1st Attempt at a Shellac Manicure....

[cerries]

Hi all

I had a client in this morning for a Shellac manicure. Now her nails were AWFUL - it took me about 10 minutes to sort her cuticles out!

This is my first attempt at a Shellac French on a real person, and the client wasn't hoping for a miracle given the state of her nails (ridges, white patches, you name it...)

I think I have an idea of what went wrong. My smiles weren't all even. However despite it being a very first attempt, and a terrible canvas to work on, the client was made up. I'm a perfectionist so I'm beating myself up because I could have done better!

(Gentle) opinions much appreciated xxx

 

[spoilt]

they look fantastic from here// i found it difficult to do smile lines so thin ??? i wush they had a tool lol... xx

 

[cerries]

You know what I found it really really hard! Add to that that the client had bumpy nails, and really thick lateral folds....and my shaking hands LOL!

 

[salpep]

For a first go this is not so bad..I think some of the reason it looks a little out/uneven is because of your clients free edge..some are round some are square.

Maybe given that she had fairly short nails you should have shaped them round and then Im sure the overall look would have been much better

But well done hun

 

[cerries]

For a first go this is not so bad..I think some of the reason it looks a little out/uneven is because of your clients free edge..some are round some are square.

Maybe given that she had fairly short nails you should have shaped them round and then Im sure the overall look would have been much better

But well done hun

Yes I completely agree. Although she had really strange 'white free edge' if you know what I mean. What looked like her free edge was half way down her nail plate, as they were really bitten previously. So I was going to file the free edges so that they were all the same, but I would still have had to have painted some of them thicker so that they covered her own white part of the nail.

That probably doesn't make sense!!!

 

[mizzy_dizzy]

,
@ spoilt you crack me up lol
They DO have a tool for it LOL
A paint brush!
If the nails are tiny use a craft shop paint brush (real hair) or a dotting tool to apply it ,


I think they are good they're not thick or patchy but the smile lines and free edge shape do let you down a little, some smiles are smile and others are very straight,
Don't be scared to swipe the smiles with a brush dipped in a little d-sperse
And then clean it up ,
You wont run out of time (it wont dry like polish will)
And it doesn't matter if the d-sperse removes some of the inhibition layer (sticky bit ) as it is NOT a nessesery part of shellac , it is ONLY a part left over from the curing prossess

good work though , and by the time she comes back in 2 weeks she will have more of a free edge for you to play with

 

[cerries]

Thank you for that :0)

I definitely agree about the smile lines and free edge. I knew it the minute I had started it.

Another thing I did notice - the top coat was really 'gloopy' in the bottle. I was trying to apply it thinly, but it had almost like a bitty feel to it - was quite hard to apply. I haven't done anything I shouldn't to the bottle..it has just been sat on my Shellac rack on the wall. Really strange. I took a bit of couch roll and tried to clear the brush, which seemed to help a little, but top coat still seemed really thick coming out of the bottle...

 

[mizzy_dizzy]

did you shake it to wake it ?

 

[cerries]

Yep...really gave it a good shake. I did notice little air bubbles too - many I shook it too hard?

 

[NoLimitNails]

I believe somebody has layered the colours to create a more opaque color on the bed, maybe that's an option if the FE is way down on her fingers??? And apart from the shape as already mentioned, I think you did a very good job, considering what you had as a canvas...

 

[cerries]

Hi Karen

Apologies if I'm being really thick lol - when you say layering the colours, which colours are people layering to get the more opaque look? I used base coat, 2 x Cream Puff for smile, 1 x Negligee and then topcoat x

 

[mizzy_dizzy]

I dont think base coat x2 is needed hun ,
but if you wanted to tone it down you could do base x1 Negligee x1 crampuff , negligee ,
or some use romantique for a cover look and then do your creampuff .

Have you maybe had you'r top coat near your light while curing one hand and applying to the other hand?

 

[cerries]

I did one x basecoat - reading my above post it looked like I did 2 lol ;0)

I don't have Romantique - maybe it would be worth getting some - is it less sheer than Negligee? x

 

[mizzy_dizzy]

yes its opaque
guessing , I think it is what they used in the french shellac nail thats twisted round hair in the advertizing .

 

[cerries]

That sounds quite good.

I did a rebalance yesterday and I still have difficulty with fill lines, and you could see the fill lines under the Negligee. Obviously my fill lines are priority for getting right, but it's useful to know that Romantique is more opaque in case someone has less than perfect nail beds...

 

[NoLimitNails]

LOL you beat me to it, yes I have seen someone (and I really cannot remember who, sorry) do a color combo with an opaque after basecoat, then cream puff and then negligee as far as I remember. Maybe it's in the shellac lovers group...

 

[geeg]

Negligee is a semi sheer paint .. it is not meant to nor will ever be opaque by itself. You must use a different colour if you an opaque coverage or layer two colours.

Using the Dashing Diva French wraps+ will sort out perfect smile lines for you on a client like this and they will all look exactly the same. Use the DD wraps where you would have painted with the white.

 

[cerries]

Hey Gigi

Yes I have been looking into DD, but I just can't seem to get my head around what they actually are. I have been practising and practising free hand paint on smiles, but I am a perfectionist, and want each one to be perfect. I did a search on Dashing Diva French Wraps and saw a few images you posted a while back, but I still don't understand what the product is or how it works. I must look into it more as it sounds like it could be a big help x

 

[geeg]

Hey Gigi

Yes I have been looking into DD, but I just can't seem to get my head around what they actually are. I have been practising and practising free hand paint on smiles, but I am a perfectionist, and want each one to be perfect. I did a search on Dashing Diva French Wraps and saw a few images you posted a while back, but I still don't understand what the product is or how it works. I must look into it more as it sounds like it could be a big help x

Well it is simple .. it is like a dried layer of paint that you apply like a tip. Couldn't be easier. Comes in a short length of free edge or a longer length of free edge. You can't extend with them as they are as thin as a coat or 2 of paint but they do give a perfect French finish..

 

[cerries]

It does sound very good - so sounds like they would have been perfect for my client today then...although can these be used with Shellac? x