In the beforetime, you could go into town and the only nail bar you would encounter would be the one that fixed your shoes. However, the times they have a-changed. Now you can hardly go into Super-Valu without being assailed by some young one brandishing a pair of pinking shears and some nail gems. Statistics bear out the prevalence of the trend – 71 percent of US women regularly get their nails done by a professional, as do some 56 percent of European women.
And there’s gold in them there nails. Becoming a manicurist or a nail technician can provide you with many career opportunities by enrolling in a course in nails or gel acrylic nails – for example, you could work in a salon, on fashion shoots or set up your own business.
If you take a manicure or pedicure course, you initially learn about the structure of the nail and about any nail diseases that you may encounter. After you have been disgusted by learning about fungal attacks, you move on to learning how to clean, buff and shape nails, remove and apply varnish and soak, shape and condition cuticles. Your part-time nails course will also teach you strict hygiene procedures.
The main difference between a manicurist and a nail technician is that the latter applies and decorates nail extensions, the artificial nails that are applied on top of the natural nail. If you are a bloke’s bloke, or one of the 44 percent of European women that don’t regularly visit a nail care professional, you might wonder what the big fuss is about. Sticking a few blobs of plastic at the end of some fingers can’t take that much effort – can it Well, yes it can. There are a myriad ways to do it.
Acrylic nails, gel nails and silk, linen and fibreglass nail wraps are all terms you will learn if you decide to take a nail technician course, although you may not learn how to apply all of them. (Most courses specialise in teaching students one or two techniques, although graduates often go on to add to their skills through further training. ) Nail technicians are also artisans – they may pierce nails with tiny rings or charms or apply nail jewellery. They also paint nails in a range of colours and designs – either using their freehand talents, an airbrush or a stencil.
It goes without saying that a manicurist or a nail technician has to be a people person. You can spend up to two hours with a single customer, so you will need to be able to hold down a conversation without resorting to telling the bride-to-be about the black dog of depression that has followed you since childhood. If you think that you would be up to scratch, then why not take a part-time course
