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jane369

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Jun 13, 2011
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Location
Mansfield Notts
Hi I have just completed my registration with Salon Geek after spending hours looking through the forums whilst recovering from a broken toe !!!

I have picked up lots of useful tips and information - Thank you !!

Can you help me with a question ?

I have just bought some gelish after reading reviews of it and purchased the vitagel instead of the foundation and have tried it out on myself before clients. I have experienced chipping/peeling :-(

Is the foundation better and more reliable ?

I have been using Shellac and IBD just gel previously. I am thinking of selling my shellac off as I find it can be temperamental and fed up of throwing away half the base and top coats as they are going thick. I love the Just Gel but I have been tempted to get some Gelish after reading all the posts on it !

I want to get it right first time for my clients so any help would be appreciated !!

Kind regards Jane
 
Have you attended training for gelish and shellac?
 
Why do you ask Emily?
 
Hi I have just completed my registration with Salon Geek after spending hours looking through the forums whilst recovering from a broken toe !!!

I have picked up lots of useful tips and information - Thank you !!

Can you help me with a question ?

I have just bought some gelish after reading reviews of it and purchased the vitagel instead of the foundation and have tried it out on myself before clients. I have experienced chipping/peeling :-(

Is the foundation better and more reliable ?

I have been using Shellac and IBD just gel previously. I am thinking of selling my shellac off as I find it can be temperamental and fed up of throwing away half the base and top coats as they are going thick. I love the Just Gel but I have been tempted to get some Gelish after reading all the posts on it !

I want to get it right first time for my clients so any help would be appreciated !!

Kind regards Jane

Vita lgel is not a replacement for foundation, I have found it peels when directly applied to natural nail, others I think have had more success. I love vitagel has helped my nails after a battering from extensions, but I know it will do its thing and peel off v fast. You can use vitagel after foundation for the usual gelish service, harmony had a live chat on their fb page as caused so many techs issues. Get your foundation gel and you will see how fab this product is!
 
Vitagel is a stregth and nourish product for damaged and weak nails. Its not a substitute for foundation x
 
Hi Everyone, thanks for your help on my question. Damn I have used it on a client today as she wanted one of my gelish colours so went ahead and used the vitagel as the base coat :-(

I spoke to the area trainer some time last week as I had seen her contact details on the Harmony website I think it was. She told me to put two thin coats on then colour, nothing about foundation first !!!

Just so you all know I have done the official Shellac training so was wondering if I needed it ? There is one planned in May at my local Sally's however I am away on holiday then so I don't know when the next one will be.

Its always nice to have another certificate !!!! Bit concerned about getting wrong information though re the Vitagel.

When I took Shellac on last year I did the training and bought my kit from Ellisons at Leicester and was on the point of a nervous breakdown after a few weeks - so frustrating, on some clients it was perfect 2, 3, even 4 weeks down the line and some were coming back in a matter of days with chipping :-( I was recommended IBD Just Gel polish by Sparkles my local supplier, they too stock Shellac but said other people found it temperamental like I did.

I have had more success with the Just Gel but still some clients experience chips so whilst chatting to Sallys they told me that it just doesn't budge on anyone, and having read countless discussions on Salon Geek I am now building my colours of Gelish too !

I bought a Gellux profile LED lamp when I took on Just Gel and I really am not convinced it is working correctly so am using my Shellac uv lamp. It does seem to last longer when I use this.

Has anyone got experience of this lamp ? I am doing the 30 seconds it suggests. Debbie at Sparkles says she hasn't had any other complaints but suggested I cure the top coat for longer. I have to say I really do not understand the LED lamp workings are there different strengths as there is in UV ? I am convinced it is not curing effectively as I can see colour on my top coat brush - surely this should not be happening ?

If anyone can give me any further advice I would appreciate it :)

Thanks, Jane
 
you say your local supplier stocks shellac?? you can only get shellac from s2 or ellisons?? i am a little confused by your post hun.

if you have had official training and use offical products then i am not sure why you are having problems with shellac or why you are throwing away bottles of top and base coat...i use mine right to the last little drop in the bottom!
 
I think if you have been given false information or info that's not thorough enough you should call Nail Harmony directly. When Vitagel was launched it was never advertised as a foundation or as a substitute for foundation. If you're not Gelish trained then I highly recommend the course as all systems are different x
 
I purchased my shellac kit including cnd lamp from Ellisons and have bought a few others from my beauty supplies in Worksop which is where I got my vitagel from.

I have had several bottles of shellac base and top but they have all gone gloopy before I have finished them so no idea why this is happening.

I would like to do the Gelish Training I just need to find one local and soon I think !!

Going to get a foundation base coat from Sallys VAT free tomorrow and Gelish my own nails before going away to test it out myself :D

If I use the foundation first then the Vitagel (is it one or two coats ? ) then two coats of colour then Top it Off does the Vitagel still soak through and condition the nails ? Does it last as long as usual (without the Vitagel?)

How are you all marketing the Vitagel - as a stand alone treatment or with colour ?

Thanks everyone !

Jane
 
I purchased my shellac kit including cnd lamp from Ellisons and have bought a few others from my beauty supplies in Worksop which is where I got my vitagel from.

I have had several bottles of shellac base and top but they have all gone gloopy before I have finished them so no idea why this is happening.

I would like to do the Gelish Training I just need to find one local and soon I think !!

