Combining my abilities to interact with people, artistic talent and craftsmanship, I decided to train to become a nail technician. One of my hobbies is cycling and whilst I was training for long distance cyclo-sportives (in 2015, I was training for the "Wrynose or Bust!" cyclo-sportive event which is 115 miles long and took me 10 hours to complete. It was organised by the Rotary Club Lancaster and I managed also to fundraise over £620 for Cancer Research UK). This training lasted for about a year which gradually intensified near to the date of the event. In the end, I had nail splits on my finger nails from wearing wet gloves and split toe nails due to wet cycling shoes. I also had a nasty habit; I bit my nails and sidewalls constantly which led my finger tips to bleed. Tired of my problems, I decided to do something I like to do; doing my research and I managed to solve my own nail problems.
I have been studying and teaching in Lancaster University for over 4 years (from 2012 to 2017) and I am a trained researcher (As a researcher, I hold three certificates, 2 Bachelor degrees - one being a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Bachelor degree, a First Class Honours Bachelor degree which I graduated both in the same year in 2011 and achieved a senior advanced research degree (Ph.M) in 2016.
Why a researcher?
A researcher has the necessary skills to go beyond and study other subject areas not previously studied. For instance, a research degree is never a clean cut discipline that you study a particular subject in it's purest form. For my own research, I had to study meteorology (the study of weather) and to some degree, civil engineering within the water utility sector in understanding how sewers work... nothing to do with computers, however, computers are everywhere in sensing the environment and acting on the data it receives.
As a trained researcher, I do my own CPD and I read about the newest innovations in the industry and keep abreast with the latest advances and technologies. However, I am the type of nail technician that won't jump into the marketing band wagon; I always like to find out more as I do keep an eye out for clever marketing gimmicks (All companies do this, they have to sell!). As an unbiased nail technician, I am aware of this practice and this is where I believe I am in a very good position to advise clients and educate them adequately (I am chatty but I do like to educate my clients about nails). When companies market new products, they usually release a product which is considered "better than the rest", "7 free", "this stuff allows nails to breathe" or even "safe for kids". This is called "marketing hype". You might have seen polishes with these statements. When you book an appointment with me, I can tell you more. This is when I do my own research and I ask hard questions such as, "Why is it better? What benefit will my clients get from another product? What's in it? etc".
This is the advantage that I have over other nail technicians, I am always critical of new products being released and I like to understand the hard science behind the products I use and follow the advice from the top scientists in the field; my belief is, if you understand how a chemical reaction works or how a process works, you know what you are doing. If there are ingredients hidden in a product or the marketing falls far from the truth, I won't buy it.
