Gelish at sallys for sale to the public!!

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Just read their facebook page. Apparently Gelish customers have seen the mini kits on their website and are asking when they arrive in the UK. The people contributing are not happy bunnies.

All it would really take is for harmony to say sorry, and that it was a commercial decision that was taken, and reassure people that they are not going into the boots and argos market.

Apart from a bit of S2 bashing, there seems to be an echoey silence.

Happy to bet 50p that it is OTC before the year is out.
Just my opinion (based on years of experience and finely tuned commercial antennae)

Echoey silence!

Ok...here's how i see it.

Gelish is a gel polish....72 colours in the range soon to be 78
Cures in an UV lamp or LED
Price competitive product within the uk market
LASTS a good 3 weeks or more!

Yes Nail Harmony UK has agreed for it to be on sale in Sallys!

If that works for you (like it does 4000 odd other salons in the uk) and you clients love it GREAT stuff....if your not happy bunny....you choose to use your professional judgment to research the market and use another brand !

I think this is going nowhere now.

I'm not s2 bashing? I use Shellac in my salon...horses for courses if you like it use it...if it doesnt work for you or you dont like the way the brand is going dont. It really is as easy as?

I'd take your 50p bet on too....

Now there really will be an echoey silence from me now;) thats it ZIP me up ha ha!
 
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Echoey silence!

Ok...here's how i see it.

Gelish is a gel polish....72 colours in the range soon to be 78
Cures in an UV lamp or LED
Price competitive product within the uk market
LASTS a good 3 weeks or more!

Yes Nail Harmony UK has agreed for it to be on sale in Sallys!

If that works for you (like it does 4000 odd other salons in the uk) and you clients love it GREAT stuff....if your not happy bunny....you choose to use your professional judgment to research the market and use another brand !

I think this is going nowhere now.

I'm not s2 bashing? I use Shellac in my salon...horses for courses if you like it use it...if it doesnt work for you or you dont like the way the brand is going dont. It really is as easy as?

I'd take your 50p bet on too....

Now there really will be an echoey silence from me now;) thats it ZIP me up ha ha!
There has been an echoey silence....the worries people have written about on FB haven't been responded to by NH.

How you have worded your post makes it sound SO simple, but it just isn't that simple.

I chose to use Gelish and both myself and my clients love it....great news!....however lets say that now those clients daughters, friends, collegues are saying how they are now buying this product or are easily getting hold it it from xyz...It really isn't going to make my clients feel like they are getting the great product that they thought they were getting before.

Lots of ladies come to 'us' so they can feel good, be pampered....they like their nails to be admired....IMHO they will not be so happy if every tom d**k and Harry can get their hands on it.

It also isn't as easy to just choose to swap to another brand....when you invest time and money in a brand, swaping over to another can cause us smaller salons to loose out BIG time and I for one think that NH know this and are banking on that to keep people loyal to their product.

I personally feel that they have lessened themselves and that any new proffesionals looking into this type of product would be more likely to go with another product etc Shellac as they will have the Proffesional name that Gelish is starting IMO to loose.
 
Echoey silence!

Ok...here's how i see it.

Gelish is a gel polish....72 colours in the range soon to be 78
Cures in an UV lamp or LED
Price competitive product within the uk market
LASTS a good 3 weeks or more!

Yes Nail Harmony UK has agreed for it to be on sale in Sallys!

If that works for you (like it does 4000 odd other salons in the uk) and you clients love it GREAT stuff....if your not happy bunny....you choose to use your professional judgment to research the market and use another brand !

I think this is going nowhere now.

I'm not s2 bashing? I use Shellac in my salon...horses for courses if you like it use it...if it doesnt work for you or you dont like the way the brand is going dont. It really is as easy as?

I'd take your 50p bet on too....

Now there really will be an echoey silence from me now;) thats it ZIP me up ha ha!

As an outsider looking in... This sounds like you could care less about your professional consumers.... The ones who pay for your paycheck. I hope no one else that works for this company feels this way. Smh maybe your boss should be aware of your comment. Just my two cents.
 
Its interesting if you look at consumer sites like The PurseForum. They currently have a thread entitled "Gelish Soak Off Polish" that has over 4,000 comments. All DIYers telling each other how to apply and where to get supplies from, no one seems to be having much trouble getting hold of the kit. The thread itself has been viewed over a quarter of a million times!!!