Going to get a foundation base coat from Sallys VAT free tomorrow and Gelish my own nails before going away to test it out myself :D

If I use the foundation first then the Vitagel (is it one or two coats ? ) then two coats of colour then Top it Off does the Vitagel still soak through and condition the nails ? Does it last as long as usual (without the Vitagel?)

How are you all marketing the Vitagel - as a stand alone treatment or with colour ?

Thanks everyone !

Jane

I'm not unless I get someone with damaged nails then I explain its benefits but that it will not hold up for long, say a gap between manicures. find it helps lift hard gel or acrylics that don't want to budge as well but that could be coincidence! if you can find the chat on the harmony page worth a read you can put after foundation one coat then colour and it should offer benefits and last the distance, lots of techs discussing that point. Haven't tried this myself as I get narky about peeling colour so daren't risk it. I have found same with my shellac top coat in particular its pretty vile however think its got one more in then for the bin if not ran out already. X
 
I think if you have been given false information or info that's not thorough enough you should call Nail Harmony directly. When Vitagel was launched it was never advertised as a foundation or as a substitute for foundation. If you're not Gelish trained then I highly recommend the course as all systems are different x

We were taught that Vitagel was indeed a replacement for foundation insofar as if you use Vitagel under Gelish you apply the Vitagel directly to the natural nail and the Gelish color coats directly on the cured Vitagel. All of the Vitagel applications we were taught (alone, under Gelish, under rnp), have the Vitagel applied directly to the natural nail.

I just went to check the HNH website and it has it the same way - http://www.nailharmony.com/products/vitagel-by-gelish.html
 
To be honest I'd forget about the vitagel for now if I was you, get some foundation and just use gelish normally. I also highly recommend doing the training with harmony, it's not expensive. They are very good though so I'm sure you could talk to them about application while waiting for training. x
 
We were taught that Vitagel was indeed a replacement for foundation insofar as if you use Vitagel under Gelish you apply the Vitagel directly to the natural nail and the Gelish color coats directly on the cured Vitagel. All of the Vitagel applications we were taught (alone, under Gelish, under rnp), have the Vitagel applied directly to the natural nail.

I just went to check the HNH website and it has it the same way - http://www.nailharmony.com/products/vitagel-by-gelish.html

Have you had good success with that method? It is marketed as being able to be used that way, I def cannot get it to work half aswell as expected :-/
 
Have you had good success with that method? It is marketed as being able to be used that way, I def cannot get it to work half aswell as expected :-/

It has been hard for the techs to use, very thick and hard to get on thin, especially the Recovery. A lot of peeling off. Requires a lot of practice to get it right, but we find that nails are in very good shape when removed, so six of one...
 
We were taught that Vitagel was indeed a replacement for foundation insofar as if you use Vitagel under Gelish you apply the Vitagel directly to the natural nail and the Gelish color coats directly on the cured Vitagel. All of the Vitagel applications we were taught (alone, under Gelish, under rnp), have the Vitagel applied directly to the natural nail.

I just went to check the HNH website and it has it the same way - Vitagel Soak-Off Gel Nail Strengthener


So does it last long for you ?
I think I am just going to use foundation - I cant afford for clients to be unhappy ! Off to Sallys tomorrow for vat free day :)
 
We were taught that Vitagel was indeed a replacement for foundation insofar as if you use Vitagel under Gelish you apply the Vitagel directly to the natural nail and the Gelish color coats directly on the cured Vitagel. All of the Vitagel applications we were taught (alone, under Gelish, under rnp), have the Vitagel applied directly to the natural nail.

I just went to check the HNH website and it has it the same way - http://www.nailharmony.com/products/vitagel-by-gelish.html

You definitely can't use Vitagel as a foundation for Gelish on its own. You have to use foundation on top. I think I might call NH tomorrow as this is definitely not how I was trained and Vitagel isn't strong enough on its own to hold the Gelish
 
It has been hard for the techs to use, very thick and hard to get on thin, especially the Recovery. A lot of peeling off. Requires a lot of practice to get it right, but we find that nails are in very good shape when removed, so six of one...

Your right even a day or two the nail condition is amazing such a good treatment
 
So does it last long for you ?
I think I am just going to use foundation - I cant afford for clients to be unhappy ! Off to Sallys tomorrow for vat free day :)

You definitely can't use Vitagel as a foundation for Gelish on its own. You have to use foundation on top. I think I might call NH tomorrow as this is definitely not how I was trained and Vitagel isn't strong enough on its own to hold the Gelish

We inform clients of what we think the trade-offs are. Right now, Vitagel under Gelish lasts about ten days, which is a little more than half of the time using Foundation. For some clients with damaged nails, that's an okay trade-off, especially since their nails are in such good shape when it is removed. For others, not so much.

Well, I hear what you say about using Foundation with Vitagel, but that's not how we were trained and not how HNH advertises it. And the training video doesn't include Foundation - VitaGel - the Revolutionary Vitamin Nail Strengthener - YouTube But I know that once products are in the field, adjustments are made. The problems we have with using Vitagel have not been adhesion between the Vitagel and the color coat, it's between the Vitagel and the nail; it peels cleanly off (but the nails always look great!).
 
Well it seems you're right Nancy. Called NH today and they told me that on launch they didn't train techs to use this without foundation but now they do. Very interesting indeed.
 

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