands, the soaking of a softening substance and the application of a lotion is a common specialty. When applied to the toenails and feet, this treatment is referred to as a pedicure.
Other nail treatments may include the application of artificial nail tips, acrylics, or artificial nail gels. Some manicures can include the painting of pictures or designs on the nails or applying small decals or imitation jewels, known as Nail Art.
In many areas Nail Technicians are licensed and follow regulation. Since skin is manipulated and is sometimes trimmed, there is a certain risk of spreading infection when tools are used across many people and therefore, sanitation is a serious issue.
French Manicures and Nail Art Manicures began 5,000 years ago. French manicures are manicures designed to resemble natural nails, and are characterized by lack of base colour, or natural pink base nails with white tips. The tips of the nails are painted white while the rest of the nails are polished in a pink or a suitable nude shade. French manicures may have originated in 18th-century Paris and were popular in the 1920s and 1930s.
Natural nails are made up of protein keratin. The nail plate requires a certain amount of flexibility and moisture to encourage healthy growth. Using 'hardening' treatments and harsh chemicals on natural nails will make the nail plate brittle and more prone to breakages. The use of nail moisturizers and clear polish proteins is essential for perfect growth.
A professional Nail Technician or Manicurist will use a written, verbal, and observational consultation to determine the condition of a client's natural nails.
A manicure treatment should take from about thirty minutes to one hour.
Nail Anatomy Nail Anatomy is very important and a good place to start on your road to becoming a nail technician. While on my manicure and pedicure course I learned all about the anatomy of a nail. There are 13 points to nail anatomy.
The Matrix Mantle Nail Bed Nail Grooves Free Edge Smile Line Nail Plate Nail Walls Lunula Cuticle Hyponychium Peronychium Eponychium Contra-Indications to Manicures or Pedicures It is important also to learn of any Contra-Indications to Manicures or Pedicures.
These can vary from a Bacterial infection to a Viral Infection or Fungal infection.
Nail Shapes You will also learn of the different nail shapes.
You have Straight sided with a slightly Oval tip Oval Square Oval Almond Round Square Square with rounded corners Pointed Sanitation-Disinfection-Sterilization Sanitation Disinfection and Sterilization are also important things to learn if you wish to become a good nail technician.
I know all this sounds very boring and you would love to just get started on doing your clients nails whether that is Manicure, Pedicure, Acrylic nails or Gel nails. Personally I decided on the acrylic nails. I will be publishing an article on Acrylic nails in the near future but until then it is important that you learn all you can about the Natural Nail. It is as important to have knowledge of the nail itself and the best way to maintain healthy nails while using artificial nails.
A Well Balanced Diet for Healthy Nails This also includes a well balanced diet which is the secret for achieving healthy nails. Foods that are particularly good for fingernail health include:
Protein which is found in chicken wings-soy bean product- and also eggs:
Vitamins from Grapefruit-Strawberries-Kiwi fruit and Oranges:
Minerals found in Seaweed-Seafood (sardines @oysters) -Liver and Tuna:
Water: It is also important to drink plenty of water to hydrate the skin, ideally try to drink 2 Litres per day. This will make sure the cuticle does not become dry and flaky.
Natural Nail Growth You will also learn of the growth of your natural nail.
Normal growth rate is 0.5 to 1.2mm per week.
There are certain conditions that could either slow down or speed up your natural nail growth.
Manicures and Pedicures If you wish to become a good nail technician you need to do as much theory study as practical. It is important to know how to prepare your client for manicure and the consultation with the client is also an important first step to manicure. You need to learn how to decide if there are any Contra indications before preforming any manicure or pedicure. You will need to get to know your equipment needed for manicure and also your products that you will be working with.
The preparation of the client for manicure- Consultation before manicure- Contra indications to manicure- Equipment needed for manicure- Products- Implements:
You will need a fair amount of equipment and I have to say they are not cheap. If you are lucky to find a good training school for nail technicians you may find that the equipment/implements and products may be included in the price of the course itself.
With NSI I received a starter pack for the manicure and pedicures.
I also received the NSI Starter Pack for Acrylic Nails which I will go into in more detail in my next article on HubPages.