Gelish seems to be becoming the preferred choice of the DIYer in the States, what happens there always ends up happening here. Even if Harmony UK do not sell the mini kits, there are plenty of US websites that will ship and that's before we even start seeing them on Ebay.
 
ok I think I opened pandoras box with this one and THAT was not my intention. I only wanted opinions on what you thought about a so called professional line being sold to the public. This was not to be made personal on any aspects,and I feel if this is getting way outta hand and people are being mean and rude then this forum should be closed.. I am loving all the opinions on this topic,but I didn't want it to get personal:sad:. I'm sorry if this has upset anyone,it's obviously a hot and heated topic...
 
In fairness Sian you are missing the point a tad, as much as I agreed with and repped you already on this thread.

Mini bottles as such are not being sold...it is a kit which includes everything in mini sizes,including a mini lamp, to do a set of Gelish, obviously aimed at the retail market.
The difference between that and offerring mini bottles of polish like Orly do is huge.
Gel can cause allergic reactions from overexposure, by touching the inhibition layer, getting it on skin, applying too thick....all of these things (and probably more) so letting members of the public loose with a professional product is just asking for trouble way down the line. Of course the general public won't admit their liability so all Gel polishes will get the flack....which is not good for anyones business.

That said it is a moot point...as Hand & Nail Harmony UK do not have the mini gelish kits and have now publicly stated several times that they do not intend bringing it to the UK.

Therefore maybe we should move on from this now.


if i missed the point being made...im sorry :o it was how i interpreted it from the way it was written.
You know yourself that overexposure can be gained from anything .....i could walk round the supermarket and pick out loads of things....even bleech....it will never stop people from buying it though....the same with home hair colour that is available pretty much anywhere. As someone who has experienced first hand how uncomfortable it feels and painful...i wouldnt wish it on anyone.... but sallys in the uk selling gelish to Professionals with a trade card.... how is this aimed aimed at the retail market?

The kit itself though..... i dont see how its any different to any other trial kit that you can pick up for gel or L&P. Ok ....the lamp looks dreadful... but so what... if a professional wants to just try it out without the vast expense then thats down to that indiviual. I am saying this if it was something that was being promoted by harmony uk/ sallys uk....But the video was put together by sallys in the states and obviously endorsed by harmony US which georgie has already said that over there it is marketed in the retail sector! something that they will not be doing. That doesnt mean other brands wont though.

Like i said I dont work for harmony but i feel that they are being a tad ambushed unfairly.....i like gelish and so do my clients i will continue to use it...that is my choice. And if i need to go buy the odd colour from sallys now and again....then i will.

What i dont get is why there is all the 'us and them' between brands in the UK. There doesnt seem to be any mutual respect....its all ....i use the best so what you use is rubbish...... thats the impression that is given by many on these forums. I dont mean CND by the way.... there are loads on here that do it from all different brands. I trained with CND....and still now anyone who asks me will say that they by far have the best education there is in the uk. As far as products are concerned .....it wasnt for me.... that doesnt mean i think its a load of rubbish..... i think its very good....but i chose to try other products that in my opinion are equally as good but give me something else as well in the way of nail art etc. And as far as i am concerned ...if you dont try it for yourself then how will you ever know???
Anyway...im blabbing on not about stuff irrelevent to the thread now so best end it there, lol!!!:)
Life of a distributer!!!! :grr: i dont think id wanna do it!!!
 
Nobody is disputing that Gelish is a good product. Enough good nail techs carefully invested their hard earned money in it after testing it.

The problem is that it is no longer pro only. Anyone can buy from Sallys, and I think it is a slippery slope until the little DIY kits hit Boots.

How the story reads is that the pro nail techs did your first wave of sales and advertising, and now that the product is better known, it's gonna go more mainstream.
250000 hits on purseforum is a helluva lot of interest in DIY, and no doubt that is where the company sees the big money. Do I blame them? No, not really. IF THEY HAD SET THIS IDEA OUT IN THE FIRST INSTANCE.

The pro's buying it would have been fully aware that it was gonna be widely available.

