Newbie needing liquid and powder advice please

[Cheryl38]

Hello folks. I’m new here and looking for advice.
I’ve been training with Edge products but have run out of monomer. Rather than wasting the powders I have left I’d like to begin buying into a good brand. I’m still training, awaiting final result, and I didn’t realise how many brands there were!
I have a few questions to ask if you don’t mind?
So, which are the best brands to work with?
If using coloured powder instead of a polish, do you need to remove the whole enhancement each time or can you file down and go over?
Which glue do you use?
I’ve been taught to use a dehydrater, nail tip blender and an acid primer. My own nail technician doesn’t use a blender or an acid primer. Are these essential steps? If so do all brands have they’re own?

I’ve heard of glitter bels, COD, nsi and cjn brands. Which would you recommend? Or are there any others?

 

[Trinity]

From the beginning...
Best not to mix and match monomer and powder. If you've got The Edge powders left you should really use The Edge monomer with them, professional systems are designed to work together. Mixing brands can cause all sorts of issues from allergy to product breakdown which will cause lifting, breakage and various other issues. Stick within one brand for all the products for your safety and the clients.

Best brands: 50 techs will give you 50 different opinions but the most well known are CND, NSI, Young Nails, CJP are rapidly becoming a favourite (as a relatively new brand to the scene) Naio Nails (are better now than a few years back) and Entity are re-entering the scene again. I've not come across the ones you mention apart from NSI. The best brands are the ones who invest in their business and yours with quality products and quality training - cheap is not good and good is not cheap.

If using coloured powders lay down a VERY thin layer of clear before your colours then you just file off to the clear without damaging natural nail. Well pigmented powders will cover some of the colour underneath but obviously darker colours are harder to disguise.

You will always need a dehydrator to aid adhesion. Tip blender no, better to learn how to blend quickly and safely. Acid primers are for lift prone clients and should be used extremely sparingly. Some systems require a primer (non-acid or acid) some don't, depends on your brand. CND for instance is a primerless system, CJP recommend theirs. Young Nails produce a bonder called Protein Bond which is excellent, it's the only time I would ever mix and match a system as it's superb at reducing lifting in difficult clients.

 

[Cheryl38]

Thank you so much for your reply.
I’ve bought some more edge monomer to continue practicing with and I think I’ll go for cnd as a first brandcto use. I’m thinking a new technician with a lesser known brand may not get as much business??

 

[Trinity]

Thank you so much for your reply.
I’ve bought some more edge monomer to continue practicing with and I think I’ll go for cnd as a first brandcto use. I’m thinking a new technician with a lesser known brand may not get as much business??

It's difficult to say, yes a well known brand will be better for you and your business. Think about it as a client...would you go to a hairdresser that uses Wella products or one who uses some unknown brand you've never heard of????? That said, a well skilled tech can produce good quality nails with products not known by the public such as CJP for instance. They are very good, but as I said quite new to the market so the public haven't necessarily heard of them unlike CND who have been around for about 30 years - it takes time to be a household name opposed to an industry known name.

New techs will struggle for business no matter what product they use but it's all about first impressions and the work you turn out