When you start your career as a nail tech, you may feel pressured to have everything—to appear “complete” to more senior technicians (and your customers!), and to have an expansive set-up. Often, this translates into spending an excess of money needlessly. However, establishing your basic nail tech supplies—and keeping inventory!—is an important business skill.
Beginner Nail Tech Supplies
Acrylic powder and liquid: Acrylic powder and monomer liquid are the building blocks of acrylic nails. Powders come in different colors. The powder you choose can be quick-drying, or more traditional, which will impact how quickly you have to work with the product before it sets. Acrylic sets in the ambient air by dying.
Gel: There are a few gel products that you need to build gel nails. A base gel will help you establish the surface, and then a hard gel will extend the length and build up the structure of the nail. Gel comes in different colors and finishes, and must be cured using a light—they will not dry to set, like acrylic.
Protein Bond: Unlike corrosive nail primers, this amazing product creates an adhesive surface as the basis for gel, acrylic, and traditional manicures. You can’t live without this.
Swipe: Swipe both cleanses and dehydrates the nail as a pre-prep for most nail services. It removes dirt and oils from the nail surface and also helps to remove bacteria to avoid nail infections. This is a high-use daily item! You can also use swipe to remove the tacky layer from fresh gel nails.
UV/LED Light: This is a critical tool for curing gel manicures and enhancements at each step of the process. A second light to cure two hands at once is a nice thing to have, but you can get by with just one to start with.
Brushes: Start with base brushes that are of a high quality and can serve multiple purposes. Your brushes will be used to shape gel and acrylic nails and function as an extension of your hand, so these are very important.
Gel polishes and glitters: It’s easy to want hundreds of polishes, but that is expensive, and your collection will rapidly outgrow your space. Start with basic, popular colors and work from there: nudes, reds, and a few trendy shades.
E-file: A good electric file can be expensive, but it’s an absolute need if at all possible. Hand filing is tedious and hard on your hands. E-files are beginner nail tech supplies that are well worth the price of purchase. Investing in a high quality e-file can save you time and money in the long run.
How to Keep Your Nail Supplies Organized
A nail tech is nothing without their supplies. You absolutely have to keep up with your inventory and replace items as they wear out or are used up. Running out is capital-N Not Good: if you don’t have product, you don’t have services. If you find yourself running low on an item, write it down. If you try to keep a running list in your head, you will run into problems.
Organization is critical, because, if you can’t find things, you are prone to either overbuying or running out… and not knowing! One tip our pros swear by is to take inventory daily and replenish your supplies weekly, if not more often. That way, you aren’t waiting until you are out of several things and running up huge bills. It’s less stressful and more cost-effective to keep a rotating stock.
One tip to remember is that you should build up a stock of quickly-depleted items like file bits, nail forms, polishes, and so on. This is not to say that you should hoard! However, depending on your space, gradually lay aside a stash that will last. You need not stock up on every single thing, but your core items: your daily powders, bits, files, and so on, need to have a back supply. Keep two inventory lists (either physical, written lists or online spreadsheets): your back-stock supply, and your “active use” supply. This way, as items are pulled from the back-stock, you can replace them.
Get a strong idea for what your salon offers. What are their most popular services? If you know that, you can arm yourself with what you are most likely to need. As you build clientele, you can build inventory based on what your actual clients need.
A nail kit is a fantastic way to kick off your career with all the nail tech supplies you need. A gel kit and an acrylic kit will go a long way to get you started, and you can replace or add items as you see fit.