Comparing it to people buying DIY hair products is a non starter though. We all hate the bloody "I'm worth it" ads with a passion. We just double the bill for colour correction though!
 
What i dont get is why there is all the 'us and them' between brands in the UK. There doesnt seem to be any mutual respect....its all ....i use the best so what you use is rubbish...... thats the impression that is given by many on these forums. I dont mean CND by the way.... there are loads on here that do it from all different brands. I trained with CND....and still now anyone who asks me will say that they by far have the best education there is in the uk. As far as products are concerned .....it wasnt for me.... that doesnt mean i think its a load of rubbish..... i think its very good....but I choose to try other products that in my opinion are equally as good but give me something else as well in the way of nail art etc. And as far as i am concerned ...if you dont try it for yourself then how will you ever know???
Anyway...im blabbing on not about stuff irrelevent to the thread now so best end it there, lol!!!:)
Life of a distributer!!!! :grr: i dont think id wanna do it!!!

Yes I totally agree with you Sian...especially the parts I have highlighted.

Maybe we are prime examples, that you can move on from brands without being negative about them and maintaining your integrity.

I use what I want and I say what I think, without any bias.

I have invested in Harmony, and other companies products and I still love Gelish, as do my clients 95% of whom do not think of going into a Sally's, as for the other 5% they love coming to the Salon for the expert application and of course the 'banter'.:lol:

If things change I will of course adjust to suit my business, that is my perogative after all.

I do think we need to be realistic though, and gel polishes are an easy sell in the retail sector. Yes we can rail against it all we want but it will happen and I don't think Harmony will be the only brand to go down this route . Not that they are in the UK though ;)

I agree with the thread starter though that we all need to take a step back and stop speculating until we know how this is going to affect us in the UK.
I think quite a few tec's are now too scared to post that they will love vat free days at Sally's and being able to pop up for 1 item without having to pay postage and wait in all day for delivery!!!
 
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Nobody is disputing that Gelish is a good product. Enough good nail techs carefully invested their hard earned money in it after testing it.

The problem is that it is no longer pro only. Anyone can buy from Sallys, and I think it is a slippery slope until the little DIY kits hit Boots.

How the story reads is that the pro nail techs did your first wave of sales and advertising, and now that the product is better known, it's gonna go more mainstream.
250000 hits on purseforum is a helluva lot of interest in DIY, and no doubt that is where the company sees the big money. Do I blame them? No, not really. IF THEY HAD SET THIS IDEA OUT IN THE FIRST INSTANCE.

The pro's buying it would have been fully aware that it was gonna be widely available.

Comparing it to people buying DIY hair products is a non starter though. We all hate the bloody "I'm worth it" ads with a passion. We just double the bill for colour correction though!

I agree Dawn but it will be interesting when these gel polishes do arrive in Boots and Argos. The potential is that a Chinese company, who already make and supply a lot of gel polishes worldwide, put together a retail kit for far less than Gelish is selling theirs and retails it in supermarkets and the like. Professionals will be left in salons using the professional products at professional prices and Gelish will be sitting on the shelves in Sallys far too expensive for the general public and shunned by the true professionals for the way this was all handled. :(
 
I just checked Sally's website and they're selling Gelish "minis" for basically the cost of regular size bottle of polish. This, to me, appears to be geared toward retail.

Gelish - Gelish Exhale
 
I just checked Sally's website and they're selling Gelish "minis" for basically the cost of regular size bottle of polish. This, to me, appears to be geared toward retail.

Gelish - Gelish Exhale

Yes this is in the states where as Georgie has already stated gelish is on the market within the retail sector. Gelish is not available to buy without a trade card in sally in the uk.

Sent from my HTC Desire using SalonGeek
 
When I google Gelish for my area, this thread comes up!! Gelish in Sallys. Maybe people won't even bother to click on my site; but off to Sallys they go, with a loaned card!

I've spend loads of money on Gelish, so .....:sad:
 
Thankfully I am in the position where I am only just looking at which Gel polishes I will be stocking, and please hear me out because I think my point is valid.

