Gel polish won‘t last

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Joined
Mar 15, 2019
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Hey Geeks!
Long time lurker, first time poster hoping to pick your brain for possible solutions for my gel polish issues.
I‘ve got two brands of gel polish I‘ve tried so far, Cuccio and Magpie, unfortunately I‘ve had issues with both, lifting, chipping, peeling off entirely and I‘m at a loss od what to do.

My prep and application for magpie:
Wash hands with oilfree soap - disinfect - push back the eponychium and thoroughly remove all cuticle tissue from the nail plate -file the free edge into shape with a 180 grit file - remove the shine from the nail plate with a 180 grit buffer - cleanse and scrub the top of the nail plate, free edge and underside of the nail with their prep+dehydrate cleanser they recommend and a lint free wipe, making sure I don‘t transfer oil from the skin onto the nail and that the nails are not being touched - scrub base coat into the nails thinly and capping the free edge (and side walls if need be) -cure for 30 secs - apply 2 rather thin coats of colour (I emailed them regarding my issues and they told me it should be applied rather thinly), making sure no gel runs into the cuticle area and capping the free edge- cure each layer for 1 minute - top coat (again capping very thoroughly) cure for 1 minute- remove inhibition layer and apply cuticle oil and lotion.

Could you please review my process and let me know if you notice any mistakes in application?
I was thinking of trying to use a dehydrator and bonding primer from another brand to help with the chipping/lifting? I don‘t know if that would help. Full disclosure I use the gelish 180 g led lamp, I know perfect curing requires the lamp the manufacturer recommends but I don’t want to throw more money on it if I‘m not sure that that‘s going to be the brand I stick with.

I would very much appreciate any advice!
Thank you x
 
Your lamp is probably the problem I’m afraid. What lamp are you using?
 
It‘s the Gelish 18G led 36 watts led lamp :(
 
I cannot comment on magpie gel
I use cuccio and have no problems with it , but my lamp is 405 nm gel lamp by ASP. I don't know how that compares to the gelish nm sorry.
Just to be clear on your prep;- dry prep only is best, no water anywhere near the nails .
Definately cuccio dehydrator every time
Definately cuccio fuse, just on the tips of the nails unless the clients' nails pu up with a lot of cleaning etc.
Cuccio base coat can be dry brushed if preferred- I do this with some darker shades as they can bleed a little before curing
Thin layers, sometimes 3 if needed but mostly 2.
You could try 2 top coats for extra durability.
30 sec cure is all that is required. making sure the nails are well positioned in the lamp to get maximum light too.
Hope you get it sorted , I wish you well.
 
Magpie have their own lamp and so do Cucio. That said I'm almost sure either brand is formulated to cure their gels with the respective lamp. I use Gelish and I know for a fact the gelish lamp is designed specifically to cure gels for their brand.
I'd recommend having a loom at this thread https://www.salongeek.com/index.php?threads/323988/
 
I cannot comment on magpie gel
I use cuccio and have no problems with it , but my lamp is 405 nm gel lamp by ASP. I don't know how that compares to the gelish nm sorry.
Just to be clear on your prep;- dry prep only is best, no water anywhere near the nails .
Definately cuccio dehydrator every time
Definately cuccio fuse, just on the tips of the nails unless the clients' nails pu up with a lot of cleaning etc.
Cuccio base coat can be dry brushed if preferred- I do this with some darker shades as they can bleed a little before curing
Thin layers, sometimes 3 if needed but mostly 2.
You could try 2 top coats for extra durability.
30 sec cure is all that is required. making sure the nails are well positioned in the lamp to get maximum light too.
Hope you get it sorted , I wish you well.
Thank you for responding! I really appreciate it!
 
Magpie have their own lamp and so do Cucio. That said I'm almost sure either brand is formulated to cure their gels with the respective lamp. I use Gelish and I know for a fact the gelish lamp is designed specifically to cure gels for their brand.
I'd recommend having a loom at this thread https://www.salongeek.com/index.php?threads/323988/
Thank you! Yeah I was thinking that the lamp was the problem, I‘m afraid I‘m just going to have to bite the bullet and get a different lamp as I have quite a few gels already.
 
Thank you! Yeah I was thinking that the lamp was the problem, I‘m afraid I‘m just going to have to bite the bullet and get a different lamp as I have quite a few gels already.
Tbh I do a very similar prep to yours and I don't have issues. I use cuticle remover with clients when I have to and I've never had an issue with that either. I just make triple sure there's no residue on the nail and I use a prep liquid to evaporate all the moisture. That said obviously with dry cuticle work you reduce the risk. But if you're confident with your prep work in general, it's down to that lamp.

Hope you figure it out!
 
Tbh I do a very similar prep to yours and I don't have issues. I use cuticle remover with clients when I have to and I've never had an issue with that either. I just make triple sure there's no residue on the nail and I use a prep liquid to evaporate all the moisture. That said obviously with dry cuticle work you reduce the risk. But if you're confident with your prep work in general, it's down to that lamp.

Hope you figure it out!
Thank you, I think I‘m going to try and sell the products I have and invest in a whole system including a lamp. Thank you again!
 
Thank you, I think I‘m going to try and sell the products I have and invest in a whole system including a lamp. Thank you again!

Rather than sell the products you already have, why not invest in the correct lamp/s? You can't give a fair assessment on its performance if you aren't using the whole system, including the lamp. I can't comment on Magpie as I dont use their gel polish but I was trained with Cuccio and although I find their Veneer gel
polish often needs 3 coats for full coverage, I have never had any problems with it Lifting, chipping or peeling off, so as long as you have genuine products and are confident your prep and application is correct, the lamp is most likely to be your problem.
 
Rather than sell the products you already have, why not invest in the correct lamp/s? You can't give a fair assessment on its performance if you aren't using the whole system, including the lamp. I can't comment on Magpie as I dont use their gel polish but I was trained with Cuccio and although I find their Veneer gel
polish often needs 3 coats for full coverage, I have never had any problems with it Lifting, chipping or peeling off, so as long as you have genuine products and are confident your prep and application is correct, the lamp is most likely to be your problem.
That was one of the options I considered, however I only intented tro try out a few magpie gels and use cuccio, so I‘ll purchase their lamp. Thank you!
 

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