A gel is a gel isnt it?

Well wouldnt it be nice if only it were that easy?

You've got ...
one phase gels - one gel does the job of bonder, builder and gloss layer
three phase gels - you have a different gel for each job of bonder, builder and gloss...

Thanks Amber, I was really stuck, but I think now I will purchase some soak off gels too. They will work alongside my other gels, so I will use the product I feel is right for each particular clients needs.
You have explained it so well, I will use the soak off for overlays on already nice length nails. Continue with hard gels to sculpt with.
Thanks Hun x

WOW!!! This is fantastic! Thank you so much. This has really helped me.

Nash

what a fab post.
im new to gel nails, having just done a bio-sculpture course.
very interesting to read.
xx

That was a great thread . I have decided to go with calgel to start as I will feel safer with soaking off .Then I will move on to the hard gels for enhancements or sculpting .

Just had a read through, and loved it. I use Bio Sculpture at the moment I love the wide range of colours, but do have people ask if I can do extensions. I can do L&P and have just booked a skill builder, but I'm not brilliant at it, and I think if after this skill builder I'm still not brilliant then I'll look into the Brisa, so I can still offer enhancements. This article was really helpful thanks so much x

This is a fantastic article that explains it all so clearly! A great help for newbies! I wish it could have been laid down in black & white (& red!) like that when I started.

hi
that was a breath of fresh air... i was thinking is it me... should i just know....great info... im going to send it to my fellow classmates...
chatabox

Thank you sooooooooooo much for this thread!
It really helped me!!

Thanks for all the above really helpful.
Just wanted to be clear on one thing tho - are Brisa gels a no no when it comes to natural nail overlay? I'm a nail technician starting out and have been caught between bio and brisa but can't yet afford to train in both, so was hoping for an alrounder if there was such a thing, just to start out with before doing further training

Thankyou, this is so informative, most of the info in one place

Hi Amber, that was very useful! I was hoping you could answer a few more questions for me?

I've just started a home learning course in gel nails and was wondering which system you would recommend:
1. CND Brisa
2. NSI Balance Gels
3. Entity One Gel
4. ibd Soak Off Gels (are these the soft gels you mentioned?)

Also, I was wondering if you can mix and match 3 phase gels, or if you start with brisa you need to complete the other phases with brisa?

Plus do all hard gels need to be filed off or can you buy any that soak off but are still hard?

Thanks for your advice, I really appreciate any help you can offer!
Cheers, Jen

hello sry for the silly question in advance but does this mean the 'hard gels' are the powder ones? coz wen i ask for gel nails at my salon, she uses powder..it sorta looks like the same when i sumtimes ask for acrylic nails instead.
and the 'soft gels' are the gooey ones right that looks like a very think clear nail polish right?

sry just trying to increase my knowledge on nails..thanx

Hard gels are buff off, they don't soak off with product remover or acetone.

Soft gels are soak off, they soak off with product remover or acetone.

When you had 'gel' applied did the technician dip the brush into liquid before dipping it into the powder?