I was initially looking at the polishes as an add on to my treatments already on offer, overlays and summer toes etc... I was excited at the possibility of offering something that was (lets face it) easy to apply, quick and effective... majority of my clients past and present are L&p and i also offer spray tans, and the usual hand and nail services.. The fact that i could add another product to my list, one that would have a great impact and increase my client base and income (who doesnt want lovely colour that lasts??) with the ease of applying polish excited me.. Now im wondering if its going to worth the hassle, honestly, what is the point of forking out top dollar for a brand i know and trust, when it looks like gel polishes are heading for the retail sector anyway.. I may as well get a cheaper version already available at my supplier and offer as an option not a stand alone product.

Why, just because its not something that takes real skill to apply, and is quick and easy, should we professionals miss out on the benefits it can bring our business'??

If we start seeing brands like Harmony in the retail sector then what next? who next? because no company will miss out on the opportunity to cash in, and thats what worries me....

I realise alot of techs are already offering this service, and possibly making extra income from it, and I wonder how it will effect their business?

I guess Gel polishes for me personally no longer have a professional feel about them and perhaps not worth the extra effort as they may become like my polish stand that i spent so much on.. obsolete.. because everyone has polishes at home dont they???
 
My Sally's is stocking Gelish, it doesn't have a retail price on it, just the trade price code so you've got to have a card and yes I hear you saying that cards can be borrowed but honestly how many girls want to spend that sort of money?
A bottle of polish for £5, wear it once or twice, get bored with it and change colour if a far cry from buying a lamp, base coat, a range of colours and the top coat. Not to mention the fact that most girls do a poor job of applying polish, so what do you think they are going to be like with Gelish? We make it look easy and we make it out to be a super polish, to us it is, but to the girl who goes to Sally's to save her self a bit? Will she realise how important it is to remove cuticle? Remove shine? Will she know how? Will she skip the base coat, not understand how important the top coat is?
A friend of my daughters asked me to buy Shelac for her (cheeky moo) and I just gave her the price of every bit of equipment used in the service. She quickly lost interest, when you earn £200 a week are you really going to be able to buy Gelish for your own use?
Sally's are trying to up their game, they recognise (at last) that there is more money to be made selling bulk orders to us then there is selling bits and bobs to the public.
I think we should support them in this, show them that they can make more money by being trade only. If they want to start stocking quality products, I'm happy to start using them.
 
Thankfully I am in the position where I am only just looking at which Gel polishes I will be stocking, and please hear me out because I think my point is valid.

I was initially looking at the polishes as an add on to my treatments already on offer, overlays and summer toes etc... I was excited at the possibility of offering something that was (lets face it) easy to apply, quick and effective... majority of my clients past and present are L&p and i also offer spray tans, and the usual hand and nail services.. The fact that i could add another product to my list, one that would have a great impact and increase my client base and income (who doesnt want lovely colour that lasts??) with the ease of applying polish excited me.. Now im wondering if its going to worth the hassle, honestly, what is the point of forking out top dollar for a brand i know and trust, when it looks like gel polishes are heading for the retail sector anyway.. I may as well get a cheaper version already available at my supplier and offer as an option not a stand alone product.

Why, just because its not something that takes real skill to apply, and is quick and easy, should we professionals miss out on the benefits it can bring our business'??

If we start seeing brands like Harmony in the retail sector then what next? who next? because no company will miss out on the opportunity to cash in, and thats what worries me....

I realise alot of techs are already offering this service, and possibly making extra income from it, and I wonder how it will effect their business?

I guess Gel polishes for me personally no longer have a professional feel about them and perhaps not worth the extra effort as they may become like my polish stand that i spent so much on.. obsolete.. because everyone has polishes at home dont they???

chels....i do see the point you are making. I do not know how the trade works where you ar though...... If you have clients coming to you requesting gels as a service as a nail professional.....why would not want to offer it. If you do not have a market for it then no ...i would not invest.

Im sure you have a good reputation with your clients for doing a good job and use good quality products.....the high end ones are not as good as the budget ones..... like everything else in nail products...so why opt for a cheaper option if you dont have to.

I offer the gels and they are popular and I dont believe that sallys in the uk selling gelish will change demand for this service at all....it is trade only and is not being sold to the general public. Ok so may be a few may slip through the net as in someone borrowing a card or a hairdresser buying some...but i honestly cant see it happening too much as why would they risk wasting their money...because as we know...it is not a cheap investment
However yes in the US it is available on the retail market but the nail industry does seem to work very differently in the states to what it does over here...but compare the difference in size....suppliers...and there are plenty of them over there, have a massive market to cover. I do not know the reasons behind gelish being available for retail in the US.....thats for the likes of harmony US or danny haile to answer......it doesnt change things here though in my opinion.

