Am I the only one disappointed in Gel II?

[GJPN]

I used Gel II for the first time the other day, it was on my sister in law not a paying client luckily. I used Hibis-Kiss Reaction Polish. I had to use 4 coats, is this normal? I wiped the nail with IPA after cuticle work (as I've been advised not to use Scrubfresh) but when I applied the first coat of the polish, it almost seemed to be disappearing straight away from the cuticle and free edge. I kept reapplying but it kept disappearing. I cured and applied a second coat and it was a little better. It wasn't until 4 the coat however that it had full coverage. I didn't buff the nail as I've been advise by another Geek that there is no need to but could this be the reason? My sister in law has not had any gel polish applied before.

I'd appreciate your suggestions and comments.

Thanks x

 

[GJPN]

Sorry, I should also say that I applied on my own nails after and it went on a lot better in the first coat. Though I still had to apply three.

 

[squidgernetball]

My only immediate thoughts are that the nail plate still had some residue on it, maybe it wasn't shaken well enough or maybe she could have done with a lighter colour underneath. Have you looked at the creative beauty group Facebook page? I have picked up a huge amount of tips and tricks on there. One of their file pages suggests colours to use under the reactions which help to reduce shrinkage and also helps build the colour without using all reactions to build the colour as they are more expensive.

It's funny but I put hibis kiss on me and had some shrinkage. I used 3 coats and got a really good finish eventually but the shrinkage means that at my cuticle the gel isn't overly thick. Every cloud!
I have also found that even three or four coats never seems thick and heavy, they still look thin.

I had a client come back to me saying that two of her gel ll glitter had peeled off. I had since read that they are a lot stronger over a colour coat so I replaced the two with a similar colour under and glitter over. She rang today to say the two I had redone are immaculate and stuck fast and the rest have peeled,so she gets a free set.

I think you can sometimes have issues as well if the top coat isn't taken right over the gel. The only time I had chipping or lifting was right on the corners when I had been a bit slapdash (on my daughters nails ) and she then was doing removal and got acetone near them and there was lifting. Mine lasted well over two weeks along with doing clients removals using acetone. The gel ll topcoat is acetone resistant and my nails looked fab and shiny into the third week. I couldn't keep shellac on for more than a few days.

This is all a learning curve. My clients are excited to go on this journey with me and trust me to be honest with them.

Re removal. I did my first one the other day and it was fine.

I do remember in the past seeing geeks on here asking for help with shellac removal that was taking an hour. Mine came off fairly easily. Shellac it ain't but it's pretty straightforward.

I have found the company a pleasure to work with and their Facebook page is a must for all those interested.

Vic x

Sent from my GT-I9195 using SalonGeek mobile app

 

[GJPN]

Thanks for your very helpful response, I will definitely look at investing in colours to wear underneath Reactions x