Acrylic dries in my brush!

[purplebunnies]

Can anyone help me overcome this.

I did a conversion course to creatives L&P about 2 months ago and i'm loving it, big it up to anyone and everyone that will listen to me. One little prob though....in their kit they supplied a brush (cant remember the name of it, had green writing on it ) to use, i make sure my brush is clean, has enough monomar in it to use but the powder keeps drying inside the flags after the 5th or 6th nail. So i have to let it stand in monomar over night to get it back to it's former glory.

I have another brush, cost about £10 (salon systems) smaller head and works in a point rather than flat, and it's fine no probs what so ever.

What am i doing wrong?

 

[tamimac]

I did the essentials course and the brush they gave me was huge and I had the same problems. I am guessing you ARE cleaning it properly between each nail. I swapped to a smaller brush and have no problems. I think that the acrylic just gets pushed up the inside and a dappen dish may not be deep enough to really get the bristles clean. I suppose someone here could tell you how to avoid this, but probably easier to swap to a smaller brush. They are better and more precise to work with anyway. Sorry I cant be more help.

 

[lotus blossom]

dont know if this is right or not but here goes,
if your mix ratio is correct once its been placed on the nail and left the brush, there shouldnt be any product to gunk your brush up, if its getting stuck in the brush i would think you are working too wet, allowing remaining wet product to remain in the bristles
this might be your problem though?! hth
xxx

 

[tamimac]

dont know if this is right or not but here goes,
if your mix ratio is correct once its been placed on the nail and left the brush, there shouldnt be any product to gunk your brush up, if its getting stuck in the brush i would think you are working too wet, allowing remaining wet product to remain in the bristles
this might be your problem though?! hth
xxx

See, I told you there would be a smart geek here. She is right tho.

 

[lotus blossom]

was it right then tam?????!!!!!!!!!! lol

 

[tamimac]

Probably, i must confess Idont really know, but it sounds right. I love this site, I really do learn something new every day.

 

[lotus blossom]

lmao!!! yeah im gonna say im right and youre going to agree tam!!!!!! so there!

 

[tamimac]

SIR, yes SIR!!! lol

 

[Cathie!]

Yes, what has been said is totally right, if yr working too wet then you will get bits stuck in your brush, especially white, in the mean time until you get yr ratio right, wipe away any residue you see on your brush as soon as you see it, then it won't get stuck (or contaminate your 'working' monomer) and in the longer term work on yr ratio so it doesn't happen

 

[lotus blossom]

Yeeee Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

 

[tamimac]

LMAO:green::green::green::green::green:

 

[liza smith]

everything about mix being too wet is true.
there is one other thing that can contribute to this problem;

lots of nail techs fill up their dappen dish to the top, and use it not only for one full set of nails, but mayb for another 1 or 2, untill it runs out, then top it up with fresh.
untill i was told any different, i did the same. and went through more brushes than was funny!
every time you put your brush back into your dappen dish, small particles of powder enevitably get into your liquid.
this makes your liquid go gooey and cloudy.
unless u look specifically at your liquid, it may not occur to u that it is now cloudy rather than clear purple.
i find it best to only put enough liquid in to last for 1 hand. then i wipe out my dish and refill with fresh.
i have it off to a fine art as to how much i usually need.
never top up your liquid with fresh, you will just dilute the stickiness, and put off the enevitible "sticky brush.

lastly, when you are finished working with your brush, put a small amount of clean liquid in your dish and immerse your brush in it a few times and wipe gently through a paper tissue.
dont leave liquid in your brush thinking that it will keep its shape better, this will polymerise in your brush and cause possible contamination

this may seem to some that it is costing me money to be this careful...

i promise u its a helluva lot cheaper than numerous new brushes!

 

[fiona wallace]

great answer from lisa....just one other little thing to add....do you immerse your brush in monomer and then wipe off excess on side of dappen dish, which would ensure brush properly cleaned between beads? I have observed some people dip only the very flag of their brush into their monomer but then picking up powder with MORE of the brush - the brush is not getting chance for proper clean until the very end of all your application - too late!:idea:

 

[Prosperity]

Just another thing....are you creating a nice bead on the end of your point and then ensuring it all comes off leaving a clean brush? Sometimes if the bead is more of a dollop on your brush and you try and get this on the nail it leaves product on your brush.

Have a nice point to your brush will help this and not dipping to far down in to the powder as well as working with correct ratio as has been covered.

xx

 

[purplebunnies]

great answer from lisa....just one other little thing to add....do you immerse your brush in monomer and then wipe off excess on side of dappen dish, which would ensure brush properly cleaned between beads? I have observed some people dip only the very flag of their brush into their monomer but then picking up powder with MORE of the brush - the brush is not getting chance for proper clean until the very end of all your application - too late!:idea:

I was told to only immerse my brush in monomar once, wipe twice on dappen dish then twice on clean tissue which was at the begining. Then just the flags each time i need a ball of acrylic.

So is it best to work with a pointed brush rather than a flat one? as i prefer my cheapy pointed one better than the expensive flat one.

 

[liza smith]

i like to work with a flat brush as i feel more in control of pressing out the bead.
if the brush is pointed while trying to do this, then the pointed flags dont have the power behind them to fully press the product onto the nail plate.

i also like my ultra sculptor brush which will work flat, but will also revert to a point if i want to tweak my smile line.

two of the most important things about working with L&P is acheiving correct mix ratio and achieving full adhesion of product to the natural nail.

if you work with a pointed brush, and you achieve great nail shape without loads of filing, and you dont experience any lifting at all, then you obviously work better that way.

however, i find most of my students that come with the above problems are either working with too weak a brush, and/or need to adapt their application technique.