Do you wipe your brush?

[bellabeautie]

Hi all,

Ive read loads on here about how you shouldnt wipe your brush. However, I am struggling with not doing this!! I pick up the bead, place on nail and have to contain myself from not wiping at this point! I did try a couple of times, but the acrylic seemed to stay in the brush and started to set, so I had to wipe it and dip it in liquid and wipe again to make sure it was out! Do you think I may be picking up my bead wrong? Too dry if this is happening? Even when I am pushing the acrylic out to the sides, I still find myself wiping the brush. I know theres no need to wipe, so where am I going wrong?! Is it just all down to my bead control or am I missing something else out?
Thanks xx

 

[Missy G]

Good question hun, Id be interested to know too,sometimes you need your brush to be flat, and sometimes you need it at a point, so how do you achieve that without wiping the brush?

 

[glitz]

You know what this is a really bad habit of mine which I am trying desperately to break. I was taught that it is ok to wipe in between IE before the next dip into monomer (with NSI) but at my conversion with creative last year this was a no no, I understand why but find it even more difficult with creative as I always have product left in my brush I know this is a ratio prob which I am addressing, I just do it without thinking. :irked:.

 

[izzidoll]

Actually it depends what products you use.

CND teach that you should not wipe your brush after placing your bead, as you need the liquid that is in the belly of the brush to keep your bead workable.

If you have product left on your brush when you place your bead then you have not had the correct mix ratio anyway, more than likely too wet, so maybe you should wipe off the excess product from your brush and drain it of some of the liquid to keep you to the right mix ratio.

EzFlow is different you pick up the bead and place it, and then you wipe or drain your brush, as it does not need any further liquid to keep it workable. We are not talking a lot of liquid here (we don't want to be wasting it after all!) but we don't want to be injecting more liquid into the bead as we work making it too wet.

No rights or wrongs just different methods for 2 different systems.

With most systems though you always wipe your brush before putting it back into the liquid to prevent any product on your brush contaminating your liquid.
If your brush has got out of shape when applying a bead, then wipe it back into shape, the Brush Police will not come and arrest you HONEST!!

I hope this helps with whatever system you use, if it is neither of the above then you should contact your distributor/educator for some advice if you still feel your mix ratio is out.

 

[mercedes69]

Actually it depends what products you use.

CND teach that you should not wipe your brush after placing your bead, as you need the liquid that is in the belly of the brush to keep your bead workable.

If you have product left on your brush when you place your bead then you have not had the correct mix ratio anyway, more than likely too wet, so maybe you should wipe off the excess product from your brush and drain it of some of the liquid to keep you to the right mix ratio.

EzFlow is different you pick up the bead and place it, and then you wipe or drain your brush, as it does not need any further liquid to keep it workable. We are not talking a lot of liquid here (we don't want to be wasting it after all!) but we don't want to be injecting more liquid into the bead as we work making it too wet.

No rights or wrongs just different methods for 2 different systems.

With most systems though you always wipe your brush before putting it back into the liquid to prevent any product on your brush contaminating your liquid.
If your brush has got out of shape when applying a bead, then wipe it back into shape, the Brush Police will not come and arrest you HONEST!!

I hope this helps with whatever system you use, if it is neither of the above then you should contact your distributor/educator for some advice if you still feel your mix ratio is out.

Great advice....and it was a great reminder to me.....especially when using two systems ( not at the same time! )

but you made me :lol: when you mentioned the Brush Police...... I literally expect them to jump out on me when I do a sneaky wipe back into shape....:Scared:

 

[Mieke]

I always wipe my brush after i applied my white bead and pressed it into place before i put it back into my liquid. if i don´t do this the liquid will get a bit cloudy after a while.

 

[VHunter]

Prior to starting my course, I had mentioned to my tutor my concerns about getting the mix ratio right. She said "don't worry, I have a great trick for that". I was excited to learn it.
When she showed me her trick, it took everything in me not to groan aloud, with images of Gigi in my head, shaking her own head and tsk'ing.....

Dip the brush, wipe against side of monomer cup, pick up bead.... and press brush down on paper towel before setting bead on the nail. Set the bead, then wipe the brush again.
DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH MY LIVING ROOM STINKS?????

This is such a waste of product over time, the accumulating vapours drive my husband and I mad when I do a set of L&P... and I'm all the more frustrated because I'm still not getting it right.

