QuestionI am having trouble with gels nails lifting some as soon as the next day. I've tried different products and everything else I can think of. I don't know what else to try. PLEASE HELP!
AnswerOk, first: are you a professional? That's the impression I'm getting, that you do nails and have gone through several products and the nails are lifting on your clients-- so I'm going to go with that theory first--
I would definitely recommend contacting the company that makes the product and ask for some technical help and see if they have an educator in your area that you could contact and possibly set up training with. That way you will get advise and training that is specific to the product you are trying to master.
Mastering gel technique is no where near as easy as it looks. It took me 2 years before I felt comfortable with my acrylics, it took me FIFTEEN YEARS before I was comfortable with my gels!
You'll need to make sure that your pre-application preparation process is perfect. (that's a lot of "P's" isn't it?) Always make sure you are starting with clean nail plates, push back cuticles and make that you gently buff the oily surface off the top of the natural nails and get all the way into the sidewalls and all the way to the very edge along the cuticle. Then make sure you get ALL the dust off the nail.
If you are doing a fill, you need to make sure you file down the existing product completely flush to the natural nail and make sure you remove ANY of the existing product that is lifting.
Use a product design for cleansing the natural nail, such as CND's "Scrub Fresh" -- lots of companies are making these products now, you can also use 99% pure rubbing alcohol, but do NOT use rubbing alcohol that is less than 99% pure! But definitely use a nail cleanser to scrub the natural nail with. Make sure you use a lint free applicator to do this, you don't want fuzzies on the nails!
Then use the recommended bonding agent (primer) that comes with the product. Then apply the gel in thin coats. It's best to apply several very thin coats than one or two thicker coats.
Make sure you are using lamps of the recommended wattage and make sure they have new bulbs and that the bulbs are clean-- you can take them out of the lamp and clean them with alcohol, just make sure they don't have gel cured to them.
These steps will help with your application-- but you also need to keep an eye on your clients. Clients who aren't use to get application don't realize that they can't take their hand out of the lamp during the curing process-- they'll take their hand out to sip their coffee, check their text messages, or get a tissue out of their pockets. You have to explain to them that every time they do this, they are working against you.