Georgie owner of harmony uk has already said that this will not be the case ....here in the uk gelish will remain a pro product only.
Will this stop the cheap DIY kits coming out like those we already have for acrylic...or will it stop other high street brands trying to cash in and go on to launch something similar....probably not...but why should it matter to us. It will never be as good as those professional only brands. we as trained professionals who use top quality products are able to achieve a look and finish that someone will never be able to achieve at home because of the training that we invested in.
Surely its not worth...what is the saying...'cutting off your nose to spite your face' :wink2:
 
I have spent a lot of money on Gelish like so many others on here but really and truely I'm NOT worried about the public getting it from Sally's ..What's really important is Nail techs know how to professionally prep the nail, apply Gelish and maintain it to get the best out of Gelish or anyother gel polish.

None of the gel polishes are cheap to buy so to me it will be a 7 day wonder till they have something else to sell.

Just think about it ....with the internet you can get Anything you want regardless of being a pro ...it's out there!

Gelish to me is Brilliant as is Shellac ...I don't have Shellac yet but i can go to cosmoprof and buy it.
All I'm saying is ....A professional knows better how systems work the right way ...DIY jobs always need fixed!!

As a professional you got to Beleive in what you do and the products you use :)
 
i am so glad i stumbled across this thread as i was contemplating buying gelish and offering this to my clients. If i trained and bought all the kits and then found out sally`s were selling it i think i would be very angry. I have had enough of companies taking our money making us train then eventually finding that `the so called professional brands` are being sold to ANYONE. I don`t shop at Sally`s anymore as i don`t agree with them selling to the public when people like us are trying to earn a living :(.
 
Good Lord is there still a hoohar about this!!! I admit I've not read one single post of this thread as I don't have the time but why oh why can people not see the benefits of being able to go locally and see the colours before they buy? I can now buy from a supplier here in Spain that is half an hour up the road and it has been fantastic to be able to see the colours, rather than poorly printed images or photos online, it's actually saved me a fortune in colours that I may have chosen and decided against.

Do you really think your clients give a tuppence about which product you use or where you buy it? Do you really believe it makes YOU any less professional? All they are worried about is that it lasts and they have a great colour choice ... and that is why I now use three different brands. They will trust YOUR professionalism. I bet most of your clients don't even know what a Sallys store is, even less have visited one and even less have ever bought anything.

And there IS a skill to applying it well. It applies similar to a polish but behaves like a gel and you need to know this. Proper prep, minimising risk of over exposure, proper application. Jeez I've been doing nails 11 years and I still struggle to do mine well., good luck to Joe Public who can't even apply polish cos they hardly ever use base and topcoats, 2 thick layers of polish, floods all over the cuticles ... why should I see this as a threat?

This is not a threat to your business, have faith in yourselves. If someone really wants to go to the expense of a lamp, base and top coat, colours, prep materials then blinking well let them ... they probably wouldn't have come to you in the first place.

It's a good job the hair messers on here don't whine about OTC hair colour or that all their clients can get colour products in Sallys etc or the board would be full of nowt else.

Be grateful that we have a choice, many in this world don't have that luxury. I am truly thankful to whoever created gel polishes whatever brands they may be, it truly saved my financial bacon and I can only ever see it being a positive addition to my business.
 
Wow. This thread has been such an eye-opener for me.

I think Sassy Hassy just said it best. The people who go and buy this themselves are not the same people who would come to you anyways. Have faith in yourselves that your clients will come to you because YOU do it best.

Believe in your talents, believe in your business, and believe in our entire industry. It might feel like a slap in the face for the Gelish tech's but keep your head held high, prove your talents and you will not lose business.
 
im not against locals selling Gelish i agree it is a lot easier to buy etc... but why Sallys? Why not somewhere that only supply to us professionals? Its because the intend on selling to everyone not just professionals. Like everyone has mentioned already anyone that holds a card can buy from there. My opinion. I will not invest my money into a products that is readily available to the general public.
 

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