CND Polishing

[maja88g]

Hi Nail Geeks =),

I have decided to slowly start switching from china glaze(only available in salons in my country) to cnd because of all the rave reviews so...

I purchased two polishes(Creamy cameo & Rasberry parfait), two effects(saphire sparkle & copper shimmer), Stickey base coat , Super Shiney and Air Dry topcoats as a test run and I am having some major issues.

First off the lovely people at cnd said that all thats needed is
std prep,base coat, two THIN coats of colour(awesome!), and top coat.

My problem is that 2 thin coats are not working for me at all,
the finishing looks streaking and patchy in some places especially
visible with the nude and my polish keeps displaying tiny bunches
of bubbles in some places - although the bubbles smooth out when
a top coat is applied.

At first I thought it was a reaction to my prep liquid so I used pure acetone and still got the same issues.

I did NOT shake my bottle but rather rolled it gently from side to side and waited two minutes between each coat. I applied the polish in 3 strokes, side, side and center.

Any ideas as to what I am doing wrong?
Are these perticular polish colours known to have issues with coverage?
If a china glaze polish has good pigmantation I can get away with two thin coats instead of three and have never experience problems like this with a reputable brand before so i'm a bit lost as to what else I can do.

Any ideas as to what I am doing incorrectly?
Thanks

 

[geeg]

Hi Nail Geeks =),

I have decided to slowly start switching from china glaze(only available in salons in my country) to cnd because of all the rave reviews so...

I purchased two polishes(Creamy cameo & Rasberry parfait), two effects(saphire sparkle & copper shimmer), Stickey base coat , Super Shiney and Air Dry topcoats as a test run and I am having some major issues.

First off the lovely people at cnd said that all thats needed is
std prep,base coat, two THIN coats of colour(awesome!), and top coat.

My problem is that 2 thin coats are not working for me at all,
the finishing looks streaking and patchy in some places especially
visible with the nude and my polish keeps displaying tiny bunches
of bubbles in some places - although the bubbles smooth out when
a top coat is applied.

At first I thought it was a reaction to my prep liquid so I used pure acetone and still got the same issues.

I did NOT shake my bottle but rather rolled it gently from side to side and waited two minutes between each coat. I applied the polish in 3 strokes, side, side and center.

Any ideas as to what I am doing wrong?
Are these perticular polish colours known to have issues with coverage?
If a china glaze polish has good pigmantation I can get away with two thin coats instead of three and have never experience problems like this with a reputable brand before so i'm a bit lost as to what else I can do.

Any ideas as to what I am doing incorrectly?
Thanks

Hi there in South Africa.

I think what you may be doing is what so many people do with Shellac .. we say "thin to win" and then they apply it so skinny it gives them incomplete coverage. I think you may be doing the same with Colour & Effects.

Thin does not mean skinny!
Load your brush in the usual way and 'float' on your colour .. too thin and you will drag your colour and create 'patches'. If you find your first coat streaky (which happens with any polish) then your 2nd coat will cover and you can use a little more so that it 'floats' it on.

You need to work quickly and with a very light touch with the brush with CND as its formula dries VERY fast and can dry as you are working if you are not quick.

Different brands require a change of technique on your part; yo will soon get used to the change.

I'd be glad to help if you have any other questions.

 

[maja88g]

Thanks Geeg,

From your reply I understand that I was defiantly applying skinny coats, I was not using the float technique as I normally would because I was trying to make the coat "thinner".

I am a tad confused about the thin definition though, maybe because what I classify as my normal/std coat is already considered/classified as thin?
(I assumed that "cnd thin" meant thinner then the standard manicure coat.)

Going to try a repaint right now, now that I know skinny is bad. =)
Will let you know how it goes?

Thanks again.

 

[geeg]

Thanks Geeg,

From your reply I understand that I was defiantly applying skinny coats, I was not using the float technique as I normally would because I was trying to make the coat "thinner".

I am a tad confused about the thin definition though, maybe because what I classify as my normal/std coat is already considered/classified as thin?
(I assumed that "cnd thin" meant thinner then the standard manicure coat.)

