Help please - gel techniques

[Kelson]

I am doing an NVQ level 2 in Nail Services. I do understand that any new skill can take a while go get the hang of, and just recently my confidence was starting to improve as the gel nail extensions that I was doing were improving.

Then..... I put on a full set of Gel extensions on my niece on Tuesday evening and have just found that that only 2 days later two have split......how the hell has that happened, it has never happened to me before, she assures me that she wasnt doing anything to cause this.......therefore it must be me.

Let me run you through what I do.....

File natural nail and tidy cuticle area
Remove shine from natural nail
Apply tip have been using the white tips which I find much better
Cut to size and file
NSI pure plus to dehydrate nail I do spend approx 10 seconds on each nail doing this as I did read this on here recently
NSI primer plus painted on the whole nail including extension
1st layer of NSI builder gel thin
cure
2nd layer NSI builder gel bit thicker ensuring I start in the middle of the nail to achieve the C shape
cure
Wipe off gel
feel shape
buff with white block and remove any imperfections should there be any to ensure the perfect C shape
3rd layer NSI finish gel
Cure
Wipe off gel

Please, please, please help me Ive got another two booked in tomorrow, would love to know where I am going wrong, everyone on here says about their Gel nails lasting 2-3 weeks, I get excited when mine last 3 days or more.

SHOULD I JUST THROW IN THE TOWEL :Scared::Scared::Scared:

 

[Jo_Barrett]

Could be that you didnt put the gel on thick enough on the stress areas

 

[Becky_simon]

Hi there

The only thing I can see missing is potentially using Scrnubfresh (or simlar) do clean, de-contaminate and remove debris from the nail after files etc before applying the tips?

When you say splitting, what and where do you mean?

 

[Kelson]

aahhh so use ScrubFresh before applying tip and then again after?

Not sure she just said that two had split but she put some nail glue on them and they still look good, not particularly helpful.

Thank you for your help xx

 

[emsie]

Edited

 

[Sam81]

Have you looked on the nail angel website? This has loads of great videos from NSI techs which show step by step how to use their products. Also you say you're tidying the cuticle area, are you really removing all of the cuticle from the nail plate? If not this is almost certainly why your nails are only lasting a few days. Look up Fingernail fixer on you tube, she has a brilliant video on cuticle removal. Hope that helps x

 

[Becky_simon]

aahhh so use ScrubFresh before applying tip and then again after?

Not sure she just said that two had split but she put some nail glue on them and they still look good, not particularly helpful.

Thank you for your help xx

I use scrub fresh to make sure the nail plate is 'ready' to have the tip/enhacement applied and then I would use it affer filing and blending the nail as it will pick up any dust particles and debris. You could just use a brush but I find scrubfresh does a better job.

Of course like the previous poster has said you need to make sure all cuticle is removed

 

[attitude]

In my opinion, if the tips are splitting, they were not sized correctly and were too small for the nail.

 

[Wooshka]

Please do NOT use Scrubfresh.......Nail Pure is the NSI version of Scrubfresh, Scrubfresh is CND and it is never a good idea to mix brands.

After you have filed your shape, sidewalls etc, I would do another wipe with Nail Pure.
After the primer, you should be doing a very thin lock in layer and curing, then you can do either one thick enough layer to build correct apex or do 2 layers to build your apex.

What brand tips have you used? Are they NSI Elation tips?
It is very possible you have used the wrong size tip and too much pressure has been put on the tip which will cause cracks.
Did you somehow leave a hair line fracture in the tip after cutting and shaping it, this might cause nail to split especially if there is not enough product as well.

It's possible you didn't apply enough product to begin with then you filed too much off when filing in order to get correct shape.

I gather you are only using NSI products??

I also recommend you check out Nail Angel, this will help you to learn a bit more about your lock in layer too