CND Shellac advice needed

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SuzieL84

Suzanne Humphray Skin & Beauty
Joined
Dec 12, 2018
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Hi everyone
I am looking for some words of encouragement & advice I guess....
I completed the CND Shellac conversion course last week which I thoroughly enjoyed & I came away feeling so positive & excited. I invested in the course because I wasn’t happy with the preparation when using gel polish on clients, I really wanted a system that doesn’t involve buffing over the nail plate.
However, the 3 sets that I have done (luckily on friends) since the course have all peeled off & chipped within 2-3 days. I got in touch with one of the CND educators who gave me some ideas on what the problem might be, and I literally spent 2 hours applying the third set making sure that I was thorough in everything. Only for one of them to chip the very next day.
I am feeling so disheartened & upset. I spent so much money investing in the system because it promised 14 days wear with no nail damage. And now I don’t even want to book clients in because I’m worried about how it will last. And if it isn’t the product (which I don’t think it is) then it must be me, but I don’t know what else to do because I have been doing exactly what I was taught on the course.
Any help, advice, tips, encouragement would be greatly appreciated! Thank you
Suzanne x
 
Hi, don't be down, teething problems are not unusual, CND training and products are some of the best so it will be OK.

Can you confirm you are using the CND lamp? And full system?

Are you charging for the nails you are doing? My CND tutor taught me earky on 'something for free has no value' - in other words if your clients are getting nails done for free they won't take care of them because they didn't spend their hard earned money on them. Not all issues are down to the tech, some clients are naughty...who knew!!!

Also give us some specifics about the damage....all fingers? At free edge or cuticle? Peeling from where...free edge or cuticle? Peeling is usually insufficient cure, maybe it's finger placement.
 
Thank you so much for your response Trinity. I purchased the CND Love Shellac kit from SweetSquared, this included the CND LED Lamp along with 12 Shellac colours, 1 base coat, 3 top coats & all of the other required products. The first set I did was on a friend, it was during the course because she attended as my model. One of her nails chipped after a couple of days, but she did say that she had been using enamel remover to remove the polish on her toe nails, without gloves. The next day one of the nails peeled away completely from the free edge. And then another two fingers did the same the next day. The friend did confirm that she had constantly had her hands in water because she has two poorly dogs that she had been constantly bathing.

But then another friend who I did the evening of the course had chipping at the free edge after a couple of days. She told me she hadn’t done any cleaning or housework.

I then did another set on a client & took great care when capping the free edge, as I thought this was the problem initially, she was thrilled with them but one chipped the very next day.

The first two I didn’t charge because they were model on the course & then a friend who I wanted to do another practise on whilst the course was still fresh in my mind. The third was a client so they did pay but I have offered to repair the chipped one?

I will try to upload some photos. The peeling has all been from the free edge.
 

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OK, well we've ruled out the most obvious issue which is incorrect lamp :)

From the photos I'd say the black polish is client misuse - it's right hand forefinger and thumb, those are the fingers we use most for everything, opening bottles, phone covers, picking money out of purses, etc. Those specific placement of chips are very common on those wearing Pandora bracelets, check her left wrists for jewellery. I swear those sodding Pandora's will be the death of me. It could also be a metal watch clasp, etc. so just check what she wears. Also those type of thumb chips often come from opening shampoo/conditioner bottle tops, whilst clients are in the shower the nails are wet and flexible, add that to a slightly stubbon cap and its a disaster waiting to happen.

The paler ones I can't offer any specific possibilities, if she's a lefty, then it could be similar issues.

Hand placement in the CND lamp can be an issue, when it was first released many of us 'oldies' started having issues, now I have a 'beginner hand placement' lesson with all my clients. Make sure they are correctly placed in the lamp, not too far forward or back, and fingers in the dents provided. Even my regulars need reminding how to place their fingers, intially I hated the hole at the back of the lamp, now I find it a godsend as I can check they are in the right place and poke them in the place with my orange wood stick if necessary. You'd be surprised how overthinking hand placement can cause problems too. There is no rush to get them in the lamp, take your time and theirs to get it right before switching on the light. I used to start the light immediately I'd finished application this made the client feel rushed and they'd get it wrong. Now I let them get their hands in then hit the button.

