QuestionQUESTION: Hi, Maggie,
I wrote to you last week about alternatives to Bio Sculpture nail jail. I found a salon that uses the "soakable" gel Light Elegance, but it does not want to stay on my nails. It keeps lifting. The gel on one of my thumbs cracked right off. I went back in today to have them repaired, and I already have two lifting again. The nail tech said that I might simply not be a candidate for gels.
I should mention that before going to the nail tech who uses Light Elegance, I had gone into another salon. I can't remember the name of the gel she used, but it did even worse than the Light Elegance. The tech said it was gel, but she used a light powder on my nail at some point. I've read somewhere since that you don't use a powder with gels. Is that true? Perhaps she was using a "non-soakable" gel?
Have you ever run across someone who just can't wear gels? You had said that soakable gels are perhaps not as reliable. The nail tech who uses Light Elegance says that I may only be a candidate for acrylic. I'm not sure whether or not to go back to her. She's really nice. I like her a lot, but aside from the lifting, the nails are not as shiny as I thought they would be. She did a nice job of applying the jail it seems ... it looks very natural. However, the gel on a few of my fingers seems to need buffing or something. Also, since she repaired them, the color (light pink ... natural looking) is not very consistent. At the tips, you can see through the nail in spots. Also, the edges are a little rough, because she tried using a little dab of super glue to keep the gel from lifting.
I feel very frustrated. I've called all over the city looking for nail techs who use Bio Sculpture, Calgel and Brisa. I did find two techs who went through training for Brisa but their shops are not in a convenient location. If I knew I'd have better luck with Brisa, I'd go to see one of them, but perhaps gels are just not for me. Would you suggest I keep trying or should I go back to my nail tech and have her use acrylic? She says that she can put a thin coat on and wouldn't need to file them down any more. Your advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Erika
PS: I should have taken your advice and asked each of the two nail techs I've seen if I could just do a trial nail.
ANSWER: Hi Erika! The short answer is "yes;" I have seen people who just are not a good match for gels. Primarily because of their lifestyles. Many people are just plain too hard on their nails and the constant pressure at the very edge of the nail causes the gel to bend and pull away from the natural nails. If the gel is peeling away from your natural nail at the tips, but not lifting at the cuticle, this is a good indication that the problem is your lifestyle, not the product itself. If this is the case, there are a few options left: have the gel sculpted past your natural nail, or tips applied, so that the product extends past your nails-- even if just by a little bit. This will prevent the lifting/peeling problem that causes the natural nail and the gel overlay to go in different directions!
Another major problem I have with new gel clients is that most people are already used to acrylic. Acrylic is so much harder and more rigid than gel, and people aren't used to the way gels will bend when put under stress. We get used to being able to abuse our nails with acrylic! It's like armor plating for nails! But gel is much more flexible, and softer and instead of cracking or breaking, it tends to tear or peel away. If you are getting little tears in the corners of your nail where your own nail grows off the end of your finger, this is what I'm talking about. The fix for this is to get the gel THICKER. This can be tough on the nail tech psychologically! I know it was for me! When we get training for gel nails, the companies are all about "thinner, lighter weight, more natural" results. So that's what we try to do, we want to put two or maybe three really thin coats of gel over your nail and sit back and admire how beautiful they are and how they look like they only have a coat of clear polish on them...unfortunately, this does not always work once the client goes back into the real world!
The gel needs to be thick enough over the arch of the nail that the nails don't bend in those corners. This should not mean that your nails will get super thick! They just need to not be all bend-y in the middle! I usually have to apply 4 to 6 thin coats of gel when I do a full set in order to get that strength built up-- from that point, fills only require 2 coats.
Gels are also not recommended for really long nails. The product just doesn't give the extra strength needed to make up for the length.
Some techs will use a little powder to give the gel some "body." I'm honestly not sure if this actually adds strength to the finished product or not, but I know it's common practice and can certainly make the gel easier to work with. The important thing to know is that gels don't require a powder, so you know the difference between acrylic and true gel-- because there are so many salon that are doing acrylics, calling them gels, and people are getting mislead and ripped off. But some techs do sprinkle in a little powder, or even reinforce the gel with a piece of fiberglass or silk mesh, just for extra strength.
The gel not being shiny might be a clue for us though. Most gels cure to a high gloss, so it looks like you have clear polish on. If the gel has dull spots on it it means that the gel did not cure properly on those spots. This could be the way you held you hand while it was in the light-- if your hand is tilted so the light can't reach the entire nail, for instance; you didn't take your hands OUT of the light at all, did you? Gels are time sensitive, they HAVE to be fully exposed to that light for a minimum specified time in order to cure fully. I know I have mini-conniptions all the time with my gel clients because they want to check their phone while their hands are supposed to be under that lamp! Gels are different than acrylics and they take a little getting used to for both the nail tech AND the client. Most likely though, the lamps the nail tech used were either NOT the lamps that her gel requires, OR the light bulbs in them were past their expiration date.
(WARNING! Science Content!)Gels are cured by exposure to Ultra Violet light. But the light has to travel in a specified wave length in order to penetrate the gel and start the chemical reaction that causes them to polymerize. Each company that makes a gel product will recommend a particular lamp that will work best with it's product. When the light bulbs are new, the light travels in short waves that are close together, but as the bulbs age, the light waves slow down and (if you are imagining a wavy line) that wave flattens out. The light bulbs will stop curing gel LONG before they burn out. Lightbulbs should be replaced every 3 to 6 months, depending on how much use they get.
It's possible that your nail tech hasn't replaced her bulbs lately. They are pretty pricey and it's something that's easy to procrastinate on if you are a tech who doesn't do many gels.
As for the super glue at the edges of your nails-- just use a light buffer to buff off the roughness. I glue free edges a lot too. And if you have trouble with the free edges curling away from the gel again, you can also seal them back together with some clear polish.
If the gel has some rough spots on the surface it might be because a little bit of dust or lint got into the gel before it cured. There's no reason you can't just buff it a tad and put a coat of clear polish over it.
Good luck! It sounds like gel might work for you if you have the patience to work with your nail tech while she gets the hang of it and learns what she needs to do to make it work for you.
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Maggie,
Thanks for your thorough response. The gel is lifting at the tips as opposed to at my cuticles, but it starts lifting within a day. Yesterday, it began lifting almost immediately after they were repaired. I can't imagine that I could be being so rough on my nails within such a short period of time. Also, my nails are really short, hardly any nail at all. Does that still sound like it could be me being too rough?
May I ask if you are familiar with CND's Brisa gel? I have just found someone at a premiere salon not far from me who uses Brisa. I've heard good things about it. I'm thinking of going in and, as you suggested before, have her do a test finger. If you think I'm not a candidate for gels, however, perhaps it doesn't matter whether or not the product is good.
Thanks,
Erika
AnswerAhhhhh... yes, short nails with little to no free edge to start with can present special challenges. The trick to getting gel to "stick" at the edge is to cap the free edge with the gel-- ie, swipe the very edge of the nail with the gel so that it sort of flows under the edge and hangs on tight. If there's not enough free edge available to cap with the gel, you get all sorts of problems such as you're describing.
I would definitely go try the salon that does Brisa-- ESPECIALLY if anyone there has a CND Master or Grand Master certificate! If you can find a CND Master or Grand Master, they will have been trained in use of the Brisa product and you'll be in expert hands!
You might want to consider starting your full set with very short tips applied with gel overlays-- allowing your own nails a chance to get a little length on them.
Good luck. I really hope this helps. I think gel is a fabulous product and you will probably love it. I'd hate for you to give up on it before you find a skilled nail tech who can work with your nails!
