One of the first times I got tips done on my nails I remember thinking, “I’m not coming back here every two weeks to get these filled in. I gotta figure out how to do this myself”. I paid close attention to everything the nail technician was doing. I watched every stroke she made and took note of every tool she used. When it was time for my fill-in I went out and got all the things I needed to do the fill in. I researched online and watched some videos and I was ready.
I’ve always been one of those people who tries to figure out how to do everything myself. I always thought that I was pretty awesome. But I didn’t realize that in many cases it wasn’t the smartest thing to do. There were a few things I wasn’t considering when I decided it was more economical to do it myself.
Factor #1: No Fuss
When I started my do-it-yourself fill-in I messed up quite a few times. Some nails came out lumpy. Other nails had too much acrylic. Sometimes I just dropped the stuff all over. It was a mess in more ways than one. Now, if I got this done by a professional I would have avoided this mess, and not to mention the stress from messing up so much.
Factor #2: Save Time
Since I didn’t know what I was doing there was quite a bit of trial and error. I probably redid each nail about three times. If I was a professional that’s the equivalent of doing three people’s nails. Since I’m not a professional it was probably more around the time it would take to do nine people’s nails. If that doesn’t sound like wasted time to you let me put it another way. Let’s say it takes a nail tech 10 minutes to apply one set of acrylic. Doing it myself cost me 80 minutes on that step alone. If you value your time as I do, that 80 minutes is worth more than the $20 for the fill-in.
Factor #3: Professional Results
Now after all that time and trial and error my nails totally looked like I did them myself. No matter how many times I redid them they didn’t look professional. You know how you paint your nails and one hand always looks better than the other? Well let’s just say my right hand always looked a mess since I’m Even after subsequent fill-ins I was never able to get away with saying I got them done professionally. And I can’t forget about the customary hand massage you get when you get your nails done professionally. As bootlegged as it might be sometimes it’s much better than the hand cramp you get from doing your nails yourself.
Nowadays, I use my do-it-yourself skills only to see if what I’m paying for is worth it.
Until next time, cheers to a better you!