Equipment needed for Manicures and Pedicures manicure trolley- emery board- orange sticks- hand cream or oil- base coat- colour nail polish- top coat- nail polish remover- hoof stick- cuticle nippers- nail scissors- cuticle remover- cuticle oil or cream- cotton wool and tissues:
Your Professional Appearance PROFESSIONAL APPEARANCE; Personal hygiene Uniform - professional/clean Hair - clean and tied back Nails and hands - clean and neat Make up - Fresh look (not too much) Perfume - heavy perfume too strong Shoes - flat no heels Jewelry - just wedding band and small stud earrings Store and Handle your products Correctly Your Products:
All products must be handled and stored correctly, follow these basic rules:
Technician and client must not eat or drink at the manicure workstation Thoroughly wash hands after manicure before handling food or drink Keep dust to a minimum and have extraction unit fitted if possible Work in a well ventilated room Waste products should be put into a bin liner then placed in a metal bin with a lid Store all products in a cool place and keep lids on at all times Keep products in a cool place and keep lids on at all times Keep products out of the reach of children and pets Do not remove labels from products Do not smoke, light candles or burners when using products Follow correct hygiene rules for equipment Chemicals should be disposed of correctly Hand and arm Massage Sequence Full effleurage covering the whole of the hand and forearm. Repeat six times.
Thumb kneading to the anterior forearm in 3 sections covering the whole arm. Repeat six times.
Kneading around the carpals. Repeat six times.
Kneading in between the metacarpals.
Turn over the arm/hand and repeat steps 1 to 3.
Thumb kneading to the palm of the hand.
Cross frictions to the palm.
Passive movements with wrist supported. Link the client's fingers and rotate the wrist three times to the left and three times to the right.
Gently flex and extend the wrist.
Kneading to the phalanges with finger pulls.
Complete this 6 times - effleurage to the whole hand and forearm.
Remove massage medium with damp wool.
Tone the area.
Some manicure routines may include use of hot towels for removal of excess product.
Squeak the nails - use nail enamel remover to remove any excess oil from the nail plate.
Types of Massage Movements Types of massage movements:
EFFLEURAGE: -- These movements always begin and end the massage sequence. They are soothing, relaxing and stroking movements, performed in upward movements.
PETRISSAGE: -- These are finger and palmer kneading movements, which are both relaxing and soothing to muscles. Slight pressure is applied with each movement, assisting the return of blood and lymph to the heart.
ROTATIONS: -- These are circular movements, applied to joints to aid joint mobility.
CONTRA INDICATIONS TO MASSAGE Nail diseases Recent surgery or scar tissue Extremely hairy arms as the massage may be uncomfortable Recent sunburn to the arms Over stretched, very thin skin MASSAGE MEDIUMS:
Cream -- Used for dry or dehydrated skin types OIL -- Dry or dehydrated skin types Your Manicure-Pedicure Sequence Manicure -Pedicure Sequence Wash your hands Examine the client's hands and nails Explain the purpose of a manicure to the client Wipe the client's hands with surgical spirits Apply nail polish remover Push back nail walls with orange stick and polish remover Cut and file nails Buff the nails Apply cuticle cream and massage in Soak hand Repeat step 5 - 9 on opposite hand Dry hands Apply cuticle remover Push back cuticles Allow nails to soak for short period, brush cuticles with nail brush Repeat step 12 -15 on opposite hand Treat cuticles with cuticle knife and nippers proceed with massage - 10 minutes Remove greasy residue from nails Apply base coat Apply 2 layers of colour Apply top coat Apply quick dry Start your Training Today I hope this article has been of some help to you on your road to becoming a Nail Technician. There is a lot to learn should you wish to become a good nail technician so your theory work, such as nail anatomy, natural nail growth and your contra indications are important if you wish to maintain your client's nails for the long term.
I will be publishing an article next on my training for Acrylic Nails. I decided not to include it in this as it is important to know how to do a good manicure/pedicure on your client before you proceed with any type of artificial nails as long term use of these can be harmful to the natural nail if not applied and maintained properly by a professional nail technician.
Should you wish to pursue a career in the nail industry you will need many products. Amazon sells some great items from your powder, liquid, instruments and even books on nail anatomy and nail care. You can also buy coloured acrylic powder to mix and make your own unique colour. The Black Acrylic Powder is my favourite and mixes well with the white to make a lovely shade of Grey.

Nail enhancement is a kind of decoration and beautification of finger (toe) nails, also known as nail art design. The following is about the basic theoretical knowledge of nail enhancement. Welcome to read!
