Hard gel application

[Shauna06]

Out of curiosity, how do you all apply your hard gels? Before I started doing gel polish myself I always had gel nails; I went to two different salons over about 8 years but their application was pretty much the same. It was:

• File off old gel
• Shape nail
• Primer
• Gel and cure
• File/Buff
• Gel and cure
• File/Buff
• Colour
• Top coat

I always found that my gels were quite thick - they weren't natural looking when looking directly at the nail and quite often they were uneven, with lumps and bumps in different parts of the nail but it seems the 'norm' in my local area. Is there any need for 2 x hard gel applications or is one sufficient? How thick are your gels?

 

[Noodle]

Out of curiosity, how do you all apply your hard gels? Before I started doing gel polish myself I always had gel nails; I went to two different salons over about 8 years but their application was pretty much the same. It was:

• File off old gel
• Shape nail
• Primer
• Gel and cure
• File/Buff
• Gel and cure
• File/Buff
• Colour
• Top coat

I always found that my gels were quite thick - they weren't natural looking when looking directly at the nail and quite often they were uneven, with lumps and bumps in different parts of the nail but it seems the 'norm' in my local area. Is there any need for 2 x hard gel applications or is one sufficient? How thick are your gels?

Please can you confirm that you are qualified nail professional please? Thanks.

 

[Shauna06]

Please can you confirm that you are qualified nail professional please? Thanks.

Being qualified in gel polish does not mean qualified in hard gel application.

 

[VintageEsmerelda]

How were you taught to apply hardgels?

 

[7th-Heaven]

It's not really about "how many layers" when it comes to hard gel. This isn't gel polish. A bead of gel is picked up to build the nail, there may also be a base gel applied before this, and some people might separate the bead of gel into a couple smaller beads to build the nail, especially if the client has sensitive nails (to prevent heat spike). Most people also put down a "wet/slip layer" before applying the bead to build the apex. As long as the nail ends up correctly built, it doesn't really matter what method they use. This will depend on your system that you're using. As mentioned, some systems will require a base gel gel before the building layer. The customer might not know or care that this is a base layer, and would just consider it another layer. Of course, how much gel is needed would also depend on whether it was a new set or just an infill. If your nails ended up thick, it would be down to the nail techs application method and filing routine or lack of experience, not "how many layers".

I see you write "file buff" twice, although this is only necessary at the end.

 

[Noodle]

Being qualified in gel polish does not mean qualified in hard gel application.

It was a general question, but thank you for clarifying.