personal grooming

Yes you do get marked on appearance for the exam! Your nails will need to be short to massage - there is no way round this. I used to wear my nails long but since starting massage have always kept them just above the quick. Any longer and you risk scratching your client.
You will have to remove jewellery, I think you are allowed to keep your wedding band on.
Hair should be clean and kept off the face.
ITEC can seem quite pedantic but when you start working you realise that most of the rules are common sense!
Short nails are a small sacrifice if you really love the work 🙂 Good luck and enjoy it!

ITEC are the pickiest of picky when it comes to appearance. No nails, hair scraped back with no dangly bits hanging down, your hair shouldn't be touching your collar, your trousers should not touch the floor, no designer markings on your uniform. I could go on and on. When i did itec i wore a while polo shirt, tucked into my trousers (plain black jogging trousers) and plain black trainers.
With regards jewellery, i would just avoid wearing any at all. I believe that wearing a wedding band is acceptable, but I don't wear any jewellery at all now i am practising as it can be a real hazard.
It all sounds like a pain, but although some of the rules are a little over the top, they are good habits to get into, and will ensure you adhere to good standards of hygiene and client safety once you get into practice yourself.
Good luck with it all. I am sure you will enjoy it immensely!

Not sure if you should also avoid wearing heavily scented perfumes too. I can't remember if this was an ITEC rule or those of the spa that I worked at. I wouldn't like to be massaged by someone with long nails real or false. As mentioned earlier it is common sense and good habits to get into.

I'm glad I did an MTI course 😀

A colleague of mine once did a sports massage course, and there were 3 ladies there who left halfway through the first session when they were told they had to lose the nails 😀

Why would anyone think you could learn massage and have long nails?? 😮

ooooooh and don't forget, no chewing gum!! lol. One of my pet hates is when people leave their mobiles switched on, SO Bloody annoying! :035:
Lovely as she was, our tutor didn't have the back bone to tell them to turn them off!
If you missed your first lesson ask your tutor for the paper work she'll have given out, otherwise go on to the ITEC website, you'll find everything you need there. Don't ever be afraid to ask, good luck with your course x:D

Unfortunately, massage therapists have to sacrifice their nails keep them short and filed, so there are no rough edges - I always look forward to having a holiday so that I can grow my nails. Nail polish is out - when I trained with ITEC way back the standard dress was black trousers, with a white polo shirt and black shoes, long hair must be put up. I used to wear a small chain always, which I think was ok and also a wedding band for married practitioners.

Binah
x

When I trained one person hadn't removed her false nails and made red score marks all over someones back....!

I like long nails for back tickles ^_^

Pet Hate

And my pet hate is therapists who use fake tan to enhance their appearance and then engage in massage without scrubbing their hands meticulously! Have almost retched and thrown myself from the table when the same hands are applied to my face and on one occasion under and almost into my nostrils .....:eek:

Acrylic nails (or gel) are a health concern - doesn't matter if they are short acrylic nails or long ones, they can harbour a LOT of nasty bugs under them, just one little lift on one corner and a lot of stuff can grow in there. Most nail techs I know won't let anyone near their face with acrylic nails, too risky for skin treatments, they'd probably think the same about massage. If you saw some of the things that can take hold under an acrylic nail..... add oil and the skin of someone else, I wouldn't want them mixed together.

If you disregard the hygiene issue with acrylic or gel nails (gel are less prone to lifting but still a concern), they can actually prevent scratching, acrylic nails are not as sharp as natural nails (they're thicker because the acrylic is a layer on top of the natural nail or form and so are relatively blunt). I came across one massage lecturer that raved about how great acrylic nails were since she didn't have to worry about scratching anyone anymore, I was horrified, but she thought the hygiene issue was overkill.

I keep my nails short, but very occasionally there will be the day that I think 'whoops, should've dealt with that nail before I started', one of those days my hand slipped or something near a client's ear and I cut his ear with my thumb nail!!!!! I still don't quite understand how I managed to do that, but I am more diligent about keeping the nails down after that incident, though if I had acrylic nails I wouldn't have cut him.

I really don't think it's possible to be a serious massage therapist is you have nails at all. Surely this is obvious???
Anyone who walks out of a course because they have been told to get rid of their false nails is obviously not serious about becoming a massage therapist!

I have to say i did chuckle that some ladies left a course because they had to remove their false nails. I don't have any but i am a nail biter so i will have to try hard to give this up. Wouldn't look very nice to a client. Thanks for all the tips, i hadn't even thought about the perfume one so thats something to consider. Can't wait to get stuck in to the course now!

Another thing is that they don't like you to overdo the make up, having said that we have all seen therapists who look like they just came off the cat walk!

Enjoy the course

'Bella 😉