Rouillard’s most recent competition win was fourth place for sculptured nails at the NAILS National Tour Grand Masters Championship in Las Vegas in November 1993. She won first place at the 1993 WINBA show in Anaheim, Calif., and second place at the 1993 Long Beach Hairdressers show, also for sculptured nails. Rouillard attends approximately five shows per year. “I pay all my expenses when I go to shows, and it pays off immediately when I get lucky and get a first. But it pays off later in more clients and better work,” she explains.
For this month’s cover, Rouillard sculpted pink and white acrylics with forms using a fast-setting powder. “Nails for competition and nails to be photographed are different from shop nails. In competition, you want to sculpt nails that are beautiful-looking and technically correct. In the shop, I sculpt nails that will last and that will stand up to things like typing because my clients are professional working women,” she says.
Rouillard has learned a few tricks for sculpting nails during her 10 years as a nail technician and nail competitor, such as squeezing the acrylic nails as they dry to curve and narrow them. “I squeeze just where the pink and white meet, at the stress area. This also helps drop the curve into the sidewalk When the product heats a little and feels like it isn’t soft anymore, I know it’s dry and I can stop squeezing,” says Rouillard.
“Another benefit of going to shows — besides competing— is that you’re continuously learning. At the last show I attended, someone showed me how to file a little differently so I could get a thinner nail edge and keep the curve.”
Rouillard worked at a few salons as an employee before her current position as an independent contractor at Let’s Design Hair in Phoenix, Ariz. She’d like to open her own salon when, she say’s, “I have the time it takes to run a business.
“I decided on a career in nails right after high school. All my life I had bad nails. I got them done and loved them. The best thing I like about being a nail technician is the satisfaction of knowing my client is leaving the salon with better looking nails than she came in with.”
Being an independent contractor suits her other job: mother to a two-and-a-hall-year-old girl. “I can schedule my work days so I’m home most weekdays,” she says.
Her advice to nail technicians who want to compete? “Do what suits you — and practice, practice, practice. My clients see that I am constantly improving and practicing. That’s what keeps me booked. I send my clients out with pink and white nails and a UV inhibitor to keep them from yellowing, and they send me three new clients
THE KATRINA ROUILLARD DOSSIER
Current Position: Nail technician, Let’s Design Hair, Phoenix, Ariz.
Experience: 10 years doing nails and competing.
Specialty: Acrylic nails using pink and white powders.
Tricks of the Trade: “Squeeze the nail while it dries at the stress point to give it a curve. File the tips of the nails at an angle to make the nails thin and not lose the curve.”
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