Going to try a repaint right now, now that I know skinny is bad. =)
Will let you know how it goes?

Thanks again.

CND really err on the side of caution with their instructions, as what we have discovered is that so many 'nail technicians' actually do not know how to paint. They ladle on the polish.

You obviously do know how to paint nails :biggrin: so do what you have always done and you will get on much better. Have fun with Colour & Effects. Oh .. and if you ever use Shellac .. do it exactly the same way!

 

[maja88g]

Your advice was spot on!

I uploaded an image of the paint job I just did using your advice =)

They not perfect but once I get used to the brush and formula that should
be sorted.

Thanks again for responding so quickly and
helping me resolve my 'skinny' issues.

 

[Studiosparkle]

Fab job, Maja! Nice polish. This is issue has been my problem as well, Geeg. Thank you from me too. I will give it a go tonight. :Love:

 

[nicole333]

Oh they are lovely! What colour is that, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[twid]

Looks like a pretty perfect paint job to me Maja88g, lovely colour too - well done

Karaxxx

 

[maja88g]

Thanks guys =)

@Studiosparkle - Good luck, works fab when you float it.
@nicole333 - Its Rasberry parfait by CND (The colour is a bit more intense and vibrant then the picture could capture though.)
@twid - Thanks, but still trying to achieve a the 'perfect' curve line, lol may take a while...

 

[geeg]

Your advice was spot on!

I uploaded an image of the paint job I just did using your advice =)

They not perfect but once I get used to the brush and formula that should
be sorted.

Thanks again for responding so quickly and
helping me resolve my 'skinny' issues.

Beautiful job hunni!! Perfect. So glad I have helped with the 'skinny' thing!! lol
You are a beautiful polisher. Now get out there and be a beautiful Shellacker! xx

Oh!!! AND another thing. The Brush! Very special but as you have most likely discovered .. only works two ways. The right way and then turn 180º to work the other right way. Why? because the bristles of the brush are triangular and work like this ....

So two ways are correct and flat and smooth and perfect and if you use it the wrong way the brush will feel like a stick .. and the shape of the bristles is why. Perhaps you have noticed that??

Knowledge is POWER

 

[maja88g]

Morning guys =)

Hi Geeg, I did notice that if you don't use the two flat sides, it does become rather stiff. Although I had no idea that the bristles where triangular! I just thought that the stiff side was actually quite useful for capping the nail lol, my bad... :o

I did stumble onto another mistake I must be making this weekend though.
Because I decided to do a test comparing the Air Dry & Shiney top coat, to see which one I should make my go-to top coat.

With Air Dry all my nail applications came out absolutely smooth and shiney.

With Super Shiney, although the application was smooth when applied in a few minutes tiny bubbles started to appear. At first as it is not a fast dry topcoat, I thought it was something I had done incorrectly before that was pushing air bubbles to the surface. So I tried a different slow dry topcoat but no bubbles.
=(

The bottle did have a few bubbles around and on the brush due to handbag transportation, but I let the bottle 'rest' for 24h, and by the time I was using it there where no visible bubbles in the bottle or on brush.

Any idea's as to what I am doing incorrectly?

Thanks

 

[geeg]

Morning guys =)

Hi Geeg, I did notice that if you don't use the two flat sides, it does become rather stiff. Although I had no idea that the bristles where triangular! I just thought that the stiff side was actually quite useful for capping the nail lol, my bad... :o

I did stumble onto another mistake I must be making this weekend though.
Because I decided to do a test comparing the Air Dry & Shiney top coat, to see which one I should make my go-to top coat.

With Air Dry all my nail applications came out absolutely smooth and shiney.

With Super Shiney, although the application was smooth when applied in a few minutes tiny bubbles started to appear. At first as it is not a fast dry topcoat, I thought it was something I had done incorrectly before that was pushing air bubbles to the surface. So I tried a different slow dry topcoat but no bubbles.
=(

The bottle did have a few bubbles around and on the brush due to handbag transportation, but I let the bottle 'rest' for 24h, and by the time I was using it there where no visible bubbles in the bottle or on brush.

