Can shellac just peel off?

SalonGeek

Help Support SalonGeek:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Karen Minx

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2008
Messages
1,516
Reaction score
35
Location
Wiltshire
I did the boss of the salon's nails in shellac last friday using ice capichino sp?? lol, and as soon has i did it, i didn't like it very much neither did she has its a frosted colour i struggled to get a nice finish to it. I said i would soak it off this week and redo in another colour.

Got to the salon today and she has no shellac left on her nails and she claims she just picked at the edges and it peeled right off! :eek: deliberatly because she didn't like the colour. So i was shocked at first then thought has i struggled to get the application right i must of applied it far too thickly hence the peeling. Then i spoke to the junior about it and she 'what? she did have her nails done then?' i said yes and she said 'i asked her if she had them shellaced and she lied and said no she didn't. she said 'when do i ever have time to have my nails because im always too busy'

Now i don't know what to believe. Did i apply it too thickly? I checked my bottle of acetone to see if any had been used over the weekend (i topped the bottle up at the end of my day on saturday) and none had been used but the junior said she does have acetone at home so it is a possibilty.
 
intruiging...... I honestly don't know, not being a Shellacker yet, but i'm going to follow this post to see whats said....
 
I would say yes it would peel off under these circumstances. I have peeled one off, but it took effort.

If she did the same to varnish then it would probably peel off too so we need to look at Shellac as a varnish plus and not an enhancement product.

Shellac is a fabulous product when used for what it is intended - an improvement on standard nail colour - it is not an enhancement product and will behave much more like polish and not an enhancement.

I dont understand why people are not getting this!
 
She admitted that it peeled just like a nail polish so a polish does just peel off her. I told her not to go telling clients that it peeled because i dont want to encourage them to try it. Im not sure if it could cause any damage.

Is is a possibilty i could of applied it too thickly and what would you do/say if a client came back complaining of this?

Sorry for all the questions :D
 
If it was too thick then it is more likely to peel, equally if you dont cap the free edge, then a loose edge could catch and flip.

Not all products are suitable for all clients - if you have a client who will worry her nails to death then nothing will stay on and this is not your fault.

This lady has admitted that she picked and then pulled it off - how is this your fault - it isnt - it is hers!
 
I can't begin to guess what is going on with your boss but I have found it almost impossible to 'peel' off Shellac! I saw someone last week who had made a very concerted effort to peel it and she couldn't get all of it off and there was evidence of damage on her nails.

It must be applied thinly and following the instructions!
 
If it was too thick then it is more likely to peel, equally if you dont cap the free edge, then a loose edge could catch and flip.

Not all products are suitable for all clients - if you have a client who will worry her nails to death then nothing will stay on and this is not your fault.

This lady has admitted that she picked and then pulled it off - how is this your fault - it isnt - it is hers!
No she isn't blaming me, she did it deliberatly to get it off because she didn't like the colour and wants me to do it again this week in clear instead. I was a bit annoyed with that too because i said i not to worry she did not like the colour, i wasn't happy with it also, not the colour, just the application of it (still need practice with these frosted shades) and that i would soak it off this week so i could practice the soaking off bit (im dying to try this out) :biggrin:
 
I can't begin to guess what is going on with your boss but I have found it almost impossible to 'peel' off Shellac! I saw someone last week who had made a very concerted effort to peel it and she couldn't get all of it off and there was evidence of damage on her nails.

It must be applied thinly and following the instructions!
I bought my shellac bits and pieces seperate just 4 colours has i could'nt afford the salon kit this month and i didn't receive any instructions with it.
 
I have to say I peeled off the Shellac I did at The Event when we were playing. My free edge was practically non existent so couldn't really 'cap' the edge. Then used scrubfresh when I got home so that 'helped' with the lifting so no nat nail damage. But it was MY FAULT :o

Done lots of clients since and not had any problems. I even have one client texting me every day to say they still look amazing :D
 
I bought my shellac bits and pieces seperate just 4 colours has i could'nt afford the salon kit this month and i didn't receive any instructions with it.

Poor you! I bet you can't wait.

Are you using the correct lamp? That really is important. Have a look at the video that is on the CND site.
 
Just a thought...you are using the correct Shellac base and top coat? :D

As Marian said it must be applied in 4 thin layers (1 base, 2 colour and 1 top coat) and it should be used with the correct lamp.

I had to take my shellac off last night and there was no way I could just peel it off, I had to soak it.

Your boss sounds like a nightmare client!!! :eek:

Good luck hun :hug:
 
If you have painted Shellac on correctly then there is no way a client should be able to find an edge to pick at ... If they can, then you have not done the job right and applied it too thick.

THIN TO WIN ... Remember that!
 
Last edited:
Poor you! I bet you can't wait.

Are you using the correct lamp? That really is important. Have a look at the video that is on the CND site.
Yes im using the correct lamp. I fell lucky last year when my nail tech decided to close her shop to go mobile and she had a clear out before closing and came across the CND Brisa kit from the course she had done. She trained in the Brisa but then decided she didn't like doing gels so stuck to L&P instead. So she sold it to me at a bargin price knowing i was training with CND at the time. Although i dont do gels yet and the products would have gone off, the lamp came useful for uv gloss over my own acrylics.
 