If an EZ Flow user can show me a vid CLOSE UP of dipping the brush, picking up the bead... etc.. WITHOUT touching brush to paper towel and get the ratio RIGHT... I will kiss them head to toe! (ok, maybe I'll skip a few places!!)

 

[champagne]

I dont wipe as a rule BUT if my brush needs a quick wipe for whatever reason I wipe it...

I am really bad when it comes to doing my own nails and have killed 2 brushes when doing this ..... I think its because I work much slower when doing my own and have been known to put my brush down and I then clogg it...

 

[sknight]

Prior to starting my course, I had mentioned to my tutor my concerns about getting the mix ratio right. She said "don't worry, I have a great trick for that". I was excited to learn it.
When she showed me her trick, it took everything in me not to groan aloud, with images of Gigi in my head, shaking her own head and tsk'ing.....

Dip the brush, wipe against side of monomer cup, pick up bead.... and press brush down on paper towel before setting bead on the nail. Set the bead, then wipe the brush again.
DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH MY LIVING ROOM STINKS?????

This is such a waste of product over time, the accumulating vapours drive my husband and I mad when I do a set of L&P... and I'm all the more frustrated because I'm still not getting it right.

If an EZ Flow user can show me a vid CLOSE UP of dipping the brush, picking up the bead... etc.. WITHOUT touching brush to paper towel and get the ratio RIGHT... I will kiss them head to toe! (ok, maybe I'll skip a few places!!)

I was shown the exact same thing

 

[izzidoll]

Dip the brush, wipe against side of monomer cup, pick up bead.... and press brush down on paper towel before setting bead on the nail. Set the bead, then wipe the brush again.
)

The way I was shown with EzFlow and I still do it...is you dip your brush into the monomer then don't wipe against the dappen dish, but press the brush ( at the ferrule) against the lip of the dappen dish to remove some of the liquid.
Then if you want to remove even more press/tap the flags of the brush against the other side of the dappen dish.
Then pat into your powder..... quick little pats into the powder, Before I started doing this I struggled to get a really large bead.
Technically the bead is made up of layers with the first layer polymerising as you pick up the others. I very rarely had to put my brush onto my wipe with the bead still on as the mix ratio would be bang on.
Although after placing the bead I would wipe/drain my brush, as if it is perfect mix ratio, I wouldn't want to inject anymore liquid into it would I?

When I do drain my brush with the bead still on it, is usually when I am working with very pigmented colours i.e. orange, black etc, and it gets rid of some of the pigment so you have less chance of creating a shadow if you move the product about too much on the nail.

HTH

 

[fifitrix]

The way I was shown with EzFlow and I still do it...is you dip your brush into the monomer then don't wipe against the dappen dish, but press the brush ( at the ferrule) against the lip of the dappen dish to remove some of the liquid.
Then if you want to remove even more press/tap the flags of the brush against the other side of the dappen dish.
Then pat into your powder..... quick little pats into the powder, Before I started doing this I struggled to get a really large bead.
Technically the bead is made up of layers with the first layer polymerising as you pick up the others. I very rarely had to put my brush onto my wipe with the bead still on as the mix ratio would be bang on.
Although after placing the bead I would wipe/drain my brush, as if it is perfect mix ratio, I wouldn't want to inject anymore liquid into it would I?

When I do drain my brush with the bead still on it, is usually when I am working with very pigmented colours i.e. orange, black etc, and it gets rid of some of the pigment so you have less chance of creating a shadow if you move the product about too much on the nail.

HTH

That's what I was shown too, the only time I press my brush with the bead still on is when I am doing 3d work, or as Izzi says when using black or the like.

This is when I am using Ezflow.

 

[VHunter]

The way I was shown with EzFlow and I still do it...is you dip your brush into the monomer then don't wipe against the dappen dish, but press the brush ( at the ferrule) against the lip of the dappen dish to remove some of the liquid.
Then if you want to remove even more press/tap the flags of the brush against the other side of the dappen dish.
Then pat into your powder..... quick little pats into the powder, Before I started doing this I struggled to get a really large bead.
Technically the bead is made up of layers with the first layer polymerising as you pick up the others. I very rarely had to put my brush onto my wipe with the bead still on as the mix ratio would be bang on.
Although after placing the bead I would wipe/drain my brush, as if it is perfect mix ratio, I wouldn't want to inject anymore liquid into it would I?

When I do drain my brush with the bead still on it, is usually when I am working with very pigmented colours i.e. orange, black etc, and it gets rid of some of the pigment so you have less chance of creating a shadow if you move the product about too much on the nail.

