A New Era?

[Deena]

This is something I've been curious about ever since the advent of the new gel/polish/hybrids looming on the nail horizon. Please don't let this descend into cheap snipes along the lines of 'Mine's better than your's' or rants about lack of availability.

Anyway, my question is how much of your business is now taken up with these new services as opposed to what we had previously ie liquid and powder or the standard gels? As most people eventually become NNO clients anyway, once they've had a few treatments, are they being swayed towards shellac/gelish/geleration en masse or not? In percentage terms, what's the current divide for you?

I am not a working tech and only do a very few family and friends, in order to keep my practising up and not lose the skills I've gradually acquired, but they all love shellac for the speed, ease and durability of it. I am going to attempt a severe nail biter friend next week in readiness for a wedding she's almost ashamed to attend due to the state of her digits and find myself quite looking forward to getting my liquid and powder out again! :lol:

Becoming a truly competent nail tech is hard won, as we all know. Are you afraid of those skills going a tad 'Rusty' due to the demands for the aforementioned new services or are you still getting plenty of call for them? Personally, I love the ease and speed of shellac <especially on myself>, but I also miss the creativity and skill needed to produce a decent set of l&p.

So, have these new products revolutionised/taken over your working world?

 

[SColborn]

The Shellac polish has taken over a lot of my business as clients love it. Even the hardest critics with my clients and the ones who love changing their polish all the time. They still can if they paint over it with regular polish. I am an esthetician who does natural nails only as well as waxing, facials etc, etc. Now I do way more manicures. But the base coat issues are driving me insane and cause me to spend my life going to my local suppliers looking for more or spending all my free time on the computer searching for it. Plus when I do get it is a crappy ususable bottle 75% of the time.

I am making more money because of it now but am getting gray hair and stressed in the process. I have also started having to work longer hours to get everyone done but I only want to work part time as I have kids and another business as well that needs my time. So more aspirin is consumed by me lately. A love hate relationship.

I have ordered another line to try to see if it will help my supply issues but it is not a local product for me and is hard to get it shipped to Canada. None the less the new polishes have changed my 29 year old career. Sorry for the italics as I can't figure out how to change it.

 

[shedunlop]

Yes Gelish has changed my business in the respect that some of my acrylic clients have moved over to it. Having said that they are the ones who really only needed a little support for their own nails and who love the colour choices.

The big market is in the clients that we don't have at the moment, the ones who do not want enhancements but don't think it is worth paying for polish that won't last long enough with their hectic lives, or the fact that they won't get past the salon door without smudging it! This is the market that is about to boom!

I am earning more money from Gelish and not because I have more clients, I have been full for years now, but because the ones that switch leave me more time to allow some new ones in and I am earning the same money for Gelish - 30 minutes, as I was earning for an infill/rebalance 60 - 90 minutes!

This is the biggest thing to hit the industry in my career of 16 years that's for sure! :green:

 

[annasmum]

Wow you can do Gelish in 30 min? I must be doing something wrong. The bulk of my clients is Gelish or Shellac now. I hardly ever do "normal" manicures now. But try as I might it takes me between 60min to 75min. Any pointers on how to speed it up would be greatly appreciated. The prep takes me about 30 min, i.e. 15-20 min soaking and scraping, CND cuticle remover, cuticle work and client having to wash their hands is another 10 - 15min. Could it be that I am still fairly new to all this? (Only started working in March) Sorry a little off topic.

 

[Bagpuss]

Hasn't taken off here...tried quite a few of my clients and they didn't like it. They are NNO clients and liked the strength that my enhancement gels give them. I didn't have any natural nail clients to offer this to as apposed to enamel and don't have the room for any either, so I use what I have for toes.

I do think it can be regional, see my clients don't "pop in" in their lunch break to get their nails done...they travel here after work or on their day off....its a village (all be it a big one) and there are no offices with staff wanting a quick manicure. I think in a busy city would be far more successful with these services.

 

[Karen Minx]

Wow you can do Gelish in 30 min? I must be doing something wrong. The bulk of my clients is Gelish or Shellac now. I hardly ever do "normal" manicures now. But try as I might it takes me between 60min to 75min. Any pointers on how to speed it up would be greatly appreciated. The prep takes me about 30 min, i.e. 15-20 min soaking and scraping, CND cuticle remover, cuticle work and client having to wash their hands is another 10 - 15min. Could it be that I am still fairly new to all this? (Only started working in March) Sorry a little off topic.

I don't soak ever, i go straight in with Cuticle Away and scrap off cuticle with that. Then i spray with plain water from a bottle. I have even done a Shellac with a dry prep before when time was an issue.
Getting rid of the soaking would save you 20 minutes.

