About ShiNail Académie

Founded in 2011, ShiNail began offering chic nail artistry in Richmond, BC. From premium hand and foot care, meticulous nail treatments, unique nail art inspirations from Japan, Korea, and North America, ShiNail earned its prominence in the industry by providing uncompromised customer relations and services. ShiNail further expanded its horizons in 2016 by opening ShiNail Blue to reach customers in the rest of Metro Vancouver.

Conducive to ShiNail’s high standards of excellence, every new recruit is required to undergo a robust training regime. Due to the dynamic nature of services ShiNail provide, training programs were tailored to suit recruits with varying levels of experience. Recruiting experienced technicians became challenging as business expands, and as a result, ShiNail pioneered ShiNail Académie in 2018, a comprehensive training curriculum to equip prospective technicians. This is an expansion from the effective internal training program ShiNail developed over the years with the addition of an entry-level training component to help students without prior experience to excel and transition into the working team upon successful completion.

Why ShiNail Académie

ShiNail Académie offers ShiNail’s in-house staff training programs to the public, sharing the same standards from our salons in all areas from hygienic practices to creativity, customer service to shop management. Compared to other beauty schools in Vancouver, our programs focus on nail related services and cover a wider range of techniques, as well as nail salon management. Successful graduation from the Advanced Nail Technician program provides smooth entrance into the nail service industry.

Our programs cover different levels of training for beginners, experienced nail technicians, and nail salon entrepreneurs with the following benefits:

  • Your choice of study in English or Mandarin
  • Learn and practice in small groups with 1 to 4 students
  • Flexible time schedules and locations to fit your lifestyle
  • Training and practice in a working nail salon environment
  • Certification to show your achievement
  • Internship and full-time work opportunities in our salons upon successful completion of program(s)
  • Business advisory for those who plan to open their own nail salon
Our Facility

ShiNail Académie students will attend programs at ShiNail salon locations in Richmond or Burnaby with hands-on training using professional equipment and tools. Each location has different setups so students can practice in a diverse environment with real-world manicure and nail art products offered to ShiNail’s customers.

Our convenient locations are close to bus and Skytrain stations, adjacent to pay and free parking spots.

“With over 10 years of field experience, Christen is meticulous in her teaching, focuses on fundamentals, patient to her students, and very generous with her personal work experience. Most importantly, lessons are taught in real salon settings at ShiNail that makes it easily transferrable from lessons to work.”

Doris, ShiNail Académie graduate

“All the instructors I came across are extremely passionate in helping students succeed and gave us knowledge not only on nail art, but also in retail operations, they are also flexible to adjust practices to fit individual learning abilities. Curriculums are well designed to help students transition into real world working environment.”

Kelly, ShiNail Académie graduate

“To be an outstanding nail artist, one must possess an acute fashion sense and the pride of craftsmanship. Under the wings of Christine, she was always able to instill a sense of calmness and provided unlimited encouragements to help me through the course. I am forever thankful for her patience and professionalism.”

Christina, ShiNail Académie graduate

“I have been a loyal customer of ShiNail, and have always been impressed by its excellent customer service. After completing my nail art course at Blanche MacDonald, I felt there is room to advance my creative nail painting skills. Before enrolling in the program, Shirley, the principal herself actually took the time to interview me and confirmed that I was ready for the Advanced Nail Technician program, and I have not looked back since.”

Eva, ShiNail Académie graduate

“Instructors are extremely responsible providing in-depth and professional knowledge, and they are particularly patient during practices where they pay extra attention to fine technical skills. Classes are fun with these cheerful instructors and they are quick to answer any questions.”

Maria, ShiNail Académie graduate

“ShiNail Académie is the perfect combination of knowledge and practicality! Nail art may seem easy to some, however, the path it takes to become a professional technician wasn’t. All the programs were flawlessly designed and personable, and every instructor were equally patient and passionate to help every step of the way. I’m grateful for their help from scratch to where I am now working in a nail salon.”

Lisa, ShiNail Académie graduate

“I am especially impressed with the one-on-one teaching arrangement the school offers, every question I had during Entry Level and Intermediate programs were addressed by the instructor right on the spot. The fact that classes are taught in a working setting also helped me gain lots of actual working experience that helped me to be a professional nail technician.”

Sabrina, ShiNail Académie graduate

“Thank you very much ShiNail Académie for giving me a new skill in nail art! Programs were both fun and rewarding, especially practices on live models, which is incomparable to lectures and practicing on just the tools alone. Thank you for such a memorable experience!”

Vanessa, ShiNail Académie graduate