Three years ago this month, our classroom was packed with students, instructors, salon pros, and the team from Aprés Nail. We were celebrating becoming one of the first Aprés-certified nail schools in California. We never wrote a blog post about it at the time — which, looking back, was an oversight.
Three years later, that certification has shaped our manicuring program more than we expected. So this is the post we should have written then, plus what we've learned since: what an Aprés-certified nail school actually means for students walking in today.
Aprés Nail is the company behind Gel-X — the original soft gel extension system. If you've watched any nail content on TikTok or Instagram in the last three years, you've watched Gel-X being applied. It's the technique most modern nail salons in Los Angeles and Orange County now expect new hires to know.
Aprés-certified schools work directly with the brand on curriculum, instructor training, and supply integration. That means our manicuring students don't just hear about Gel-X in a textbook chapter — they apply it, on real people, with real Aprés products, in our student salon. By the time they sit for the California State Board manicurist exam, they've also walked out with a skill the industry is actually paying for.
By early 2023, we were watching a clear pattern: salons were calling us looking for new manicuring grads who already knew Gel-X, and a lot of grads — even from large schools — didn't. State board curriculum still emphasized acrylic and traditional gel. Soft gel extensions were the new standard, and schools were behind.
So we reached out to Aprés directly, went through their certification process, and on May 20, 2023, hosted a launch event with the team. Watch a few minutes of it below — a lot of those students are now licensed and working in salons across LA and OC.
An Aprés-certified curriculum at Beyond means a few specific things:
Looking back, pursuing Aprés certification has been one of the higher-leverage decisions we've made for the manicuring program. Our students leave with current technique. We get fewer questions on tours about whether the curriculum is up to date — because anyone who walks the floor can see it is. And we hear back from grads who feel ready when they walk into a salon interview.
If you're researching nail schools in the LA or OC area and you're wondering whether a given program teaches what salons actually do in 2026, that's the right question to ask. Tour any school you're considering and ask plainly: "Are you Aprés certified, and how is Gel-X built into the curriculum?" The answer should be specific. If it's vague, that tells you something.
Our manicuring program is 400 hours and prepares you for the California manicurist license. Here's what that looks like in practice:
One thing to know up front: federal financial aid (FAFSA) is generally not available for the manicuring program because it falls below Title IV's program-length threshold. We help students plan for tuition with payment options instead — we'll walk you through that on a tour. For our other programs, federal aid is available with FAFSA school code 041482; details are on our financial aid page.
The fastest way to know if Beyond is the right fit is to walk through the building. Schedule a school tour or call us at (562) 404-6193. We're at 13640 Imperial Highway, Suites 6–8, Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670. Meet the manicuring instructors, see the student salon, and ask any question you want about the curriculum, schedule, or cost.
Three years into the Aprés partnership, we're proud of where the program is. If you're thinking about a future in nails, we'd love to show you what an Aprés-certified nail school actually looks like.
