Walking into the nail salon filled with girls, the loud buzzing of electric nail files, discussing designs, and gossiping with the nail tech comes with an overwhelming feeling. Sophomore Jenna Termanas felt this way and decided she was going to learn how to do nails on herself.
“I saw them do my nails at the salon and I decided I was going to figure it out,” Termanas said. “I looked up some YouTube tutorials but it’s been trial and error.”
Getting a manicure at the salon is also expensive. Termanas noted that doing her own nails would save her a lot of money.
“It’s so expensive to go to the salon and by doing them by myself I save 80 dollars and I can perfect them and not deal with some of the mess ups they have,” Termanas said.
It took a while for Termanas to perfect doing nails but she has improved significantly. She started practicing on herself and then moved on to practicing on her friends for free.
“I did my first set on my friend and I know she hated it,” Termanas said. “She ripped them off right after and I told her to go ahead because it was just practice.”
She has an area dedicated to doing nails.
“She has a little desk and lots of different supplies and colors,” sophomore Ashley Bradley said. “It used to take a while for her to finish but she’s definitely gotten after and better at them.”
Termanas is available to come to the client’s house or do their nails right at her’s. She has driven over an hour to do a friend’s nails.
“I have friends out in Park Ridge so I just went and did three girls’ nails at once when I was out there,” Termanas said. “I keep getting texts from people from different schools and I can come to them or them to me.”
Especially now, during Prom season many girls have been asking her to do her nails.
“She posted a picture of her set or a set she did on someone else on Snapchat, so I texted her and asked if she could do my Prom nails,” junior Mia Lloyd said.
Lloyd is a big fan of the set.
“They are really nice, I’ve gotten lots of compliments on them, and they aren’t breaking or hurting at all,” Lloyd said.
Termanas is not sure she wants to do nails as a career but maybe she will continue to practice and eventually have it as a side gig.
“I don’t know if I would do it for the rest of my life because I’m not sure how profitable it really is but I’ll probably continue it as a side gig because it’s pretty easy money,” Termanas said.
After doing nails consistently for about six months, she can confidently say that her skills have improved immensely.
“She’s done my nails three or four times and she’s definitely improved her skills,” Bradley said.
Termanas enjoys what she does and hopes to get even better and bring more clients in.
“It’s so much fun being able to catch up and get my nails done with her, she’s such a positive person who is going to do big things in life,” Bradley said.