Any idea's as to what I am doing incorrectly?

Thanks

I don't think you are doing anything incorrectly ... 2 coats of Super Shiney will give you the smooth shiny effect you want. The first coat sort of clings to the polish and can give a slightly grainy effect as it shrinks and dries. AirDry is much thicker than SS and does the work of 2 coats. I don't think it is air bubbles you are seeing but rather the shrink effect.

Over months of using it, SS will go thicker and in fact look more like Air Dry after one coat. I love Air Dry. I also. Love Lumos top n bottom coat, and tend to use it for all manicure clients who want normal polish ... We very rarely see smudges anymore.

 

[maja88g]

Thanks Geeg,

Asked one client if the 'bubbles' where still visible, she said yes.
So I decided to try on one of my nails to see if its just 'slightly grainy'
and required a second layer of topcoat - as per your suggestion.

Although I do see the slight grainy texture that you referred to
I am also getting bubbles(kinda look like boils ). The graininess
clears up with the second coat, exactly as you said it would.

But the bubbles still remain... Any ideas what I may be doing wrong?

Thanks

 

[maja88g]

Thought I'd post a pic just to show exactly what I mean:

Hope it helps.
Thanks

 

[geeg]

Now you've got me ...

unless you are shaking the bottle instead of rolling it between your palms?
I'm assuming you do not shake, which does add millions of tiny air bubbles to polish which can later re-surface like little boils?

I wonder why they are in a little patch instead of all over?

 

[maja88g]

Tell me about it, defiantly not shaking the bottle, but as I mentioned earlier it did spend time in a handbag for about 45min?

I did let the polish rest for 24h after transportation and before use though, and there are no bubble visisble to the naked eye...

I was thinking about what you said "little patch instead of all over", and it seems to be where I place the first stroke of Shiney.

Maybe a tad to much product? Although if I put less on I am going to have to double dip. Or i'm not floating enough - but in this case wouldnt it happen with the colour and effects as well? So confused, did another test with Air Dry(fast)/Essie(slow) - perfectly smooth

Is it possible for minute bubbles to be stuck inbetween the triangular brissles? (not likely I know, just a thought looking at your diagram)

Is there a sure-fire way to remove bubbles from the polish?

Thanks

 

[geeg]

Tell me about it, defiantly not shaking the bottle, but as I mentioned earlier it did spend time in a handbag for about 45min?

I did let the polish rest for 24h after transportation and before use though, and there are no bubble visisble to the naked eye...

I was thinking about what you said "little patch instead of all over", and it seems to be where I place the first stroke of Shiney.

Maybe a tad to much product? Although if I put less on I am going to have to double dip. Or i'm not floating enough - but in this case wouldnt it happen with the colour and effects as well? So confused, did another test with Air Dry(fast)/Essie(slow) - perfectly smooth

Is it possible for minute bubbles to be stuck inbetween the triangular brissles? (not likely I know, just a thought looking at your diagram)

Is there a sure-fire way to remove bubbles from the polish?

The brushes are awesome and I don't think they are the problem; if they were contributing then we would all be seeing the problem and I have never seen it.

Very odd, but if you are not seeing bubbles with Air Dry then I would say simple solution to that one is to use - Air Dry!

You can dip the pad of your middle finger in a tiny bit of polish remover and stroke very quickly once or twice (no more) over the area where you see the bubbles. Then either add one more coat of color and then top coat or just top coat .. which ever will give the best result.


I am interested to know the results of your research re the bubbles if you track down the reason. :hug:

 

[maja88g]

That's what I have been doing, Air Dry works beautifully. As for:
"tiny bit of polish remover and stroke very quickly once or twice"
works a treat. =)

Once again thanks for all your help and time that you have put in answering my questions. :hug:

Will defiantly let you know once I figure the bubble issue out.

Thanks =)

 

[geeg]

More than happy to be of help. I wish I could sove it for you but I'm stumped with out actually seeing it happen! Good luck.