HTH

Is this from an EZ Flow course?
I have found, that if I 'try' to get the perfect ratio without dabbing my brush on the paper towel, my bead becomes a wet runny mess the minute I touch my brush to it.:irked:
I'm struggling from getting it too dry, to having it too wet.
My white, I get my beads too big.
My clear, too small.
:grr:

Why on earth did I think I could do this? I'm going BONKERS:!:

 

[Kittensgotclaws]

Ahhh, V, Dont beat yourself up, we all feel that way in the beginning. l&p can be difficult at first what with trying to get the mix ratio correct but once you've done that bit everything else will fall into place. As for the fumes, i bought one of those air vapouriser thingy's i got it from BREATHE UK - Air Revitalizer, Air Purifier, Premium Essences they sell the oils that go into it too, how it works is by drawing in the odours from around you (i originally bought it because of my dogs) and pumping out the scent of the oils. I have used it while doing l&p and i have to say it worked for me, i could hardly smell the fumes from the acrylic liquid.
Jo.Xx

 

[RedAdmiral]

Dip the brush, wipe against side of monomer cup, pick up bead.... and press brush down on paper towel before setting bead on the nail.

This is how Greg at Young Nails works and it works for him. I find that it can be a good way of doing nails but why waste monomer if you can pick up the correct ratio? Not wiping my brush was one of the hardest things to overcome at my masters and I find I am always cleaning my brush to get bits out - I'll get there one day!!

I also use one of the air globes but mine looks like this Fresh air globe I also have use a pad soaked in scrubfresh which is the best way.

 

[RedAdmiral]

I also think that the type of brush you use also determines how you work. I can pick up a whopping great bead with my Young Brush - perfect for poppits, one colour overlays. with my ultra sculptor I can do really controlled white application and precise zone 3 app. I've used the 508 and do like it but it was yrs ago and I ruined it by getting product stuck in it then giving it a haircut :o, I used an 'nailzoo' style brush but touched the surrounding skin and a small pointy brush that is only good for flowers IMHO.

 

[geeg]

Of COURSE everyone needs to wipe their brush at some time .. like every time you have finished pressing or smoothing a bead and before you put your brush back into the dappen dish to pick up fresh monomer!!!

When you are taught by CND not to wipe your brush, it is only in one context ... meaning not to wipe it to get rid of excess monomer BEFORE patting and pressing the bead. Naturally you need to wipe it at other times to clean it etc.

Why do people take things so literally? No one means that you should absolutely never under any circumstances wipe your brush!

 

[bellabeautie]

Thanks for all your replys, Victoria your posts really make me laugh!! :lol: I forgot to say which system I use... I use CND, and I have the No.8 brush (cant remember the name of it) I am thinking of getting the No.10 brush as a couple of girls on my course got it and says its much better. Maybe if I invest in this it may help my problem!! Like many of you said, I think I am just going to have to practise this and hopefully overcome it in time! Thanks again for all your replies xx

 

[bellabeautie]

Must of been writing at the same time Geeg! I do wipe my brush before picking up fresh liquid like you said. Its the wiping of the brush whilst the bead is settling I MUST stop doing!!! Argh! I think it is definately down to my beads, I am obviously not picking them up right still because else this wouldnt happen! :irked:

 

[geeg]

Must of been writing at the same time Geeg! I do wipe my brush before picking up fresh liquid like you said. Its the wiping of the brush whilst the bead is settling I MUST stop doing!!! Argh! I think it is definately down to my beads, I am obviously not picking them up right still because else this wouldnt happen! :irked:

If it is a simple case of your bead becoming too runny when you start pressing it with your unwiped brush, then the next time squeeze more liquid out of your brush before picking up your bead !

Have you seen my chapter on 'getting the right mix' in my book 'nailclass' ?? You have to use your eyes. They will tell you the bead is right when it looks right! With CND the bead should resemble orange skin and then when you press it on the nail it should go shiny and settle before pressing and smoothing out. It just isnot as difficult as everyone makes it out to be. Relax and just do it.

I think people make far to big a 'song and dance' about the correct mix ratio being difficult to get. It is actually very simple.

 

[bellabeautie]

Well, sometimes I feel like I am getting there with the mix ratio. But sometimes when I press the bead down and lift my brush away, there seems to be some left in my brush, this is why I wipe it because I dont want the acrylic drying in my brush! Do you think this happens sometimes because I am working to dry?