Jul 7, 2013 - 1 min read

Le Vernis Nail School Ikebukuro

Multilingual Basic Level Nail Course

By Perri Silverstein

Community writer

Le Vernis Nail School offers nails courses for beginner, intermediate and advanced students with classes following the Japan Nailist Association criteria.

The Elementary Level Course (160,000 yen) covers the essentials of proper nail care and manicure techniques. Nailists are to bring their own supplies.

Kitagawa Sensei teaches us the range of nail shapes.

Some aspects of nailist training are not so pretty. Here we see a comparison of nail disease information in both the American and Japanese training books.

Advanced students learn precision design techniques.

This advanced student is practicing gradation styles on nail chips.

Beginner nailists must master correct filing techniques.

There is actually a specific way to remove polish from the nails.

Japanese nail art is beautiful, inspiring and sometimes downright tacky. The art form is taken very seriously here in Japan and there are numerous magazines, forums and competitions dedicated to it. Le Vernis Nail School in Ikebukuro, home of Sunshine City, offers various nailist classes for hobbyists and aspiring professionals. I had the opportunity to experience the four-hour beginner course that covered the basics of nail shape, care and manicure techniques. The full course spans over 18 lessons and expands into basic Japanese nail art techniques and gel application. Japan Nailist Association certified teacher Michiyo Kitagawa guides her students through the step-by-step processes in Japanese, English and Chinese.