OPI gel soak off advice

[JulesLondon]

Hi guys,

Im a Gelish girl and also trained in artistic. I do comp soak offs for my gel clients and then charge for soak offs for gels done by other therapists.

Recently I've done two soak offs of OPI gel and it's been a complete nightmare to get off! (about 30 minutes! Argh!!)

Any top tips to get it off?! I've been breaking the seal, using acetone and wrapping as per usual with gelish. Should I just leave be leaving it longer than usual? (I do a gelish soak off in 15mins)

Thanks! X

 

[beautyxperts]

Hi guys,

Im a Gelish girl and also trained in artistic. I do comp soak offs for my gel clients and then charge for soak offs for gels done by other therapists.

Recently I've done two soak offs of OPI gel and it's been a complete nightmare to get off! (about 30 minutes! Argh!!)

Any top tips to get it off?! I've been breaking the seal, using acetone and wrapping as per usual with gelish. Should I just leave be leaving it longer than usual? (I do a gelish soak off in 15mins)

Thanks! X

Are you sure it's gel color? Only asking as I'm trained in OPI gel Color and it removes in 10 mins by "lifting" off the nail - that is genuine OPI gel color x

 

[Lisa111]

Hmm, definitely doesn't sound like Gelcolor to me. As mentioned previously it usually comes off in 10-15 mins and lifts/peels with a rubbery type of consistency.

Which remover are you using? X

 

[Lisa111]

Sorry, just read, you're using acetone. Ignore last question!

 

[JulesLondon]

Thanks so much for your replies!

That's the thing, the first client I did with the OPI gel I just assumed it was fake because it was such a nightmare coming off. Then had a completely separate client come in for OPI removal today and same thing happened!

I've soaked off shellac before no problems but not with OPI. Using pure acetone as opposed to branded so wouldn't have thought that would affect removal as all removal products are acetone based..? So strange!

 

[JulesLondon]

Sorry, just read, you're using acetone. Ignore last question!

Haha that's ok it's a valid q!

Very confused though - surely I can't have 2 random clients with fakes?! One went to a well known london salon for hers and the other has been to the same therapist for years and said she liked it because all the colours have a matching polish she can use to touch up. Both sound legit and paid the average london prices too!

 

[Lisa111]

That's very odd. Acetone should not make any difference at all in removal. Maybe try calling OPI head office and see if they can give any advice perhaps?

 

[JulesLondon]

That's very odd. Acetone should not make any difference at all in removal. Maybe try calling OPI head office and see if they can give any advice perhaps?

Good plan!

It's not so much the waiting (although it did make me a bit late today...) it's more the boredom of a lengthy soak off!

 

[Lindaa]

hey.. it is weird. I usually use acetone to get it off and it generally comes off in a few mins. I have heard that the longer its in the harder it can be to get off x

Sent from my SGH-I257M using SalonGeek mobile app

 

[Lisa111]

Yes I was thinking that too. Maybe these ladies have had them on for so long that they've cemented themselves onto the nails!
I had that with trying to get a lady's bio sculpture off. Took forever to remove as she'd had them on for ages.

 

[NancySyd]

Add me to the group thinking that it wasn't OPI Gelcolor, at least it wasn't completely OPI. The color coats might have been OPI, but perhaps the base and top coats weren't. OPI's base coat is hybrid, like CND Shellac, and is usually relatively easy to remove. Also, although acetone works pretty well, I usually use Expert Touch to remove OPI. Still, acetone should not have taken 30 mins. Perhaps a combination of a different base and top left on for a long time caused the problem.

 

[willowrose]

OPI axxium soak off gel would take longer to remove. Perhaps it was that rather than gelcolor.

 

[NancySyd]

OPI axxium soak off gel would take longer to remove. Perhaps it was that rather than gelcolor.

Good point. Axxium can be a bear to remove, especially if you were expecting Gelcolor.

 

[JulesLondon]

OPI axxium soak off gel would take longer to remove. Perhaps it was that rather than gelcolor.

What's the difference between the two? (Sorry I have no knowledge of OPI gels at all!)

Both didn't have a huge amount of regrowth and one had them on for just under 2 weeks.

Don't really want to stock and carry OPI soak off bits just in case either, especially as these were real one offs.

Strange too as I've removed shellac in the past and not had a problem at all!

Thanks for all your input guys. Anyone else that has thoughts please add! xx

 

[willowrose]

OPI Gelcolor comes in a polish pot, has solvents in the base coat for swift removal & is notoriously as easy as shellac to remove.

OPI Axxium soak off is a coloured pot based gel which is applied with a separate brush like bio sculpture. It is a much thicker viscosity & this leads to a longer removal. They have just discontinued it but many salons still stock it. Both ranges come in the same OPI colour spectrum but Axxium is a lot tougher & you can build with it.

Axxium takes around 30mins to remove vs 10mins or less with gelcolor.

 

[JulesLondon]

OPI Gelcolor comes in a polish pot, has solvents in the base coat for swift removal & is notoriously as easy as shellac to remove.



OPI Axxium soak off is a coloured pot based gel which is applied with a separate brush like bio sculpture. It is a much thicker viscosity & this leads to a longer removal. They have just discontinued it but many salons still stock it. Both ranges come in the same OPI colour spectrum but Axxium is a lot tougher & you can build with it.



Axxium takes around 30mins to remove vs 10mins or less with gelcolor.

Ahh ok then. Thanks so much for the answer! It was definitely gelcolor in that case. Both had thin coatings like shellac/gelish rather than bio sculpt. Xx

 

[willowrose]

Ahh ok then. Thanks so much for the answer! It was definitely gelcolor in that case. Both had thin coatings like shellac/gelish rather than bio sculpt. Xx

If applied as an overlay it will look like any other gel overlay system.

No one can give you a categoric answer because we haven't seen it applied. But there really aren't many options.

1. It wasn't opi at all
2. It was axxium which takes a lot longer to remove than gelcolor.

Gelcolor simply does not take that long to remove due to the solvents in the base coat.