Gel Users: Please make your way to the room for gels to set up for your workshop.  You can be in the acrylc room if you like.

Acrylic Users: Please ONLY set up acrylic in the acrylic room.  This is important so those who are sensitive to the smell can be in the gel room.  

This is our first meal at camp and we will invite you to meet all the educators in our main meeting space – the DINING HALL!  All the other places for camp are smaller which allows for classes and workshops.  But at meals we will make announcements, have our keynote seminar, competition awards play some fun games and most importantly, give away raffle prizes (you MUST be in. the room to win the raffles when they are given out).

A foundation of Nail Camp, this workshop has been offered since 2010 as an included hands on workshop with the cost of the event.  Created to show improvement in your structure and nail appearance in just 4 nails!   Completely non product specific, bring the products you are used to using, 4 bare nails and you will be ready to go!  Why does this class make a difference?  There aren’t any other classes that let you start by doing nails the way you already do them!  We work to point out and fix things you may not see.  Do your sidewalls bow or flare?  Not sure how to get them perfectly straight?  We will show you!  The one on one time that educators spend with each and every attendee is something that you just don’t usually get in a class.  

 A perfect class for getting to know someone new or hang out with a friend you haven’t seen since last camp!  This class is done working in pairs so if you come by yourself to camp you will immediately met a new friend.  Many techs find that the friendship they have created in this class can last a lifetime!

When this class begins, we will simply ask you to create a nail.  Nothing crazy or different than what you do every single day. Apply one sculptured nail.  Our Amazing Educators will walk around the room and as you finish the nail and they will critique JUST ONE element (shape, structure, smile line etc).  This will give you just one thing to focus on improving.  The tech will do the second nail and a new element will be critiqued.  Again, now you will be focusing on a new thing to improve.   These small improvements will build over the course of the 4 nails.   After the 4th nail, a written critique using the same score sheet used in competition is given.  Techs will often see a HUGE improvement between the first nail and the 4th nail!   We recommend incorporating french so that you can be helped with french techniques as they are coming back in style!

Here are what a few techs have said in the class after this FREE included workshop!

“I came to camp not knowing what to expect, and after that first workshop I feel like I got my whole money’s worth in 1 day!” 

“I’ve been a nail tech for 3 years but always struggled.  I learned more in that first class than I did in all of nail school”  

This completely self-led workshop gives you something you just don’t have at home… TIME!!   Have you ever wanted to create some stunning nails for your own marketing or to submit for a cover contest or online competition?  This is your chance to spend a full 5 hours to create your masterpiece.

Use your own hand or a fake hand to create a hand of incredible nails.  Allie Baker, competition winner and cover artist, will come welcome you to this workshop and see if you have any questions on any techniques you plan to do.  Then you are on your own!  We will play some music and you can do your nails and chat with other nail techs over the next 4 hours.

Around 5pm, be ready for some photos.  Make sure you bring your own props!  Shoes, jewelry, seashells, fabrics etc.  We have also used things we find outside such as branches, leaves and rocks for props with fantastic success.  So many things can be used and we can try a few of them to see what goes best with your nails.

Jessica Briarmoon was nail tech and photographer winning the one of the yearly Nails Magazine Cover contests.  She will take high quality images that will be processed making sure to take into account exposure, color, contrast, vibrancy, noise and light levels.  As well as smoothing skin and removing blemishes.  You will receive both raw and edited photos in the weeks after camp.

We highly recommend Incredible Improvements if this is your first time at camp!  But if you are an advanced nail tech and feel like you don’t need to improve your daily salon nails, you are welcome to come to this workshop.

We love handing out amazing products for you all to try!  Our Sponsors spoil us and we are usually able to hand out 5-10 prizes per meal!  We want to make sure that the products are going to techs who will use them.  Which means you will receive tickets and you get to CHOOSE which prizes you want those tickets to go towards.  At check in you will receive your first 5 tickets.  You will have chances to win more tickets during the team games at dinner.  You will be able to buy up to 20 extra tickets total ($1 each).  

You must remember to put your full name on your tickets that we can read.  We recommend writing your name on them as soon as you receive them so they are not lost.  

This process does take some time on the first night.  Everyone will get to go on tour of the products and then make another round to put their tickets in the bins they choose.  We do allow exactly 20 tickets to be purchased at $1 per ticket ($20 total) to give you some more chances.  You will be able to buy these tickets after dinner on this night, so try to remember to bring your $20.  This money is then turned into prize money given out at our competitions!  

The most valuable prizes (like an electric file, lamps or large kits) will usually have the most tickets, and these will result in games!  At each meal, 3-4 tickets will be drawn and those people will compete in a fun short game to determine the winner of the prize.  These games get the energy of everyone going and is a fun way to end the meal and head off to more classes.  If you don’t want to play any games, don’t choose the fullest bins.  And if you want the best chances to go home with a raffle, pick the bins with the least number of tickets per prize.

A Designated Nail Camp Educator will be collecting your Mixed Media Entries at the back of the room you are in during set up.  

We hope that everyone participates in one way or another for the Nail Competitions.  You can not do BOTH Gel Manicure AND Salon Nails.  You must pick one.  The prize money is higher for Salon Nails as it is a more difficult service.  Nail Camp is the only place where you can compete and earn CA$H and medals with no additional cost.

We know competing isn’t easy,  BUT we do our best at Nail Camp to give you a chance to see
what it’s like before you are in a big competition arena.   The competitions at camp are
designed to simply help you learn and grow.  Competition helps make you a better nail tech.
You can see where you spend the most time, what parts of the nail you struggle building and
how to enhance your art skills.
Nail Camp competitions take place on the last full day of camp so you have an opportunity to
participate in the Incredible Improvements workshop and take a few more classes before the
timer starts. Incredible Improvements is a great workshop that gives you critiques nail by nail
that help so many campers see improvement almost immediately. We also give you the score
sheet so you can study where you should focus the most in competition.
The One Hand/One hour is exactly as it sounds!  You will have an hour to complete a set of
nails on one hand. We have eliminated the requirement that you must do three pink and
white or French nails. However, you can if you wish. Two nails need to be polished red and
three nails need to be either one solid color (cover or camouflage pink preferred) or
traditional pink and whites with the white built in, not polished on. Bonus points are possible
if you do pink and whites. Also, if you are working on yourself, you will receive 15 extra
minutes as we know it’s more difficult.
Gel Manicure is also one hand, 30 minutes. Plus 5 if you’re working on yourself. Gel Polish
only, no builders or extensions. Three French style pink and white nails, two red.
Mixed Media competition has grown so much the last few years!!  We have lots of attendees
that have learned you just NEVER know how good your art might be.   Checking out all the
amazing artwork that comes in is a highlight of competition day!
Our goal is for EVERYONE to be able to have a chance at competing.  Why not?!  Competition
is free to enter.  Nothing else is going on. It is actually fun.  It’s a great learning experience.
Bonus…. there is FREE prize money and medals! Give it a shot, you could surprise yourself
and end up with bragging rights and a little extra cash to spend.

30 Minutes for Gel Manicure on a model

35 Minutes for Gel Manicure on yourself

60 Minutes for Salon Nails on a model

75 Minutes for Salon Nails on Yourself