LizzyLizzy said:
Hi all. I am new to gels. I love the benefits of gels vs.traditional acrylics, but I am having trouble getting the techniques down. I use Brisa gels. What is the best way to build up the nail bed thickness? I get the white thick enough (I think) but I end up filing it all down to get it even with the pink. Then I just end up with thin, fragile enhancements, with a somewhat bulbous free edge, but mainly I end up with flat nails. Plus, I have a hard time getting it all smooth before filing. They are quite lumpy. Is that normal, or is it just my inexperience? I am determined to get a grip on this, but I am getting discouraged. With acrylic you can get it smooth with your brush before filing. Thanks in advance!
i use ibd, so i dont know the ins-n-outs of brisa, but i do know a bit about gels. If you are filling down the white to level with the pink, you may not be putting enough pink on, try applying the pink so it is already in line with the white.
The gel should self level, if you wait just a little bit, the lumps should level out themselves, then you can stick 'em in the lamp to be cooked!
On my nvq we were told that if you were having trouble with getting the slight hump over the stress area, ask the client to turn there hand over so that their palms are facing the ceiling, then the gel will form a slight hump, dont leave it for ages tho, or it'll look like a hump back whale! LOL
we were taught 2 ways one was to load the brush up quite a bit and apply it without dragging and just teasing into shape, the other was to apply thin layer, cure then dip brush in gel, pull out so you have a long 'thread' like peice of gel hanging from it, then to pull the thread up and down the nail to build the perfect shape. cure, then layer on top to fill in any lumps n bumps.
a good idea when getting used to gel is only do a couple of fingers at a time, and maybe do the other hand whilst the first is curing. take your time, and really inspect the nail before you use the finishing wipe and buff, make sure the nail looks really smooth, if it looks like it has a slight dip in zone 2, for example when you have finished applying (but haven't wiped yet) just apply a little gel to the dip and cure it, to even it out.
sorry i go on, and im not even brisa trained, therefore all the info most probley doesnt really apply to you.
any brisa users out there to help?
ne-who good luck with it hun!!! Don't get dis-heartened! Keep at it girl!