I’m a learner (we should never stop learning!) and so I want to share some things I’ve found on my own personal journey to help you decide.

Yes I am a trainer, but I have given my own honest unbiased opinion and I hope you will find this useful.
Before you decide who to do your lash course with (and this can be applied to any course) there are a few things you should first consider…

Cost: This is usually the most important factor for most of us when deciding who to train with.

Courses vary so much in price, but there is a reason for this.

Cheap courses seem like a great option, but usually they are cheap for a reason.

I have done cheap courses myself in the past and they are a false economy, I wasted so much time and money after and ended up retraining anyway.

“Pay cheap, pay twice”

My advice would be, save as much as you can to do the course you want rather than settling for what’s cheap at the time, just to get going.

Even if it’s going to take longer, it will save you time (and money!) in the long run…
 

* Location: it’s always handy to do a course on your doorstep. But there’s a whole wealth of knowledge out there!

An hour in the car could possibly give you access to training that is on a whole new level for not much difference in cost.

* Recommendations: It’s always good to get opinions from others who have trained with the company that you are looking into.

* The trainer: This will probably be one of the biggest factors to consider and is usually not even considered…

Have a chat with anyone that you consider training with.

Do they seem approachable?

Do you feel like you ‘click’?

It’s so important to have a rapport with your trainer, you will learn more if you feel comfortable speaking with them and you need to feel like you can contact them if you have any issues after the training.

* The trainer (part 2): There are some courses available where the trainer has never actually performed the treatment themselves!

Yes…it’s true sadly.

So asking to check out your trainers work isn’t rude or intrusive, it’s sensible. 

It’s so important for trainers to keep up to date with new techniques and this industry is evolving so fast that if she isn’t ever performing the treatment herself, how can she pass on the most advanced training to you?

Also, check out the quality of her own work, is it full of adhesive with thick criss-crossed lashes or is it clean, neat and fluffy looking?
 Big brand or independent company: 

This is actually irrelevant. One isn’t necessarily better than the other as there are good and bad versions of both, so you have to look deeper and check out the actual courses and trainers themselves.
 There are 2 types of both of these, the ones who are passionate about the treatments and they want to share their knowledge with you. These are the ones which will support you and will actually care about your future career in this treatment. They will also continue to support you after your course.
The other type are those who teach just to earn money. These will offer courses incredibly cheap to get in as many students as they can and will happily pass students even if they can’t do the treatment just to keep the pass rate high and students happy. They also tend to use poor quality products to keep kit prices down.
There are some amazing brands out there who offer fantastic training, but there are also brands who offer terrible training.

If you are going to train with a brand then you still need to consider the actual trainer you will have (see above) and the products they use (next point)

Never feel worried to question anything! A decent brand/trainer will happily answer as many questions as needed to make sure you are happy before you part with your money.


*Products: This is important.

If a company uses quality products I believe this reflects in the training.

So ask the trainer what brand they use then do your research and get feedback about the products.

Some will have varied opinions and others will be a definite “steer clear”!

After training you can usually use other products, but it’s still important that you train with quality products and here’s examples of why…

*Adhesive. There are so many adhesives available on the market, and you need to be aware of why certain adhesives work better in different conditions, how adhesives will change the way you work, and why poor quality adhesives won’t produce quality lashes and if your trainer is knowledgeable on this topic then they would only use a quality adhesive for training.

Also I’ve been made aware that some popular adhesives used in training are also not compliant to EU regulations which might mean they are potentially unsafe and that might affect the insurance.

*Lashes. If during training you are taught with poor quality lashes, it’s likely you will be limited to use thick lashes and Curls won’t even be an option.

The issue with this is that you won’t be taught lash styles, how different curls can change a whole look, hide imperfections and accentuate features.

With heavy thick lashes you won’t be taught how lash extensions need to be matched to natural lashes to keep them healthy and not overload the natural lash.

These are essential basics, without these you will not produce premium sets.
There are other pointers too which I may add later but I felt it was important to get this out there as I hear so often about poor training.

I have had poor training and also excellent training.

I’ve wasted a huge amount of time and money by booking on the wrong course so I wanted others to learn from my mistakes.

I go on courses regularly as there is always something new to learn and I spend a huge amount of money and time on them, but quality training is worth every penny.

As always if you have any questions feel free to contact me at Lashes by Michelle Ryan