QuestionHi. I asked you a question once before and it really helped. I wanted to get your opinion. I want to explain to you my situation. I really wanted to get pink and white nails. I thought about acrylics, but was getting gels for 2 months and really liked them. I was hesitant to find a nail salon in my area who did gel pink and white full sets inexpensively. The nail salon I went to for about out 6 months cost 60.00 and that was a bit too much. Anyway I found a salon where a set was 45.00 and was close. So I dropped going to my nail salon of 6 months to a totally new place. I got the pink and white gel full set, but I got the nail tips longer that what I normally do. As the technician was doing them they seemed fine. It look about 1 hour and 30 minutes to be complete. They looked beautiful for about a week. After the first week I noticed the sides started to lift, and now almost 2 weeks later 3 nails have come off. I am very gentle with my nails, and do not do any hard labor. Everytime I have got nails done before they did not lift as soon. I am very upset about this, and I am beginning to wonder if I did anything wrong. I paid 45.00 with a nice tip. I called the salon and left a message that I wanted some money back. I am not going to have them redo my nails so they can be messed up. I am going to a new salon. This was my 1st time with pink and white gel nails. Please give me some advice. I really do not know what to do. Or if you could recommend nail salons in my area that are reputable. PLEASE GET BACK TO ME ASAP.
AnswerDear Ashley,
I'm very glad to have been of help in the past and will try to help you again.
In all truthfulness, if they are QUALITY Acrylic or REAL UV Gel, 45 to 60 for a full set is about right with refills/rebalances costing a tad less. Quality Acrylic & UV Gel are the same in cost (while illegal/toxic acrylic is 1/3 the cost for the product). Other things that make up the cost of enhancements are: the technician's rent, the tech's hourly wage, insurance, advertising, equipment, and their education AND lastly, their level of experience and expertise.
If the technician left them longer than what you are accustomed to, that can sometimes cause lift as you are catching/banging them a little more than usual (we don't always notice the things we do). Other causes are if the product is too close to the skin and/or touching it when it's applied. "Prep" of the nail before applying the enhancement, if a step is missed or not done correctly/thorougly (which is sometimes tricky for less experienced techs).
Lastly, with uv gels, I find that the bonder used can sometimes can be tricky. A type of bonder that might work for one client may not work on another, and so an alternate might be used. Much in the way that one type of soap is good for one skin type, but not for another. Similar issue with bonders and primers (bonders and primers are products used to assist the product in adhering to the nail plate).
Changes in your medication, if you take any, can cause lift as well.
Hand lotions containing mineral oil (babyoil), petrolatum/petroleum(vaseline)and lanolin are also very bad for enhancements and cause them to lift.
I doubt that you will be able to get a refund, in all honesty. It happens too often that clients suffer breakage through their own fault, and not the technician's. As that technician doesn't know you very well, and doesn't know your history with your nails, she will likely assume it was something you did. Perhaps you can have a chat with her, and see where it went wrong. Especially now that you know what are the issues that cuase lift and then the two of you could sort it out together and see where it went wrong.
If it's truly a case of the technician simply being inexperienced.... either you could ride out her "learning curve" knowing at least you have someone conscientious OR try to find someone more experienced.
Perhaps get her to agree that if any lift occurs before 7 days is up, she'll repair it free of charge? Any lift after 7 days is questionable. But before 7 days is "usually" due to application (but not always).
Also, just to double check: if they are REAL UV Gel, they contain NO POWDER. Please be sure of that.
Regrettably, there is no "listing" that exists that details which technicians are the best and where. The best you can do is ask questions.
An alternative is for you to check with beautytech.com. There are MANY technicians there who are very qualified, experienced and conscientious (unlike those discount ones using MMA) and you could find one on that forum that is in your area? Read over the forums for a while, to see who 'stands' out as the most experienced, and ask him/her to refer you to someone on that forum in your area?.
I hope that this helps
best regards
Victoria
