I enjoy writing this blog. It gives me an opportunity to offer you my point of view and opinions on the state of competitions these days. I say “these days” because over the last 20 years, competitions have changed a lot. As a matter of fact, the entire nail industry has changed a lot.

Anyways, today I’m going a little off topic to write about some absurdities that I see associated with the beauty industry as a whole. For instance, did you know that in the state of California you must have a license issued by the state just to file a persons nails with an emery board but you do not need one in order to put a tattoo (permanent make up included) on that same person? Wow! Talk about permanent!

I mean, if you cause damage to someone’s fingernails with a bad set of enhancements, in four months those nails have completely grown out and the damage is gone, but if your “tattoo/make-up artist” is not so skilled, you must pay thousands of dollars for laser removal and risk permanent scarring. That’s absurd. And let’s not even talk about body piercings!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not an advocate for more licensing, (in fact, I know this will cause an uproar, but I think less would be better, but that is an entirely different rant). I just think that it is absurd for people to think that a piece of paper is going to protect them when education, on the side of the manicurist and customer alike, is the only thing that will.

And while I’m at it, why is it that tattoo artists and make-up artists and hair stylists are called such stylish artistic names and yet the beauty industry refers to manicurists as nail techs? That’s absurd. I mean as a manicurists, we do much more than just nail tech-ing (yes I said tech-ing). In the salon we offer customized care of the hands and feet, education on the products and services clients are receiving, and things they can do at home to help care for their own hands, feet, and nails (and don’t forget the occasional “psychiatric” session we offer for free).

Outside the salon, I mentor, teach, compete, and do nails for magazines and photo shoots. And, to tie this into a nail competition, I happen to be the best (World Champion) at putting on nail enhancements. I think that makes me a Manicurist Extraordinaire.

So that’s it. I know it took awhile for me to get to this but if I could talk about anything today, I’ll say that I want to be called a Manicurist Extraordinaire. I don’t think that's so absurd.

— Lynn