I've been using genuine CND Shellac for 5 or 6 years now and while I love it, I have never ever had a removal in 5 minutes [emoji23] more like 15. Even with acetone stood in hot water to warm it, and a wheat bag on the hands. I can do an application in 30 mins but for a removal and redo I always allow an hour.
Is there anything else I could be doing as a 5 minute removal would be my holy grail
A 5 minute removal time can be achieved when:
-the client has healthy natural nails and you have not buffed the nails prior to application
-the client has come back at 2 weeks
-the client has used their solar oil every day whilst wearing the manicure
-you have used xpress5 topcoat
-you have applied the shellac nice and thin and only used one layer of top coat, and 2 coats of colour
I agree that some clients can be more challenging than others when it comes to removing their shellac! If the nails have been buffed, by another nail technician or you, the shellac has both chemical and mechanical bonding which means it will really grip the nail and be hard to remove. You often see this on clients whose nails are damaged at the tips, the shellac wants to stick there more can be more difficult to remove from these areas
For clients that like to wear their shellac for longer than 2 weeks, the product over cures to the nail and that makes it more difficult to remove. Wearing shellac for longer than 2 weeks can also cause nail damage as the clients nails are more prone to being bashed at a longer length, Also the product naturally deteriorates if worn regularly for longer than 2 weeks which will cause even more nail damage , which in turn will then cause the shellac to be even more stubborn to remove!
Not using solar on their nails every day, will mean that their nails may become brittle and damaged (which will make removal harder) but solar oil also keeps the tiny tunnels clear so that after 2 weeks the acetone can reach the base coat far quicker and will really aid a fast removal time. Also solar oil helps to keep the nails healthy and the healthier the nails the faster the removal.
Application also plays a big role, when shellac was first launched most techs were used to nail polish and were applying shellac too thickly, today i'm finding that most of my students are applying the shellac too thinly! Not enough base coat will actually cause for stubborn removal as it is the base coat that contains quick release polymers that cause the shellac to break up and flake away as easily as it does! Too thick of an application of top coat can also cause a longer soak off time and I typically see this is people who decant the dregs of their last topcoat bottle into the new bottle of top coat
Hope these tips help Blossom, You should be spending no longer than 10 minutes on removal even if some of the above factors are to play... unless of course it's not REAL shellac you're removing! Eurgh , hate it when clients come in from another salon claiming to have shellac on and you know you in for a long haul removal ! lol