5 /5 Samantha Cristobal: If I could give this school zero stars, I would—but unfortunately, one star is the lowest option.
At first, the school didn’t seem that bad, mostly because I didn’t know what to expect. However, over time, I started noticing serious issues—particularly with my instructor, Brooke. She barely taught. Theory lessons from the book lasted from about 8:30 to 9:00 or 9:30 AM, and that was it. While the chapters included demonstrations, she never actually demonstrated anything to the class. If we requested assignments related to specific chapters, they were thrown together with little effort. In reality, we had no real assignments and nothing hands-on.
If she skipped theory for the day, we did absolutely nothing. She took meal breaks whenever she pleased and prioritized planning parties instead of providing us with meaningful instruction. There’s so much more I could say, but that’s what stands out the most.
The directors and other instructors were fully aware of this issue. In fact, they even gave Brooke class plans with hands-on activities—but only to make it look like we were learning whenever the owners came to visit. We would also only deep clean the classroom when we knew the owners were coming.
When the owner, Kathy, visited for the first time in October, we finally had the chance to tell her what was happening. The owners did apologize, admitting that the instructor wasn’t being responsible, and assured us that things would improve. Unfortunately, that never happened. Brooke followed the proper schedule for about two weeks—putting in minimal effort at best—before she completely stopped caring.
After Christmas break, instead of resuming proper instruction, she had us practice for the state board exam. Keep in mind, we had just been out of school for two to three weeks, so we weren’t even refreshed on how to do state board procedures properly. On top of that, many students didn’t even have the proper tools to practice.
The quality of products provided by the school was also terrible. Most of the supplies were cheap Amazon products—some Amazon brands are fine, but there are much better, affordable options out there. The school never bothered to upgrade or improve its supplies. It got so bad that I personally donated over 20 to 40 products for the nail class—none of which were cheap. We repeatedly told them the products in the back were low quality, but they brushed it off.
To make matters worse, theft was a common issue. Items would go missing, whether they belonged to students or were part of the supplies stored in the back. Despite this being brought to the school’s attention, nothing was ever done about it.
In the end, students had to buy their own products just to practice. And when we worked on customers, we weren’t even compensated for using our own supplies. One of the directors, Myriam, made it clear that if we used our personal products on clients, the clients would still be paying the school—not us.
To make matters worse, when I left the school, I was nowhere near prepared to take my state board exam. Not only did I lack the confidence and proper training needed, but I also didn’t even have my state board kit—something that should have been a basic requirement. On top of that, my instructor, Brooke, didn’t even know I was graduating until three days before my last day. Her complete lack of awareness and involvement speaks volumes about the disorganization and negligence at this school.
Overall, this school prioritizes appearances over actual education. They put on a show for the owners but fail to provide students with quality instruction, resources, or respect. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone serious about learning and growing in their field.
