Are you looking to start a new career as a licensed professional that can make your own hours, work wherever you want and charge whatever you want? Many people love the benefits of being a nail technician, whether they work for someone else in their salon, whether they rent space in a nail salon or general beauty salon somewhere, or whether they are mobile nail technicians who work from people's homes. Now that you want to be a nail tech, lets get started with the lesson shall we?

Clean Your Canvas: Remove Excess Polish

Whether you are giving a manicure or a pedicure the first step you will learn in any nail technician courses you may take is to remove any old or excess polish. you don't want to leave that cracked flakey stuff on and make your manicure look bad do you? Didn't think so! First you want to get a few cotton balls and use some acetone or a lighter nail polish remover of your choice.

once the nails are clean you want to file them into shape with an emery board and soak them for a bit to clean and soften the cuticles. Use a nail brush to remove any excess liquid or nail dust from the nails.

Work On Your Stroke

Now that your nails are clean and well shaped, you want to apply your base coat. Open your nail polish, and make sure to wipe the brush along the edge of the bottle opening as you remove it from the bottle. this stroke will ensure there is not too much polish on the brush as its removed. you want to use a long even stroke beginning at the base of the nail and coming all the way to the end. make sure to leave the hand flat while you apply the polish so you have an easier surface to work with. you should use 1-3 strokes per nail for each coat. your first stroke should be down the middle, while the last 2 should be to either side if they are neccessary. You should apply 2-3 coats of polish before you are finished. make sure not to paint the cuticle. try and practice keeping your hand as steady as possible while applying your nail polish, you will get better with practice.

For more advanced lessons, nail technician courses are available in your area or online. you can learn how to work with acrylics, gel nails, or other types of nail tips as well.

Advanced Techniques

If you haven't yet mastered your nail polish stroke, you may have gotten a little bit of nail polish around the nail on the skin, a very precise way to remove that excess polish is to wrap an orange wood or cuticle stick in cotton and dip the cotton in nail polish remover. You can now use this to wipe around the nails and remove excess polish.

Another tip from a few nail technician courses is to make sure not to leave any oil (cuticle oil or the like) on the nail when you are applying the varnish. The polish doesn't stick very well to the oil or lotion, and your manicure wont last long.

Try to apply more thin coats then fewer thick coats. the larger the coat of polish, the longer it will take to dry. if it take to long the polish could take on an odd shape or be ruined by clothing.

Did you know you can use vegetable oil or any other type of edible oil if you are out of cuticle oil? sounds delicious, no?

Try to use an acetone free nail polish remover to preserve nail moisture, this will help keep nail polish from cracking or flaking in the future.

One thing you will learn is that nail polish comes in many shapes and sizes... well the bottles at least, but there are different types of nail polish as well.  You have basecoats, top coats, simple colored polish, matte polish, shiny polish, nail strenghtening nail polish, and even anti nail biter polish.  

Base coats go on first, are usually clear and protect the nails natural color.  They help to make sure that the nail polish adhears correctly.  These can be used alone as can clear top coats to give a natural or french manicure.

Colored top coats come in many different styles as was mentioned earlier:  shiny, matte, glittery and so on.  There is a polish for any color you can imagine, so get creative try something new and find what you like.  OPI makes a great line, so check them out.

Nail treatment polishes help to either strengthen nails, prevent chipping or peeling, also they can promote nail growth by providing certain nutrients that are good for nails.  Now the anti-nail biter polish you were wondering about is a very bitter polish that will help to break the habit of the biter in question.  how would you like to chewing on your nails if it put a bad taste in your mouth?

check out your local beauty supply store (if you are licensed)  or ask your nail technician about what options you have when it comes to your nail varnish.  I assure you they will be very excited to tell you about their collection.  Have fun!