 

[shedunlop]

Wow you can do Gelish in 30 min? I must be doing something wrong. The bulk of my clients is Gelish or Shellac now. I hardly ever do "normal" manicures now. But try as I might it takes me between 60min to 75min. Any pointers on how to speed it up would be greatly appreciated. The prep takes me about 30 min, i.e. 15-20 min soaking and scraping, CND cuticle remover, cuticle work and client having to wash their hands is another 10 - 15min. Could it be that I am still fairly new to all this? (Only started working in March) Sorry a little off topic.

The soak off takes me 10 minutes with heated mitts, fab, no scraping at all. The dry prep only takes around 7 minutes. I don't use cuticle remover at all, just push back and remove dead tissue from nail plate. The application of Ph Bond and the Foundation, 2 Colour coats and Top Coat with curing takes about 10 minutes. I do have the LED lamp so this is what cuts the application time down dramatically, I spend much longer getting the nails ready than I do putting the new product on!

You have to bear in mind I have been doing nails for 16 years, every day except for holidays and sickness so you will speed up with practice, that is what it is all about. You will be giving just as good a treatment, I just do it a bit faster! :green:

 

[Karen Minx]

Sorry i thought you were talking of a mini manicure soak, not a Shellac soak! hehe

 

[Deena]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Anyone else?

 

[geeg]

I timed myself this afternoon and for me to do a Shellac service is 30 minutes .. in fact it is all I allocate for it.

I do a dry prep and apply and that is it with the CND UV lamp in the normal time. If I had a quicker lamp I would be slower than it is! lol

The Shellac base coat only takes 10 seconds to cure anyway and the rest of the coats take 2 minutes meaning a maximum of 12 minutres curing time and you're done.

With a soak off, I allocate 40 minutes but usually beat it by a few. I charge the same for both (even if the client removes at home before the appointment which some do and then I ghet the bonus of selling them a removal kit as well).

I only offer Shellac to natural nail clients and never apply it over enhancements. Doing allot of feet with it as well. For me Polish over enhancements dries super fast and I'm not used to seeing many accidents and it wears really well. We are getting new clients every week asking specifically for Shellac which is way cool!!

 

[annasmum]

Yay just did a Gelish removal and re-application in just over an hour today. Well happy at least it's not my usual 90 min. I suppose practice, practice, practice. Now how do you do your dry prep? The heated mitts sounds good. I usually file the surface, wrap with acetone soaked pads & silver foil. When I finished wrapping the last finger I start scraping but usually have to wrap all again and scrape all one more time. Then file the free edge, cuticle away, send to restroom with liquid soap and re-apply. Suppose spraying with soapy water would help a little.

 

[Karen Minx]

Yay just did a Gelish removal and re-application in just over an hour today. Well happy at least it's not my usual 90 min. I suppose practice, practice, practice. Now how do you do your dry prep? The heated mitts sounds good. I usually file the surface, wrap with acetone soaked pads & silver foil. When I finished wrapping the last finger I start scraping but usually have to wrap all again and scrape all one more time. Then file the free edge, cuticle away, send to restroom with liquid soap and re-apply. Suppose spraying with soapy water would help a little.

Just use plain water in your spray bottle, the use of soapy water is moisturizing to the nail plate.
A dry prep is where you scrape off the cuticle dry. I use a cuticle chisel for this, infact this is all i ever use. A dry prep you skip the soak and cuticle away, just wash and sanitize hands before and scrubfresh after to dehydrate and cleanse.
I am considering doing this to most clients who don't need the use of cuticle away. I don't use cuticle away on my acrylic clients, only the new ones who prob have never had a manicure in a while or in thier entire life! or if they look like they really need it. hth x

 

[shedunlop]

Yay just did a Gelish removal and re-application in just over an hour today. Well happy at least it's not my usual 90 min. I suppose practice, practice, practice. Now how do you do your dry prep? The heated mitts sounds good. I usually file the surface, wrap with acetone soaked pads & silver foil. When I finished wrapping the last finger I start scraping but usually have to wrap all again and scrape all one more time. Then file the free edge, cuticle away, send to restroom with liquid soap and re-apply. Suppose spraying with soapy water would help a little.

I totally agree with Karen and what she has said here. I never use any cuticle remover unless the client has a really bad problem with a lot of tissue on the nail plate.

Well done on bringing up your speed but don't get too carried away and cut corners, the speed will come with time and practice, it is a natural progression, we are not in a race! It has taken me 16 years to get to the speed I am at and I can be slower if my gob gets out of control! :green:

 

[izzidoll]

I do think these products (Gelish/Shellac/Gelerration) have changed the Industry and are the best things , well since the proverbial sliced bread!
It is an exciting time for both technicians and clients alike.

