Clients saying Shellac has ruined their nails

[The peach]

Hi I currently work in hairdressers doing reception, nails and brows. There is also another receptionist giving me the chance to build up the beauty side. I use Shellac which many hair clients have heard of but I am getting so many clients saying they have had Shellac in the past at other salons not by me and it has ruined their nails. I had two clients yesterday saying after having it professionaly removed there nails were in a terrible state. One client said she didn't have this problem with opi gel. I asked it they had used solar oil etc one had one had not. I am finding it so difficult to get new nail clients. I was even considering concentrating on just manicures as I am fed up hearing how Shellac has destroyed their nails! I feel I am constantly defending Shellac.

All advice welcome thanks.

 

[pure]

Unfortunately one by product of the superb marketing CND have done is that many clients now use the term shellac to refer to any and all gel polishes so the chances are they haven't actually had genuine Shellac using correct CND procedures. All you can do is use the opportunity to educate them.

 

[steph31]

Totally agree. Had two ladies come in saying shellac ruined their nails. You know the daisy shellac that comes in black bottles...no me neither!

Sent from my GT-I9505 using SalonGeek mobile app

 

[OASISnails]

Unfortunately one by product of the superb marketing CND have done is that many clients now use the term shellac to refer to any and all gel polishes so the chances are they haven't actually had genuine Shellac using correct CND procedures. All you can do is use the opportunity to educate them.

It's made even harder as I've heard many other techs referring to their chosen UV polish as Shellac too, so frustrating when there's all that misinformation being fed to our potential clients. It's great when you do educate a new client though as they will be totally trusting and loyal once they know you're a true professional.

 

[tiptops]

Totally agree. Had two ladies come in saying shellac ruined their nails. You know the daisy shellac that comes in black bottles...no me neither!

Sent from my GT-I9505 using SalonGeek mobile app

It took me 2 hours to get daisy gel off a client once! Never again! X

 

[sarahpoppy24]

Educate them! Tell them about what shellac is what it does (what solar oil does etc) and unfortunately nowadays we have to educate them about fake shellac (before shellac all we had to do was tell clients about the NSS) now we have to also warn about counterfeit goods :/. Annoying but it does show knowledge of the industry and make them think again. Another thing I do is leave my nails bare for a few days between replacing my shallac or gelish. My clients get to see and feel my naked nails and I can tell them I ware product all the time, they know as they see me with it on. Hope this helps xxx

 

[blossom]

Totally agree. I've been doing (real) Shellac ages and I haven't ruined anybody's nails.

The subject of "alternative" Shellac often comes up though and I like to say that a lot of nail salons using cheap/fake Shellac just call it Shellac, a bit like we often call all vacuum cleaners a Hoover, regardless of make, and it gets the point across really well. x

 

[char1112]

This is one reason I'm actually glad that I don't use Shellac, they've done so well advertising that EVERYONE is calling any gel product Shellac.

I do explain to clients who've told me that Shellac has ruined their nails that the products used aren't always shellac and that it's more to do with the tech putting the product on that ruins it (through buffing and bad application etc). But this doesn't always work and arguing a point with a client just doesn't float my boat, I use Gelish so if I can't get the point across I mention that I don't use Shellac anyway, some people can't be told xx

 

[glamourboutique]

It's aweful an feel your frustration I had a lady approach me at my day job to tell me her nails were ruined (another salon) I asked what was in her nails she advised me it was shellac. The colour was grot bag green no way was that shellac is told her that's not a shellac colour she was adamant it was apparently it's in a black bottle. I rest my case lol x

 

[The peach]

Thanks for all the responses! Yes just need to educate them more. I am sure some are not getting the product removed correctly. I also know of local salons that buff the natural nail a lot before applying Shellac.

I was also thinking of introducing vinylux us or similar for another option for clients. Have you found this popular?

 

[blossom]

Don't use it myself but have read on here that a lot of geeks find it takes like ten minutes to remove Vinylux and you have to scrub like mad.

But its nice that it comes in a lot of the same colours as Shellac

 

[greenreader29]

Love , VL it's easily removed if you use certain steps to remove. I never have issues if you remove it within 2 weeks any longer and it gets a little harder to get off. Soak a pad and let sit on nail then rub off. I use shellac method of removal if it's been over 2 weeks. I also tell all my clients solar oil daily

 

[Laurensbeauty]

More than likely not using genuine CND shellac, I do shellac myself and only use cnd products I went Into my competing nail salon about 10 minutes away to have a shellac mani, she used UV builder gel as a base coat, a normal nail polish left it to dry then a uv top coat it lasted about half a hour as the nail polish was still wet, I didn't pay 😂 I just watched her I asked where she trained and she said her boss taught her hmmmm

 

[blossom]

How come you didnt pay ?

 

[Laurensbeauty]

How come you didnt pay ?

because I knew the service was done wrong and they was charging £20 I told the manager and I shown her myself that it hadn't set under the UV lamp she said it was a special shellac just for acrylic nails..., there was so many girls in there for cnd shellac that was advertised in the window yet not a bottle of it in sight

 

[NancySyd]

I hear this all the time and it is so very frustrating. Since using gel polishes, my nails have grown and look great. I get compliments on them now (unheard of five years ago!). When I say they're Shellac or gel nails I often get a face and "I tried them and they ruined my nails." The DIYers usually blame themselves, but those who've gone to professionals blame the product.

I usually ask a few questions and inevitably find one or more of the following: 1) it wasn't CND Shellac or any of the legit brands, 2) they buffed/filed/etched the nails before applying (each time!), 3) they removed the gel by soaking in a bowl of acetone and scraping the nails 4) no Solar or other oil or aftercare was explained to them.
I usually explain the problem and refer them to one of the techs I work with, but most of the time, they're already so down on the product that it doesn't matter.

I don't get it. Shellac/gel polish is one of the best things to happen in the nail industry in a long time, so why are we ruining it?

 

[Lynniewinnie]

The term 'Shellac' is a word meaning high gloss varnish so it's not exclusive to CND although we know their product is probably the best out there. It's easy to see why customers get confused as anyone can call their product shellac.

I also believe that techs buy their products online and don't check authenticity. There was a programme on recently ( Fake Britain) that mentioned fake CND and how it was ruining people's nails. It's all over eBay and amazon :sad:

I have used a copy (Bluesky) to see what it was like and it did a good job but it' s a pain to remove so I would not use this in a salon. However with patience I have removed it with no resulting damage to my nails.

 

[NancySyd]

The term 'Shellac' is a word meaning high gloss varnish so it's not exclusive to CND although we know their product is probably the best out there. It's easy to see why customers get confused as anyone can call their product shellac.

Actually, no. shellac (small s) is a specific type of furniture varnish made from the resin secreted by the female lac bug. Shellac (capital S) is a product name trademarked by CND. Anyone can't call their produce Shellac - it's a trademark violation. That's why BS and others had to remove it from their bottles.

 

[MrsSlim]

I have some clients come for other treatments that I offer such as waxing, Makeup..
They see my CND Shellac rack on the wall and say 'oh I had that shellac stuff before it ruined my nails'

Once I go through my process of asking them questions.. Was it CND Shellac? Did it look like this bottle? Did you get them removed properly? They either say no or I'm not sure.
I then explain the process of CND Shellac, show them my own nails which have had Shellac on without hardly any breaks for over three years and are in great condition.

All my sceptics are now addicted to CND Shellac! It's all about educating your clients. Xx