VIP Nail Artist Inna Gorodnova. Part 2

• There is an opinion that the nail extension is no longer fashionable. Is it really true?

I don’t think it’s correct to pose such a question.  Thick and disproportionate nails are really no longer fashionable. But graceful and neat, natural-looking extended nails, that will allow you to safe time for its care for almost a month, have always been and will be popular and fashionable. Such nails are comfortable to wear and let our charming women, who don’t have a strong natural nail plate, to get artificially modeled beautiful nails without people noticing it’s fake. It works the same way as we are used to get a competently done makeup, neat hairstyle, professional and discreet permanent makeup.

• What would you recommend for a beginner who chooses nail courses? 

— First of all, I would say, what not to do. Don’t go to the school which offers you a full package for manicure, pedicure, all kinds for nail extension and design for a short time and at a surprisingly low price. At the end, you will maximum get a 20% of the knowledge out of 100% possible. Omitting the teaching quality issue in most schools, I can say that you must take time between the different courses to consolidate the techniques and knowledge while getting your own experience.
Choose your teacher scrupulously and carefully. Visit exhibitions; get personally acquainted with the teachers, who represent various schools and brands, study their work on websites, carefully read the reviews on the Internet. In other words, get as much information about the teacher as possible, to make proper decision. I believe it’s very important for the teacher to constantly practice with clients, currently, and not somewhere in the past. You also need to understand that between courses should pass some time to accumulate your personal experience; to arrange received knowledge in your head; to memorize the correct hand movements and techniques, perfected over the time to a professional level. Also I would like to add that nail courses over Skype or buying DVD lessons do not help you get a complete and quality education, no matter how hard you try. At best, you will only get familiar with the topic and find some inspiration for the present study. For many years I have trained hundreds of students throughout the world, and each time, starting the course and starting the practice to work with model’s hands, I spent hours with the students, so that all their movements and actions were right from the beginning to the end! If you want to become an upscale nail artist, the training must be conducted by an experienced teacher, perfecting practice on real model’s hands with full control of the educational process and pointing to the errors of your movements or techniques by the teacher to fix it. There is no other way to learn the profession. No matter where you plan to work – at home or in a nail studio, beauty salon. You must be totally professional. Because of poor education and attempts to save on education, more than half of the students who have completed nail courses did not become nail artist or are doing nails of a very low quality, discrediting all workers in the nail industry.

• Was it difficult to win the contest "Golden Hands of the World"?

The preparation took almost a year. Though actually all my acquired knowledge for many years has been applied. Contest was remembered by many bright and decent nail artworks, because the best nail artists were participating and all of them were worthy of prizes. I managed to take the Grand Prix and first place in the category "Nail Art (painting)", "Acrylic nail modeling" and "Mixed Media" (combination of gel, acrylic technology, the art of painting and low-relief elements). It was one of the happiest and most memorable days of my life. This contest and others have become a great push for me to the professional and personal development, improving myself as a nail artist and creative personality. What is interesting, I recovered my investments in the competition due to an increase of the price and a greater demand for my services in the beauty salon, where I worked at the time.

• What is the difference between “contest” and “salon” nail artist?

Over many years of my work, I noticed that there are some unique “contest” artists that can make incredibly beautiful and complex contest nail artworks, but in terms of the salon work, they are just average nail artists. From the other side, there are a lot of great “salon” nail artists with flawless performance, but they cannot compete with “contest” nail artists. As for me, I consider myself first of all as a “salon” nail artist and “fast-french technique” trainer, despite the fact that my “contest” artworks won first places at prestigious competitions.

• What would you advise experienced nail artists?

Never stop, keep moving forward. Never assume that you know everything. Once you start thinking like that, you stop growing. Each year, manufacturers and companies offer new technologies, new brands. You should love your profession and then you will be interested to upgrade your level, move forward, share experience, start teaching others or participate in the contests, challenge yourself by watching other professionals. This is interesting!

•  What distinguishes a foreign nail artist from a Russian one?    

I think the competition between Russian nail artists are far more intense than among foreign, so Russian artists have to constantly upgrade their skills, otherwise they will not be able to compete and meet so fast-growing desires from clients. It’s a well-known fact that women in Russia are paying a lot more attention and time to their image, clothing, makeup, jewelry, and of course nails than foreign women. But I can admit that recently amount of professionals and those who want to become professional among foreign masters is growing. Many of our leading teachers successfully conduct nail courses in Italy, Spain, Germany, Hungary, OAE and Middle East and many other countries. Generally speaking, the interest for nail art and nail extension abroad has grown significantly.

• How much specialist of your level can earn in Moscow?

Earnings depend on the level of your workaholism. I can say that the average cost of one procedure for nail modeling is around 5,000 rubles (approx. $160 usd).

• What is the secret of your success? How did you become the highest-paid nail artist in Moscow?

All thoughts and desires are material. Setting goals, the belief that you will succeed, and of course constant and daily workouts. Students, whom I have trained, know how generously I share information, open professional secrets that will help each of them to become a true VIP nail artist. The most important thing – it’s your desire to receive information and to work tirelessly, increasing your skills and earnings!

You can read the first part of the interview here.