Just a thought...you are using the correct Shellac base and top coat? :D

As Marian said it must be applied in 4 thin layers (1 base, 2 colour and 1 top coat) and it should be used with the correct lamp.

I had to take my shellac off last night and there was no way I could just peel it off, I had to soak it.

Your boss sounds like a nightmare client!!! :eek:

Good luck hun :hug:
Yes i bought 4 colours, base coat, top coat, desperse, desolve & wraps :D
Has mentioned above, i already have the CND Brisa lamp.
I did cuticle work and nail tidy, scrub fresh, 1 base curing for 10 secs, 1 colour curing for 2 mins, same colour curing for 2 mins, then top coat curing for 2 mins, then deperse.
Has mentioned before, i do think it was way too thick. I just couldn't seem to get a nice finish with the frosted shade!
Looking at my nails, in hot chillis :D it doesn't look like i could just peel it off (not that i want to even try it, i love them too much!) and i also did the juniors nails the same day over acrylics in fedora and hers is fine also.
 
We have had a few problems with it (have spoke to Kay today) shellac peels with heat..!!! One of my girls has it on and she had quite a few minx toes in last week & it just peeled away.....so be careful. We also tested it on a hairdresser and they don't like straighteners much either, & she peeled them off too! So I am now giving aftercare advice too to cover ourselves. I also have a Client coming back tomorrow who said hers had peeled too, Not to sure if it had just been applied too thick. I will let you know tomorrow.
Just to let you know I have had mine on since last tuesday and they are perfect except one finger, which is the finger my file hits when I do enhancements, so they do last as I am using scrubfresh all day long and nail polish remover. Basically some clients like to pick and mess about with their nails and if they are pickers then my new motto is, we will shellac but if you pick not our problem!!!!
 
The bottles of colour need a very good shake as the pigment settles. Not just the usual roll as with polish. I wonder if that was why you had trouble with a good finish?
 
My mum has the matt colour on and hers are not as shiney as mine, I have tutti on and they are really shiney still after a week. She wants hers removed andmy colour on now so it might be just that one colour.

I did also peel shellac off my toes in the bath the other night, I did put it on too thick but the thing your saying about heat might be true as my water was hot but again it could have been because it was applied too thick.
 
My mum has the matt colour on and hers are not as shiney as mine, I have tutti on and they are really shiney still after a week. She wants hers removed andmy colour on now so it might be just that one colour.

I did also peel shellac off my toes in the bath the other night, I did put it on too thick but the thing your saying about heat might be true as my water was hot but again it could have been because it was applied too thick.

There are no matte colours in the Shellac range. Every bottle needs shaking hard before application as Marian has said. Do NOT just roll the bottles but give them a good old shake (including the Top and Base coat) EVERY time.

Can't say it enough .. PAINT THIN!! You shouldn't be trying to build Shellac up on the nails.

As for some of the comments re peeling with heat etc .. I have been wearing Shellac for months, not just a week or so ... so don't make snap decisions ... I Minx nails and I wash up for ENGLAND and scrub pans and do all the stuff everyone else does and more and have never had a hint of peeling from Shellac, in fact, no change in appearance from day one to day 14 other than a good deal of regrowth showing at the eponychium.
 
Can't say it enough .. PAINT THIN!! You shouldn't be trying to build Shellac up on the nails.

As for some of the comments re peeling with heat etc .. I have been wearing Shellac for months, not just a week or so ... so don't make snap decisions ... I Minx nails and I wash up for ENGLAND and scrub pans and do all the stuff everyone else does and more and have never had a hint of peeling from Shellac, in fact, no change in appearance from day one to day 14 other than a good deal of regrowth showing at the eponychium.

I do agree with you as mine are fine (did my own in the dark, long story!!!) and I did do a major clean on the house this weekend without gloves to sometimes......I know tut tut!!! But they survived, I just think I polish perfectly.....hahaha!!

But I dont understand why Claires (staff who minxed lots) have peeled, she has fadora on. I am now thinking its my other employee applying to thick......I will go in the salon now and investigate. :(:(

Thanks Gigi.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I do agree with you as mine are fine (did my own in the dark, long story!!!) and I did do a major clean on the house this weekend without gloves to sometimes......I know tut tut!!! But they survived, I just think I polish perfectly.....hahaha!!

But I dont understand why Claires (staff who minxed lots) have peeled, she has fadora on. I am now thinking its my other employee applying to thick......I will go in the salon now and investigate. :(:(

Thanks Gigi.

You must be a perfect polisher like me!! lol

Seriously ... over 50% of the people I have watched so far applying Shellac AND many of the photos I have viewed show that the techs are ladling Shellac on and applying to thick.

The problem is that thick is how most technicians polish normally and they don't think it is wrong!! They have to be taught how to polish.

Interesting that at the recent EVENT I had over 150 professional nail techs sign up to attend the Perfect Polishing class given by myself and the queen of polishers Marian Newman. I don't think it was just to see our pretty faces!!! Many nail techs have never been taught how to polish and even most of their chipping problems with ordinary polish is probably down to applying too thick an application!!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top