First crystal pedi on Friday

SalonGeek

Help Support SalonGeek:

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

tanfastic

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2009
Messages
1,669
Reaction score
12
Location
Norfolk, UK
Hi Geeks, I have done the searches and hopefully will be well prepared but am still bricking it, I have ordered my bulk pack of S5 Swarovski's so have been practiciing with Rhinestones, blue tack and my nail trainer. Not quite the same as the real deal but am trying to get the fiddliness of handling the crystals down to a fine art. LOL I am still a bit worried about the adhesion though. ( Don't worry I wont be using the Blue Tack on the day:eek:)
I am doing all 10 toes so need to be quite confident in the handling and am not sure whether I should pop them on to a gel base or use something else. What do you geeks recommend as the best. I don't do Shellac as I dont have a CND lamp so it will have to be Gellish, Buff of Gel or some type of glue. I dont think I will be finishing with a top coat as I have seen on the searches that they can dull the sparkle.


HELP PLEASE. I woke up at 2.30 this morning and worried about crystal toes till the alarm went off at 6. :Scared:
 
Gelish as far as I'm aware won't dull the sparkle in genuine Swarovski crystals only rhinestones so you're fine to top coat. I would use Gelish to keep them in place I wouldn't use glue as it sets far too quickly and knowing me I'd end up gluing myself to the bride!!
 
Do you need to leave them under the lamp longer than usual as there wont be much gap between the crystals so the light would probably struggle to reach the gel, or would it not?
 
I set mine in Bio Sculpture which cures no problem in the usual time, I know one of our other geeks uses Cuccio soak off gel with no problems, this might be a good solution for you. Personally I wouldn't set them in a buff off gel - can you imagine buffing through all those crystals to remove?!

For application I tend to pop mine in a tiny dappen dish and use an orange stick with a tiny dot of topcoat or gel on it to pick them up, I get a load on there then line them up in place and do another batch until I have full coverage, final touch ups then in the lamp. Takes me about 10 minutes to cover a big toe now!

Good luck!
 
I set mine in Bio Sculpture which cures no problem in the usual time, I know one of our other geeks uses Cuccio soak off gel with no problems, this might be a good solution for you. Personally I wouldn't set them in a buff off gel - can you imagine buffing through all those crystals to remove?!

For application I tend to pop mine in a tiny dappen dish and use an orange stick with a tiny dot of topcoat or gel on it to pick them up, I get a load on there then line them up in place and do another batch until I have full coverage, final touch ups then in the lamp. Takes me about 10 minutes to cover a big toe now!

Good luck!

You make it sound so easy.:wink2: I will try doing it this way. Sounds like a much easier way and time saving too. Do you do the base coat fairly thick? What about the self levelling aspect, surely it will pool at the sidewalls. If I use too little they will all pop off, too much they will be swimming. I will have to get some gel out in the morning and practice. I like to do a good job and would feel awful for the bride if they all come off within days.
 
You will want a fairly decent layer on there, not thick but just enough to sort of grip the crystal in place, do a base first, then the layer your are going to set them in. It shouldn't pool at the sidewalls as there won't be enough on the nail for that but make sure you keep a tiny margin around the nail before curing as you usually would, you'll be fine as long as you do a double check and tidy up before curing.
 
Thanks, will have an extended practice session in the morning, I pity the microdermabrasion clients later getting blinged to bits by my crystal ( well cheap practice rhinestone) nails.
 
I use clear Cuccio Pronto (or ECO sog as it's the same) and my aplication has been listed on here many times.

Prep Nail
Dehydrator
Very thin gel layer
Cure
Thin layer of gel &
Apply Crystals
Cure
Apply a small amount of Eco Universal Soak Off Top Coat*
Cure
Apply a little more top coat if needed
Wipe with cleanse

*The top coat is VERY thin and runny so I prefer to do 2 applications to ensure all the crystals are embedded but not flooded with top coat.

I use the Eco Universal Soak Off Top Coat because it does NOT dull the crystals and it helps to keep the crystals in place while still being super shiney.

Eco Universal Top Coat is available from several places, I got mine from the link below as it is a beauty place that has their own site but the Ebay shop is cheaper:

ECO UNIVERSAL SOAK OFF UV GEL TOP COAT SEALER HIGH GLOSS SHINE 15ml | eBay

or the bigger bottle:

ECO UNIVERSAL SOAK OFF UV GEL TOP COAT SEALER HIGH GLOSS SHINE 75ml | eBay


This old thread has lots of advice on it:
http://www.salongeek.com/nail-geek/145508-swarovski-crystal-pedicure.html

I easily get 6 weeks out of my sets. They stay shiney and look fabulous until taken off.
 
dont forget to act confident and dont let on that its your first set!!good luck xx
 
Thanks to all, BaggyBrear, I have been "Studying" your posts and really appreciate the advice, Bio & Beauty you have given me some great tips too , mobilenailsbfd I was also worried that I would get stuck to the bride's big toe. LOL , and Souz thanks for that, I will try to fake it till I make it.

About to get the kit out now and get my nails blinged up.

Hopefully I can get some good pics on Friday, any ideas for the ring finger ? She wants an Acrylic French and is a nail biter so knows she cant have anything too long but I was thinking it might be nice to "Dress" the ring finger for her as a little bonus for ( a little wedding gift for want of a better word) if I have any time left at the end
 
Good luck. Hope it goes well
 
I'm sure you will be fine and like Souz said act confident! Good luck :) xxx
 
thanks everyone, they went on fabulously. So pleased with them and compared to my rhinestone Practice toes they were mega sparkly. The bride was over the moon
 
Fab !! Just got all my crystals and a model booked for next week eeek .....
 
Glad it all went well tantsastic. I use the eco sog as suggested by baggybear and it really is fantastic, I use it over rockstars now too as it sparkles like crazy!! Lots better than my gelish TIO does.

Oh btw on the ebay link for the big bottle it is coming up as £199.99 :suprised:

xx
 
Glad it all went well tantsastic. I use the eco sog as suggested by baggybear and it really is fantastic, I use it over rockstars now too as it sparkles like crazy!! Lots better than my gelish TIO does.

Oh btw on the ebay link for the big bottle it is coming up as £199.99 :suprised:

xx

I think they do that when its out of stock so they don't have to remove the listing.

Xx
 

Latest posts

Back
Top