I am glad you have raised the point about how it may change our clientel and some may lose enhancements clients.
To be honest I cannot see that happening, you will always have your diehard enhancement clients that want the length and strength they get with them. I had also had this worry when the likes of Poppits and dual forms were launched thinking some newbie techs would start to rely on them and not hone their application skills...and that hasn't happened.

What these new products are doing is bringing the new client into salons the one who couldn't be bothered faffing about with polish and smudging it, these are the people who will now come in for a professional smudge free treatment!

 

[Deena]

Thanks to everyone on this thread, but especially to those such as Sheila and Izzy, to name but two.

I agree that these new treatments can take some of us longer than we might have initially hoped <although with practise, I do agree timings can come down considerably>, but what I was really interested in was any growing trend away from traditional enhancements in favour of all this truly fab new stuff we've been presented with!!

So, it seems that the likes of shellac etc is drawing in new clients more than swapping existing ones over, then? Yes?

 

[SColborn]

I find since I have been an esthetician for 29 years that I have a good clientele, but now with Shellac my manicure clients are coming in way more often. Years ago a lot would be in once a week but now in this busy world less often usually every 3-4 weeks or only when they had a do to go to. Now they come in every 2 weeks to get a reshellac. So I am busier than ever with my own clientele and have not needed to look for more customers. Some clients may only get their brows done with me or pedicures etc but now they all want Shellac as well. So some times promoting within ones own clientele is all that is needed to have a full book and make more money. :lol:Sheila.

 

[becki x]

I agree with Izzi that there will always be the die hard enhancement clients ........ HOWEVER as i'm getting back into the swing of it i'm finding people want MINX, PopIts and SHELLAC (I currently don't offer this) many even use a gel top coat to avoid buffing. All time saving innovations

Which begs the question,are we becoming lazy,or are we just moving with the times ? And as our lives become more hectic will people opt for services with speed and will the art of building a nail fade into oblivion ????

 

[Martin Duffy]

I haven't offered enhancements for some years, having decided to concentrate on natural nail manicures/pedicures only. Interestingly, although quite a few clients have upscaled their treatments to have GELeration instead of normal polish, the bulk has been new business from those who because of their work/lifestyle thought polish wouldn't last.

 

[totalbirdbrain]

We used to offer Biosculpture years ago and I've had self employed nail techs over the years offering L&P etc but its never been a big part of our business...in fact to be honest even Manicures have never been a big player. I did consider doing a nail tech course to change this.However, since taking on Shellac that has all changed. Shellac has really improved this side of the business for us and I now wouldnt be without it. Our manicure range are now offering something similar but i'm quite happy with the Shellac (although I really hope they can keep up the stocks of the Base and Top Coat at Sweet Squared and I wonder if they will introduce any new colours) and am happy to stay with it. The clients love that they can walk out the door and not worry about their nails and because they have so much confidence in it they are coming back more frequently now than when they were having a traditional manicure.

 

[geeg]

I agree with Izzi that there will always be the die hard enhancement clients ........ HOWEVER as i'm getting back into the swing of it i'm finding people want MINX, PopIts and SHELLAC (I currently don't offer this) many even use a gel top coat to avoid buffing. All time saving innovations

Which begs the question,are we becoming lazy,or are we just moving with the times ? And as our lives become more hectic will people opt for services with speed and will the art of building a nail fade into oblivion ????

Of course there will always be enhancement clients .. many peoples' nails are just not strong enough to not wear them or to have them any length at all without the strength of enhancements.

As for people wanting speedy services ... for some years now it has been proven without a doubt that this is what many want by the proliferation of discount nail bars who offer speed over natural nail health. Many will sacrifice comfort, sanitation, conversation and the health of their nails just as long as they get them done quickly and they stay on. I don't think there can be any question about the fact that many want speed first ... time is the one thing many do not have any more.

It is not a question of laziness that technicians with a conscience would like to be able to compete with the speed of the discount nail bars but not at the expence of beauty and the health of their clients' nails.. If we are provided with the means to do so with integrity then that is not laziness but using your head as a business person.

There are plenty of clients who still have a brain to think with and standards that are high who do not want what the discount nail bars are offering but would still like to spend less time in the salon. We are moving towards that goal more and more with the new options presented to us.

Those who are the 'late adopters' of new technology will be missing out. I would caution that techs who do not move with the times cannot count on client loyalty for ever when others are offering faster services.