Gelish users, a question from a Shellac user....

SalonGeek

Help Support SalonGeek:

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

Tiger Jay

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2005
Messages
2,800
Reaction score
134
Location
Redditch , Worcs
I'm not a Gelish user, I use Shellac ( and extremely happy with it too) ;) .

I had a client in today, who claims she had Gelish done at another Salon, she booked me to have Shellac, but first I had to remove the Gelish.
Note* she was 100% sure it was Gelish as she saw the bottles.*

Fair enough, I thought, and began the soaking off process as I would for Shellac...............

NEARLY AN HOUR I was there trying to remove what ever this product was supposed to be!!!! The Acetone didn't even touch it for at least 30 minutes, after which it became slightly soft , but impossible to remove from the nail!!!

Total night mare!

So my questions are:
1) is there a different product used to remove Gelish?
2) was it actually Gelish?
3) How long would it normally take to soak off?

The worse thing was it took me longer to remove this than a set of Acrylics which I would normally charge for.
Any ideas what could have caused this?
Would be interested to hear your views .
Thanks.
 
did you break the seal by filing off the topcoat?
 
I buff lightly to break the surface shine, then apply cotton wool balls dampened with acetone wrap in foil. Leave for 10mins and it usually comes off in one. Where clients hands are cold, I pop a hot water bottle over their hands. and if a structure gel had been applied it takes slightly longer. But never been as long as an hour, so no idea she had on her nails?
 
I've had the same with Gelish and geleration. I now ask if people have got something on their nails that I haven't put there then they go back and have it removed otherwise I charge what it costs to apply shellac to remove it I.e. £30.
Flippin' fed up with trying to remove unknown substances.
 
Sorry I should of said, sometimes I've forgotten to buff the topcoat off and haven't noticed a difference in removal time xx
 
Whether I buff the top coat or not, removal of gelish takes no longer than 15 mins xx
 
I agree with Elmo. I've never had a problem removing the real Gelish.

I don't buff or break the seal either. Must have been something else (a fake?) I've removed Shellac before for clients who have had that done and haven't had a problem removing that either.
 
Thank you for all your replies..........

I can safely say "Yes" to all the questions you have asked me.

As for buffing the top coat , well.... it wasn't even touching it. The only way I could describe it is like , if someone come from a salon who had a set of MMA's on. Impossible!!!!

I really thought that breaking the seal of the top coat would work, and all of the other necessary ways of speeding up the soak off, but no.

My only conclusion is........... THERE'S NO WAY IT CAN BE GELISH! ??

I've soaked off many, types of coloured gels but nothing like this.

Very odd.

Anyway, I can see a soak off charge coming in for anything other than my own products.

So frustrating.

Thanx guys! xx
 
If the Gelish (or any other SOG) is applied over hard gel, it absolutely won't soak off. I apply SOGs over hard gel all the time, but I use a good enamel basecoat between the hard gel and the SOG, and it soaks right off in less than 10 minutes. I'm betting your client has a hard gel overlay under the Gelish.
 
You could have just buffed it all off?
 
I also do not remove other people's work any more. Had it loads of time they have definitely seen it in the bottle blah blah an hour later you still can't get it off lol xxx
 
I'm betting your client has a hard gel overlay under the Gelish.

That's kinda what I was thinking , but as I don't work with Gel of any sort, it's interesting to hear what others are using.

Cheers :wink2:
 
You could have just buffed it all off?

The idea of trying to "buff" off this product was not an option for me. It would have been like trying to file off acrylic. I guess I wasn't prepared to put the clients natural nail at risk.

By the looks of it, the tech who previously did her nails had done enough damage, by filing the nail plate down before applying the product, to which my client explained to me was pretty uncomfortable.
 
The idea of trying to "buff" off this product was not an option for me. It would have been like trying to file off acrylic. I guess I wasn't prepared to put the clients natural nail at risk.

By the looks of it, the tech who previously did her nails had done enough damage, by filing the nail plate down before applying the product, to which my client explained to me was pretty uncomfortable.
If she had gel or L$&p under then buffing the color off would be fine ,

if it was a non soak off colored gel (ive come across this few times people thing there getting Shellac) then you will have to buff it off ,

it is thin so go carefully , start with maybe a 180 grit , i like the bizzard bords , then a koala , you will see the color disapere before you hit the nail under so as long as you take it in your stride , and keep your eyes on what you are doing it shuldnt be to hard ,

I have been there , i have spent ages sevral times trying to soak off and brake seals ...........

now if i im in dout (and i can normaly tell) then i just buff it away ,

I do charge for this , you have to as it is not part of the normal servise .

are you traind in enhancements ? if not it is worth asking your cnd ea for a one 2 one on removal of hard gels , as you WILL come across this every so offten .
 
