Shellac, different from gel polish?

[rachelizabeth]

I have always been under the impression (and taught by my CND educator when I did my course) that Shellac is Shellac, not a gel polish.

I saw on Facebook this morning that treatwell has written an article to educate clients on the difference between Shellac and Gelish. However, a few people (I'm presuming to be nail techs) have had quite strong opinions on how this treatwell article is wrong, saying that Shellac is a gel polish and some even saying there is no difference between the two.

What are your thoughts on this? I commented saying Shellac isn't really classed as a gel polish but I don't think people can grasp the fact that Shellac is just Shellac, not described as a gel polish by CND

 

[TheCherryOnTop]

I thought Gelish and Shellac were just the brand names and that both were gel polishes?

 

[AcidPerm]

Shellac is definitely not acrylic powder or a nail varnish.
It requires UV light to cure it as do all the other gel polishes so if it looks like a dog and barks like a dog....

 

[rachelizabeth]

Shellac is definitely not acrylic powder or a nail varnish.
It requires UV light to cure it as do all the other gel polishes so if it looks like a dog and barks like a dog....

Yes definitely it operates similarly but does that mean it's the same?

Just very confused now as on my course Shellac was classed in a different category. Liquid and powder, nail varnishes, gel, gel polishes, and Shellac

 

[blossom]

Shellac is a hybrid as I understand it, and is not classed as a gel polish.

Seriously cannot be bothered arguing with my clients though, it's a technicality.

 

[blossom]

http://www.salongeek.com/threads/shellac-from-cnd.109210/

An old post from when it was launched with plenty of input from Geeg

 

[rachelizabeth]

Shellac is a hybrid as I understand it, and is not classed as a gel polish.

Seriously cannot be bothered arguing with my clients though, it's a technicality.

No I've never had the discussion with clients, they just seem to accept Shellac as it is and know it's a bit different to Gelish and other gel polish brands.

Just was confusing hearing that it's the same from other nail techs, but I'll have a look at that link thank you

 

[All that shimmers]

It is a gel polish. Geeg herself referred to it as a gel polish a couple of pages in to the thread that was just posted. CND's own MSDS refers to it as a gel lacquer, same as gel polish. 'Hybrid' refers to the fact it contains solvents, it's not a pure gel like for eg. Akzents Luxio. More soak off gel polishes than not, are hybrids. The solvents make the gel thinner and application easier.

Of course, it's an extremely high quality gel polish and does have some points of difference; being hypoallergenic, fast and easy removal, great adhesion without the need to buff natural nail etc, but chemically, it is still a gel polish.

Different brands have chemical differences; they may cure at different wavelengths, use different photoinitiators, different bonding chemicals, use of solvents, different percentage of said chemicals... These chemical differences of course make each product perform slightly differently, but end of the day, they're all still gel polishes. A big difference Geeg was referring to was soak off pot gels, which generally don't apply as easily or self level as well as soak off gel polishes (in polish bottles). Shellac (and other gel polishes) are certainly different to those, but chemically it is not Shellac vs all other gel polishes.

To surmise, I would say Shellac is a hybrid gel polish with a formulation superior to many others in its class; gel polish.

 

[blossom]

So she does lol! Just really strange as I was on the forum back then and I'm sure I can remember lots of arguing the toss (on other threads) with CND saying it wasn't!

 

[rachelizabeth]

She does, and then further on in the thread she says it's not like any other gel as it's a UV3 Hybrid Colour coat system. I know it was patented in the US a few years after release, I wonder if this is the same in every country and reflects on MSDS sheets.
Yes Blossom it's very confusing when CND and the educators say it's different, maybe to aid their marketing of the product to make it stand above the rest or maybe because Shellac just isn't recognised as an entirely different product and so has to be put under the same umbrella. Ah well

 

[All that shimmers]

Yes, it's patented, its formula is original but that doesn't make it 'not a gel polish'.

Just as various mascaras hold patents for their lengthening/thickening formulas or even their brush shape etc, it doesn't mean they're not mascaras. Cleaning products too. There could be any number of cleansers that would be considered degreasers (and all do a comparable job of degreasing). But if a certain product uses a unique chemical for the degreasing action, it could also be patented. OPI's brush is patented, but it's still a polish brush.

I don't think anyone's saying that Shellac is chemically exactly the same as other gel polishes. But other gel polishes aren't collectively one and the same either. Gelish is patented too, for example.

CND is an amazing company, with great innovation and second to none marketing. They coined the term 'Power Polish' to distinguish Shellac from the rest. What does that mean though, chemically? Not much. Power Polish is not so unique that it forms a chemical class of its own. The formula is patented, not the whole category.

 

[NicDox]

I explain it to my clients like this. Just how everyone calls a vacuums cleaner a Hoover, people call all gel polish Shellac. Shellac is a hybrid gel polish made of normal polish and gel polish mixed and is produced by a company called CND. It's kinder on your nails and is more for the client that worries about the condition of their nails than anything else. It's not for everyone and with some people does not last as long as true gel polishes, until you can get their nails into good shape. Gel polishes i.e. Gellish is a true gel and is a lot hardier than Shellac and might be preferred by the client who can't keep CND Shellac on their nails. It can sometimes not be kinder on the nails if the nail tech does not take the care in the proper removal process. This way I give the client the choice in which direction they would like to go. With my client basis, I'm surrounded by the oil industry and most of the ladies are more concerned about the health of their nails and can afford to work with me to get their nails to a healthy stage where the Shellac will stay on. But having said this, I have a client basis that this is the explanation that they all seem to understand and it works for me. I have clients that swing both ways. But really it's the hybrid explanation people need to hear. It irritates me when articles like this are written. Come on. How long has this industry been around for and people are still not getting it. My favourite is the skin cancer from the UV light. What the heck.

 

[rachelizabeth]

I explain it to my clients like this. Just how everyone calls a vacuums cleaner a Hoover, people call all gel polish Shellac. Shellac is a hybrid gel polish made of normal polish and gel polish mixed and is produced by a company called CND. It's kinder on your nails and is more for the client that worries about the condition of their nails than anything else. It's not for everyone and with some people does not last as long as true gel polishes, until you can get their nails into good shape. Gel polishes i.e. Gellish is a true gel and is a lot hardier than Shellac and might be preferred by the client who can't keep CND Shellac on their nails. It can sometimes not be kinder on the nails if the nail tech does not take the care in the proper removal process. This way I give the client the choice in which direction they would like to go. With my client basis, I'm surrounded by the oil industry and most of the ladies are more concerned about the health of their nails and can afford to work with me to get their nails to a healthy stage where the Shellac will stay on. But having said this, I have a client basis that this is the explanation that they all seem to understand and it works for me. I have clients that swing both ways. But really it's the hybrid explanation people need to hear. It irritates me when articles like this are written. Come on. How long has this industry been around for and people are still not getting it. My favourite is the skin cancer from the UV light. What the heck.

Great explanation