Gel polish taking too long?

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Nailswithmel

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Apr 11, 2016
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I am still fairly new to doing gel nail polish but it's taking me an hour and a half to do file, cuticle work and gel polish. Is this too long? How long does it take other people? X
 
For a new application standard times would be around 45 mins. However if you're newly qualified with no previous polishing experience with clients then it's only natural that you will take a little longer. Don't focus on speed just concentrate on perfect application, your timings will come down with practice.
 
Thank you! It seems to be the filing and cuticle work that's takes longest! If clients are happy with nail length do you still file or is that step okay to be left out? X
 
I find that if clients have already filed their nails to the length they want, providing they've done it straight and not many do lol then I'll leave them, but if they're even a tiny bit crooked then the OCD me can't leave them like that lol
 
It's taking me ages too, I've always been a slow polisher though if I'm honest. The prep is what is taking me the longest, I'm obsessed with getting every last scrap of dead cuticle off the nail plate and it takes me a while to file. This is generally new clients though, with badly uneven nails that need total reshaping and cuticle all over the nail plate because they've never been properly worked on before. Once they come back, cuticle work and filing is usually much quicker, but I haven't been at it long so not had many repeats.

I've been really stressing about this, at home it's not so bad but in the salon I'm under pressure from the lady I work with and clients who are in a rush and feel that sometimes the final result isn't up to my usual standard because I'm so anxious. So yesterday I posted a message on my personal facebook, tagging everyone local who I thought might be interested. I just asked for 3 models so I could get some good pics of salon viable art and work on my timings, with the caveat that they post pics on their social media and promote me a little bit. I keep my business page strictly professional and would never ask for models on there and I only asked for 3 so I wouldn't be too out of pocket doing a load of freebies. Got a great result out of it! 4 models (the extra model is an artist, so I'm really looking forward to working with her), 3 new likes on my facebook page and one booking for a luxury gel mani! I plan to take it easy and not stress myself, but to time myself for each step and make notes, that way I can see where and how I can improve. If I time each separate stage it wont matter if I spend a while doing art or whatnot, because I'll still know how long the rest of it took.
 
My first ever Shellac took me over 2 & half hours

Ive got it down to about 45 minutes now, so dont worry, the timings will come down with practice. I usually ask if they want any length taken off, depending on how much I either clip first to save time or just file a little bit xx
 
It used to take me about 1hr 30 mins when I first started but I have managed to get the service down to 45 minutes to 1 hr.
A good cuticle remover and curette shaved so much time off for me because the cuticle just seemed to melt away and was so much easier to remove :)
 
Thank you for all of your replies! I still get a bit anxious when seeing new clients and want to be perfect so really take my time! Hopefully the more I practice the quicker I will get. I don't use cuticle remover as I have been told to do dry cuticle work and worry that if I use cuticle remover and then get the nails wet to wipe it off that the nails soak up moisture? Is a bit of cuticle remover okay for me to use on a tough cuticle without affecting the application of polish?
 
I've always used cuticle remover and was told it is ok as long as the nail was thoroughly cleaned afterwards - I use a little anti-bac spray to clean the nails afterwards on a lint free wipe.
It's never affected the longevity of the gel polish or the application :)

I use Cuccio Veneer by the way so might just be worth confirming with whoever you use.
 
I don't use cuticle remover as I have been told to do dry cuticle work and worry that if I use cuticle remover and then get the nails wet to wipe it off that the nails soak up moisture? Is a bit of cuticle remover okay for me to use on a tough cuticle without affecting the application of polish?
A wet manicure would be something like a spa mani where the nails are left soaking in water for any period of time. Using cuticle remover and then giving the nails a quick swipe with a damp pad to neutralise is perfectly acceptable in a dry mani. You won't be using enough water to make the nail plate swell so it's perfectly safe to use.
 
Thank you everyone for all of your comments! X
 
It may depend on the gel you use, the gel polish which support LED curing will be faster, only couple minutes.

But to be fair, this doesn't help so much when you are new, because the LED cure is only quicker in total service time if you can paint a hand in a similar time the other takes to cure.
If one hand is in the lamp curing for 30 seconds, but it takes you 2mins or more to paint the other hand, there is no time saved. The cured hand is still waiting for you to finish to get to it.
 

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