I never remove any products that is applied by another Technician, as sometimes the Client doesn't even know the brand they have on. If anyone phones me to remove a product before a treatment, I get them to go back to where they had it done and have it removed first.

There is also the contra indications that you can not see with a product being on. I like to know what type of nails I am working on!
 
I never remove any products that is applied by another Technician, as sometimes the Client doesn't even know the brand they have on. If anyone phones me to remove a product before a treatment, I get them to go back to where they had it done and have it removed first.

There is also the contra indications that you can not see with a product being on. I like to know what type of nails I am working on!
how would this work out if the person had them done on holiday ?

We have to be redy to think out side of the box at all times ........
 
how would this work out if the person had them done on holiday ?

We have to be redy to think out side of the box at all times ........

Not my problem. I will refuse to do treatment on someone with a product that is unknown. It is my way of doing things. Each to their own in this line of business
 
If she had gel or L$&p under then buffing the color off would be fine ,

if it was a non soak off colored gel (ive come across this few times people thing there getting Shellac) then you will have to buff it off ,

it is thin so go carefully , start with maybe a 180 grit , i like the bizzard bords , then a koala , you will see the color disapere before you hit the nail under so as long as you take it in your stride , and keep your eyes on what you are doing it shuldnt be to hard ,

I have been there , i have spent ages sevral times trying to soak off and brake seals ...........

now if i im in dout (and i can normaly tell) then i just buff it away ,

I do charge for this , you have to as it is not part of the normal servise .

are you traind in enhancements ? if not it is worth asking your cnd ea for a one 2 one on removal of hard gels , as you WILL come across this every so offten .

No L&P underneath , just the natural nail.......

...Hmm I'm kinda pretty familiar with how to buff of the product, and to be honest ,I find it's a real ball ache, always have. Which is why I've always worked with either L&P or products that easily soaks off. I guess after all this time I'm stuck in my ways. :) The fact that people are telling me it's Gelish which I know can be easily removed, and I'm only booking out the relevent time for that....

LOL yeah I've been a qualified tech for nearly 11 years now, but like I say my chosen path is L&P, Natural Nails, and now Shellac etc.

I've never quite understood the reason for buff-off gels when I could totally avoid buffing the natural nail by soaking it off. Something I've never wanted to look in to. I get why you would say to do one to one for removal of hard gels , however as it's not a product I'm going to invest in, I really could be spending my money on something that could be more benificial to me and the products I use LOL. So for now, it's "get them removed yourself , or I'll charge you by the half hour!"

May be I should be asking more questions before booking the appointment :0)
 
No L&P underneath , just the natural nail.......

...Hmm I'm kinda pretty familiar with how to buff of the product, and to be honest ,I find it's a real ball ache, always have. Which is why I've always worked with either L&P or products that easily soaks off. I guess after all this time I'm stuck in my ways. :) The fact that people are telling me it's Gelish which I know can be easily removed, and I'm only booking out the relevent time for that....

LOL yeah I've been a qualified tech for nearly 11 years now, but like I say my chosen path is L&P, Natural Nails, and now Shellac etc.

I've never quite understood the reason for buff-off gels when I could totally avoid buffing the natural nail by soaking it off. Something I've never wanted to look in to. I get why you would say to do one to one for removal of hard gels , however as it's not a product I'm going to invest in, I really could be spending my money on something that could be more benificial to me and the products I use LOL. So for now, it's "get them removed yourself , or I'll charge you by the half hour!"

May be I should be asking more questions before booking the appointment :0)
I know you are hun :) , it just helps to go through the options and questions for others that might find the thread helpfull , Shellac / Gelish and most other UV colors are avalible to techs with a recognized manicure / pedicure cert ,
why ? i will never know ?

one of the problems i see with that is that they dont teach how to remove hard gells or buff of products in a mani class do they ?

so when clients come with what they think is a soak off UV color and it is not .... then the nail tech is not able to help ? IYSWIM ?
 
I know what your saying, mind you if it comes to that , may be there should be a training session for the removal of MMA (that's if there isn't one already!) LOL

It's unbelievable that even now , I still come across it. Not too often thank goodness!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top