Capping the free edge can be a double edged sword, yes it needs doing to complete the application but too much product at the free edge can make the nail 'bloated', too thick and heavy, this can also lead to chipping. It's a fine balance that to be honest comes with time and practise. There are days when I can spend what feels like an eternity getting my application right and clients come back with issues, and other days when I feel like I've just chucked the product on and they'll go 3/4 weeks with no issues. I think it's in my head a lot of the time.

Just keep in mind that you know you are training and that this is a difficult skill to master, clients don't get it, in honestly they don't much care either. They just see you painting some polish on and it looks easy so they don't take care of your work, especially those in training.

Give yourself a break, take a deep breath and go again, but also remember that the second your client walks away from your desk you have absolutely no control over what they do with their hands, the lady with the poorly dogs and cleaning is an example. How can you be responsible for that type of damage when clearly it's down to her. I know the first instinct is to take the blame, and clients will let you, but think about it clearly and unemotionally....is it you? or is it more likely her???
 
Thank you for your helpful advice & encouragement, it is greatly appreciated! I have just complete another set & this time I used the NailFresh dehydrator before ScrubFresh, as advised by the CND educator. I also ensured that I was thorough when deactivating the CuticleAway. I was extremely clear when explaining that Shellac is more of a long wear nail polish rather than a gel & that it therefore needs caring for when leaving the salon. I advised my client to apply the SolarOil twice a day every day, wear gloves when cleaning & washing dishes etc, and to care for the nails by being extra careful rather than using them as tools.
 
Thank you for your helpful advice & encouragement, it is greatly appreciated! I have just complete another set & this time I used the NailFresh dehydrator before ScrubFresh, as advised by the CND educator. I also ensured that I was thorough when deactivating the CuticleAway. I was extremely clear when explaining that Shellac is more of a long wear nail polish rather than a gel & that it therefore needs caring for when leaving the salon. I advised my client to apply the SolarOil twice a day every day, wear gloves when cleaning & washing dishes etc, and to care for the nails by being extra careful rather than using them as tools.

Sounds about perfect to me, well done. Don't become reliant on the NailFresh, it's really only for problem clients and will dehydrate the whole nail so if it's free edge chipping that is the issue it's not down to application on the bulk of the nail. If it was peeling off the nail from the cuticle area then I would suggest incorrect removal of CuticleAway and NailFresh are absolutely your go to solutions, but it's not peeling, it's chipping - different issues.

I'm actually interested that CuticleAway is recommended again for PEP - when I did my CND Shellac training (about 3 weeks after first launch) it was suggested, a few months after 'a dry PEP' was recommended, then it went back and forth for a while between the two. In truth now I do a dry PEP unless it's a newbie client with seriously over grown cuticles. Adding the 'wet steps' such as CuticleAway and soapy water to remove just added another possibility of service breakdown to me as wet nails are swollen nails, no matter how little liquid you use. Anyway, I digress, well done on getting back on the horse and lets see how it goes, keep us updated.
 
Yes the educator advised to use the CuticleAway during the PEP. Although, she did say for clients with particularly oily nails that dry PEP would be beneficial & also to speed up service time for those regular clients who do not have excessive cuticle growth.

I have just watched a video on the CND website demonstrating my lamp, just to give myself a refresher. And I feel extremely silly admitting to this but.......I noticed the preset button 3 on the video & thought to myself “hmm, I haven’t used that button yet, I can’t remember what it’s for”!!

Preset button 3 is for top coats?????
 
I’ve used CND Shellac for many years and if someone has weak bendy nails it tends to chip esp on the fingers that get most use doing things.
Also look out for edges of fingers/thumbs which are used for putting PIN numbers into machines in shops and also thumb edges which are repetitively used for the car key to open it. Those two issues I find weak nailed people specially have trouble with. But it takes a tidy bit of detective work to worm it out of them sometimes [emoji6]
 
Yes the educator advised to use the CuticleAway during the PEP. Although, she did say for clients with particularly oily nails that dry PEP would be beneficial & also to speed up service time for those regular clients who do not have excessive cuticle growth.

I have just watched a video on the CND website demonstrating my lamp, just to give myself a refresher. And I feel extremely silly admitting to this but.......I noticed the preset button 3 on the video & thought to myself “hmm, I haven’t used that button yet, I can’t remember what it’s for”!!

Preset button 3 is for top coats?????

