NAILS

DECEMBER 2016 | NAILS MAGAZINE | 113 >>>school. The spa or nail salon will train you in-house in theirown style. So you can get educated at school, by a friend, orreally anywhere,” Tran says. “If you are good at nail art andcutting cuticles [a popular service in Vietnam], the salonowner will offer you a job.”There are, however, some nail academies that do offercertificates of completion and an established curriculum.One such large and well-known academy is Kelly Pang Nail.Kelly Pang is an especially good choice for Vietnamese nailtechs who want to ply the trade internationally. Its English-language marketing prioritizes exactly what aspiring Viet-namese nail techs are looking for: “Kelly Pang Nailspecializesonly in nail care and nail art,” states the website, adding thatthe Kelly Pang Certificateis recognized not only in Vietnam,but in salons abroad.For every Kelly Pang-style academy, there are many moremom-and-pop-style neighborhood nail trainers. “If you’regood, you can just open a nail class in your home, then peoplewill come and study,” Tran says. “You don’t have to get a busi-ness license or be approved by the city.”Phuong Le runs an eponymous small nail school (NailPhoung Le) in Hanoi. Le says the school’s most popular class iscuticle-cutting. In the United States, nail techs typically pushback the cuticles without cutting to promote product adhe-sion without compromising the client’s health and safety. Butmultiple experts on the Vietnamese nail industry say that inVietnam cuticle cutting is expected from a salon, and indeedis a primary reason clients turn to a professional instead ofperforming the nail care at home.Le says her school’s nail art and nail care classes are alsopopular. Nail Phuong Le also teaches gel and acrylic classes,but these are targeted toward nail techs who plan to leave thecountry. (Among clients in Vietnam, traditional nail polish ismuch more popular than gel or acrylic.)Le prices her courses both a la carte and as a completepackage. The complete package costs 13.5 million VND(US$605) and typically takes one to two-and-a-half monthsBuoyed by the success of those who entered the nailindustry before them, job-seekers in the SoutheastAsian country of Vietnam are increasingly choosingnail tech as their career. And why not? After all, the reasonstheir parents’ generation entered the field — a professionalcareer that offers financial stability, a low barrier to entry, anda skillset that is transferable to countries even where the techis not fluent in the native language — are still valid today.But there is a significant difference for Vietnamese nailtechs of today versus generations prior: Economic growth hascreated a flourishing beauty salon industry within Vietnam’sown borders, so leaving the country is not a prerequisite forsuccess. Though many new nail techs do hope to emigrateto other countries (such as the United States or UnitedKingdom), a large number also work at salons in Vietnam,either temporarily while waiting for approval to relocate orindefinitely while building their lives.Chloe Anh Tran, managing editor of VietSALON maga-zine (a sister publication to NAILS), explains the evolution ofthe nail scene in Vietnam. For a while, she says, “there weremore nail tech graduates than nail salons in Vietnam. So thenpeople started opening more salons in Vietnam ... and nowthe nail market in Vietnam is booming as much as the Viet-namese-American nail salon market in the United States.”Tran herself worked at Vietnam’s Qi Spa in Vinpearl Resortprior to moving to the United States, where she currentlyholds California nail and esthetician licenses.And the populous country (ranked #14 in population byworldometers.info) certainly has the client base for successfulbeauty salons. According to a survey conducted in April 2015by Vietnam-based market research firm Q&Me, 73% of thecountry’s adult female population go to hair salons, 41% go tolocal spas, and 32% go to nail salons. Those with higher annualincomes are more likely to go to nail salons: 64% of people whomake more than 15 million VND (US$673) go versus 28% ofthose who make less than 15 million VND. The survey respon-dents cited price as their most important consideration whenselecting a salon (72% said price was most important), whichranked higher than staff attitude (63%) and friend’s recom-mendation (52%), which came in second and third, respec-tively. The Q&Me survey estimated that average spending onbeauty services is 931,000 VND (US$42), which includes hair,skin, eyebrows, nails, and other professional beauty services.TODAY’S TECHSEducation for nail techs in Vietnam is inconsistent. “Youdon’t have to have licenses from cities/provinces or from a>>>