Girls who love beauty want to dress up beautifully. In addition to going out and putting on beautiful makeup, what they can't lack is to do their own manicure. Some girls manicure manicure every week, and it is not very realistic to do manicure every time. So they usually buy a bunch of nail polish home on weekends, and then make beautiful Nail Manicure themselves. It's just that every time you paint your nail polish, it's not uniform. How do you make beautiful manicure at home?
Patch manicure
1. First trim the nails with nail inlays, and then gently rub off the top layer of nails with a manicure washboard.
2. Then rub the angle of the fake nail piece with a washboard, and then stick it on the nail piece with special glue.
3. Then stick the nail piece with glue on the nail, and then press it gently for a while.
Monochrome nail enhancement
1. Wash your nails and dry them with a paper towel.
2. Apply vaseline to the skin around your nails, so that you can avoid nail polish in these areas.
3. Apply nail polish to your nails. Remember that you can only use it once, and do not apply it repeatedly. Nail polish brush should be fully spread and the nail polish should not be too much.
2 What tools are needed for nail enhancement
May day is coming. Make yourself a beautiful manicure before the holiday! For manicure, nail polish, nail polish, wire drawing pen, bright oil and fine pen are needed. If you want to make a nail manicure, you may need a dryer to dry the nail polish on your fake nails.
Nail polish drawing pen. This kind of pen is very thin. It is usually used to draw lines. It can be used when making irregular color bar nail enhancements. The specific method is to apply the white nail polish on the nail first, then stick the other nail polish with a fine pen, and then draw it on the nail.
Fine pen. In fact, this kind of pen is similar to the one above, but its brush grows a lot, But it is also relatively thin. It is generally used to draw lines. For example, after drawing thicker color lines with the above pen, use a thin pen to dip the color and draw smaller lines directly on the color lines. The advantage of this pen is that it can be fixed with one stroke.
dryer. If it is a nail manicure, it is usually necessary to dry the nail polish on the fake nail, so that the pattern on the nail can be avoided by accidentally touching it.
Some people have fallen in love with manicures and have even gone crazy to change them once a week. But everyone knows manicure is bad. First nail polish smells bad. In the house, DIY is manicure, and soon the whole room is stinking. In addition, one disadvantage of often doing manicure is that it is easy to get gray nails.
1. When you go to a nail shop to do a manicure, you usually wash, polish and polish the natural nail first. These steps will make the nail very fragile and thin.
2, nail polish contains all kinds of chemicals. Ordinary nail polish contains a large number of organic solvents. Inferior nail polish has a pungent taste, which contains formaldehyde and benzene. These substances can cause poisoning.
3. Phototherapy lamp is easy to cause skin aging. After you brush your nail polish, you will have to follow the blue light. In fact, this lamp is equivalent to ultraviolet light. Although a nail polish can be quickly hardened, it will cause damage to the skin.
4. Nail discoloration. The more nail polish the more nails, the more nail polish. What's more, it will make the nails yellow. Although it will not cause any harm to the nails, it will affect the appearance. So it is necessary to continue to apply nail polish to cover up, which will vicious spiral.
Office, street, subway, looking around, many people have done manicure. Girls have no power to parry nail enhancements such as printing, bright colors and macarone. It's just that after the manicure, it's more frustrating, because you can't work casually, and you can't wash clothes by hand happily. Accidentally brushing a bowl may scratch the nail. When the nail can't be recovered, remove it!
Prepare a bottle of nail remover! In fact, nail remover is also good. General nail enhancements can be removed with nail remover, but encyclopedia Meimei thinks it's better to remove nails with nail remover towel. The usage is to apply the nail remover towel directly on the nail enhancement and wrap it for a period of time. The specific steps of nail removal are as follows.
1. First, apply nutritional oil on your nails.
2. Soak the degreasing cotton ball in nail remover water, and then wrap the degreasing cotton ball around the nail.
3. Then wrap 10 nail people with tin foil for about 10-15 minutes.
4. Finally, peel off the tin foil and cotton ball and clean the nails.
If you can't find the nail polish at a time, you can apply a nail polish on your nails and wipe it off with your fingernails quickly. This way you can also remove Nail Manicure, but the effect is not very good.

1 What is nail softener for
What is nail softener
Before nail enhancement, nail softener can quickly soften the aged dead skin on the finger edge. It can be used with dead skin scissors to make the nail cleaner and prevent the nail from breaking or layering. Because it contains rich calcium components, it makes the nail stronger and effectively protects the nail. In addition, it can keep the nail shiny and increase the wear resistance.
