January 25 2009 - Features

Making Money with Colored Acrylics

By Christie Gibson

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CANCEL

Everyone has had this happen. You do a beautiful job on your client’s nails. You polish them an awesome color and maybe even paint a little flower or add a few rhinestones. Then you apply your quick-dry top coat or an extra polish drying product. You make your client wait until you think her nails are safe and when she leaves the salon, you breathe a sigh of relief that she has made it out the door with no smudges.

Then five minutes later she walks back in with a smudged nail announcing,“I thought they were dry!” Some clients even act like it’s somehow your fault they smudged their nails.

With colored acrylics this scenario does not exist. Your clients will love the convenience of having dry, perfect nails when they walk out the door. People are too busy these days to baby their nails for anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour after leaving the salon. With colored acrylic nails there is no chipped polish. Since the whole nail is made of colored acrylic, the color will not wear off. Even if your client is particularly hard on her nails and wears down the corners or tips the color will still look great.

The other advantage of colored acrylics is the vast number of color possibilities. By combining colored acrylic powder and glitter you can create a nearly endless variety of color combinations.  (Click here for a demo of mixing acrylic and glitter.)  Your client can choose a different color every two weeks and you can custom-blend colors to match your client’s special occasions like proms and weddings. There is no need to wait for a polish company to come up with a new collection for the new seasons; you can offer your clients a new “collection” of colors whenever you want to.

By having a wide variety of colors there is something for everyone. Even a client who has only ever worn pink-and-whites will try out white acrylic with some sheer glitter mixed into it. This gives her old favorite a new sparkle. Your client will be excited and tell her friends and your business will grow.

And you never know, having taken that first step, next time she may even try something a little more daring. It is very important to be able to change your clients’ colored acrylic nails at each service. If a client feels like she is stuck with a color for a while she may be reluctant to wear colored acrylics.

So What Are You Waiting For?

Before you can make colored acrylics a substantial part of your business, you need to ensure you are able to make money doing them. This means you have to learn to do a colored acrylic fill without taking too much time.  (See my step-by-step on reverse applications here.) It’s a good idea to get some additional training in colored acrylics so you can offer your clients the best service possible quickly enough that the service is profitable for you. You also want to be able to offer a variety of colors for your clients to choose from in a way that won’t consume a lot of your time during the service. One idea is to have sample cards of all your colors and color combinations. Have these colors numbered or named. Then for each sample have a pre-mixed container with a corresponding number or name. When a client picks a color from your sample card you can quickly get it out and be ready to work.

If colored acrylics are new in your area, the best way to market them is to wear them yourself. Also get your sister, your mom, and some local teenagers to wear them. I have found that when clients start wearing colored acrylics, everywhere they go people ask about their nails. My clientele has grown greatly just by word of mouth. Always use a great image of colored acrylic nails in your advertisements.

When you are excited about something and can do it with confidence your clients will also get excited. Because colored acrylics are still a little new in many areas there is a lot of room for growth. When you start doing colored acrylics you may be the only one in town who is doing it and before you know it your book will be full because you offer something people can’t get just anywhere.

Christie Gibson is the owner of Christie’s Nails in Ocean View, Hawaii. Check out her education site for nail techs at http://www.christiesnails.com/education.