Yes, 1 = base coat - 10s cure flash for the first 5 seconds to minimise heatspike
2S & SB = Shellac and Brisa
3 = topcoat - flashes for the first 10 seconds to minimise heatspike/exothermic reaction
 
Ok so I’m so embarrassed to say this but I have been using preset button 2S for both colour & top coat ‍♀️ And all the time wondering what preset button 3 is for! Please let this have been the problem. And apologies for being so dozy, I have no idea why I have been doing this! I will let you know how I get on with the correct buttons. Thank you all for your help & advice. Love Suzanne x
 
Ok so I’m so embarrassed to say this but I have been using preset button 2S for both colour & top coat ‍♀️ And all the time wondering what preset button 3 is for! Please let this have been the problem. And apologies for being so dozy, I have no idea why I have been doing this! I will let you know how I get on with the correct buttons. Thank you all for your help & advice. Love Suzanne x

It won't make any difference to the cure of the product, it's more for the comfort of the client, topcoat is a slightly thicker viscosity and should be applied slightly thicker than the colour coats and that can cause an exothermic reaction (heat spike) the flashing of the light for the first 10 seconds helps eliminate the risk of the spike
 
Ok so I’m so embarrassed to say this but I have been using preset button 2S for both colour & top coat ‍♀️ And all the time wondering what preset button 3 is for! Please let this have been the problem. And apologies for being so dozy, I have no idea why I have been doing this! I will let you know how I get on with the correct buttons. Thank you all for your help & advice. Love Suzanne x

Also, and this is not a criticism, this is why we always say to Geeks go back to your course notes to check what you were taught and that you have understood the steps. There is so much information to take in on the course it's easy to get distracted by something and miss the next step/information/detail - when you go back and revisit the course notes you'll soon see what you've missed. Well done on watching the video and realising your mistake. Easily rectified now and you'll never do it again :eek::p:D
 
Fabulous advice! Thank you :)
 
Also, so do you think that me using the 2S button to cure the top coat hasn’t contributed to the chipping/peeling? X
 
Also, so do you think that me using the 2S button to cure the top coat hasn’t contributed to the chipping/peeling? X

Nope, it's the same amount of time, as I said ealier, it just flashes for the first 10seconds of button 3 to prevent heat spike for clients comfort
 
Ok thank you. It’s back to the drawing board then! X
 
Really good advise from you ladies..I always say to the client avoid placing your hands in water for 1 hour, even to wash them..it just makes them think a little about what they do after treatment. Good luck, it's a useful ,trusted brand
 
Thank you everyone. Can I also ask, does this mean that Shellac is not suitable for people going on a holiday that involves swimming? X
 
Sounds about perfect to me, well done. Don't become reliant on the NailFresh, it's really only for problem clients and will dehydrate the whole nail so if it's free edge chipping that is the issue it's not down to application on the bulk of the nail. If it was peeling off the nail from the cuticle area then I would suggest incorrect removal of CuticleAway and NailFresh are absolutely your go to solutions, but it's not peeling, it's chipping - different issues.

I'm actually interested that CuticleAway is recommended again for PEP - when I did my CND Shellac training (about 3 weeks after first launch) it was suggested, a few months after 'a dry PEP' was recommended, then it went back and forth for a while between the two. In truth now I do a dry PEP unless it's a newbie client with seriously over grown cuticles. Adding the 'wet steps' such as CuticleAway and soapy water to remove just added another possibility of service breakdown to me as wet nails are swollen nails, no matter how little liquid you use. Anyway, I digress, well done on getting back on the horse and lets see how it goes, keep us updated.
Can I just jump in here and say how lovely and helpful you are-I have been a member of this site for years and the minority of snarky posters stopped me coming tbh. We are all here to help and grow and your advice is really helpful :)
 
Can I just jump in here and say how lovely and helpful you are-I have been a member of this site for years and the minority of snarky posters stopped me coming tbh. We are all here to help and grow and your advice is really helpful :)

Really? :confused: I've been here for about 16 years, I can't say I've notice snarky posters in that time. We have some pretty straight talkers :eek: and I class myself as one of those because I absolutely refuse to hand over hard earned education to the fly-by-night members who want to take money from clients but not do the training and hardwork to be a reputable tech. I'm disappointed that may be perceived as snarky :confused:

But I thank you for the kind words, much appreciated on this cold, rainy, winter day :)
 

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