Principle of nail softener
The main ingredients of dead skin softener: it is composed of sodium sulfate, isopropanol and some spices. It contains vitamins and is slightly corrosive. Reduce the density of the cuticle of the skin and eliminate the overproduction of epidermal cells on the skin.
What is the function of nail softener
The softener is used to remove the dead skin around the finger edge to soften the skin around the finger edge. When removing the dead skin, the skin is not easy to be scratched.
When is the nail softener applied
Before trimming the nails, first clean the hands and nails with water, dry the hands with a clean absorbent towel to avoid water drop residue, and then apply a layer of softener around the edge of the nails
Soften the nail softener for a few minutes
After applying nail softener, the dead skin will soften after about two or three minutes.
How long do nail softeners usually stay
Generally speaking, after the first finger is painted to the tenth finger, the dead skin of the first finger can be removed.
3 Harm of nail softener to human body
Generally speaking, high-quality nail softeners will be processed by advanced technology, and the toxicity of chemical components is minimal. If they are not overused, they are harmless to nails and the body.
However, some inferior nail softeners are not sure. Inferior nail softeners are accused of containing the chemical phthalate, which will enter the body through the respiratory system and skin. If overused, it will increase the risk of cancer.
In addition, nail softener will precipitate harmful substances if it is placed too long, so pay attention to its shelf life before use, and discard it when it expires.

Of course, tools are ready before manicure. The tools used in this manicure are: nail clippers, various brushes, silver loose powder, silver sequins, and nail drill. Well, start manicure now!
Basic steps of nail enhancement
1. Manicure shape, push finger skin.
2. Cut finger skin and polish nail surface.
Polish the nail surface with a sponge file. During polishing, the trailing edge and front section of the nail shall be polished neatly. If the nail surface is not smooth, the nail polish is easy to fall off.
3. Clean the nail surface and apply protein bond.
Clean the nail surface with a special cleaning solution. Apply the protein bond evenly to avoid being too thin or too thick. Then light the phototherapy lamp for 1 minute, and the lighting time of protein bond shall not be less than 1 minute. If it is less than 1 minute, it cannot be dried, and it is easy to fall off. It shall not exceed one minute. If the lighting time is too long, the floating glue on the surface will be dried. The floating glue on the surface can enhance the adhesion with colored nail polish glue.
4. Nail polish glue
Wrap the edge before applying, sweep the brush at the bottle mouth before applying, and then wrap the edge thinly at the front edge of the nail. Apply the nail polish on the nail surface thinly and evenly. The nail polish should be thin and evenly applied. If it is too thick, it will wrinkle.
Light the phototherapy lamp for 2 minutes. The first coat of nail polish must be lit for 2 minutes. If the time is not enough, it can not be completely cured. It is easy to tear the whole piece or the edge is easy to tilt, and it is easy to layer with the color of the second coat if the first coat is not dried.
5. Apply the second coat of nail polish glue
The method of applying the second coat of nail polish glue is the same as that of the first coat.
6. Apply the first seal coat
Light therapy lamp for 1 minute
7. Apply the second seal coat
Light therapy lamp for 2 minutes
8. Clean the surface with cleaning fluid
Clean the surface with cleaning solution after the sealing layer has been illuminated for 2 minutes. Avoid using other cleaning fluids. Poor cleaning effect of other cleaning fluids will affect the gloss of sealing layer.
In this way, a glossy simple nail enhancement is completed.
Nail tips
First, apply nail polish before applying nail polish.
The paint in nail polish is the arch criminal of nail damage and nail breaking. So before you paint your beloved nail polish, you must not neglect to apply nail polish. It can protect the nail surface from being directly infringed by pigments. If you like to paint your nails in different colors every day, the link of primer must not be ignored.
2 Without facial oil, the nail surface will be vulnerable
The surface cannot withstand a single blow on the surface and the patterns and patterns on the nail surface. If you don't want to make the masterpiece that is hard to draw is scratched or damaged, nail polish is the protective coat for nail polish.
Three. Short nails are best for dark nail polish.
Women with short fingernails are better off giving up the idea of applying dark nail polish. Dark color has a visual contraction effect. It will only make the originally short nails shorter. A nail as big as red bean will only make the fingers appear thick and short.
4 Nail color should be coordinated
Keeping the color of fingernails on hands and feet consistent can leave an elegant and detailed impression.
Don't underestimate the manicure tool. It can trim your nails and make them smooth, and lay a good foundation before applying beautiful nail polish.