Questions on gel application and general techniques

[Prionace]

Hi!

I just gathered some questions I wanted to ask you about gel application and general techniques,

1- Before applying gel for the 1st time do u push back the cuticles and remove the pterygium using any product or just a birchwood stick (or another tool)?

2- Do u cure the 5 fingers of each hand at the same time or do u cure 4 fingers of each hand and then the thumbs together?

3- How long do u cure each layer (and witch product and lamp do u use)?

4- Do u use 1 or 2 UV light on your work station?

5- When doing a rebalance do you apply a bonding agent to the regrowth area, to the hole nail, or don’t apply at all?

6- Do u use an e-file? If yes witch bits do u use to do what?

7- When your client has only a tiny piece of tip do u leave it until it grows completely out or do u remove it to make the nail less prone to breakage?

8- Do u apply 1 or 2 layers of top gloss gel?

9- Witch brush do u find better for gel application? Small, large, square, round or do u have several, one for each task?

10- I know files can either be thrown away, washed and sanitised or kept in an envelope for each client. How about buffing blocks and 3 way buffers? Do u use the same system for them as files or threat them differently?

Sorry for this long list, but thanks if you can give me some answers

 

[geeg]

Hi ...

Just read your bio and is states that you are wanting to become a nail technician to earn some extra money while you study Marine Biology.

My suggestion is that you take a class and become qualified at using which ever system or brand with which you wish to work. Systems vary greatly and there are no generic answers to your questions.

This is a teachihng site FOR professionals ... not for the untrained ... that would be impossible. :lol: I hope you understand. You are most welcome on the site to learn as much as you can, but this site is not a substitute for the classroom. All of your questions would be answered on a basic foundation class with the chosen product.

 

[Prionace]

Sorry for my profile, it should been updated. I'm currently taking an Essential Nails course in order to be qualified. I didn't found many options in the area i live (south of Portugal). But i've now searching for adicional training, i've contacted Creative distributor is Spain/Portugal/Andorra to see if it is possible to attend some classes in Malaga or Cordoba (I've even sent you a PM asking if you where the distributor, remember?)
Also, i've been seriously considering enrolling in a nail business rather than Marine Biology, over the last few years i've found that there aren't many career oportunities in this area in Portugal .
The nail business is rapidly growing in Portugal and it is almost unexistant in my area, since i've seen to have grown a passion for this, it seems like a good career oportunity to me .
Actually i'm almost thru with my course, i'm loving it, and i've been getting pretty good results, but i'm always seeking new ways for improvent.
Maybe this is a bit off context, but this weekend i went to visit my family at Oporto, and the nail business in blooming over there, unfortunatly i broke one of my nails (witch i do myself). Since i've never had my nails done by anyone else i often wondered how they were suposed to look, and if my work was very different from a pro. So i went to a nail salon near my family's home witch seems to have lots of business and asked them if they could repair my nail (a corner was missing), they said yes and i became a little bit horrified with their work. The nail tech didn't disinfect my hand(s) or their's. The files and buffing blocks were the same for all clients. The e-file was only clensed with nail wipe/polish remover, the brushes were in a cup with no cover whatsoever and were quite old. She used a reusable nail forma that had seen better days and wasn't even clensed before put away. She used a clear gel to repair a french manicure. The final result was a bulky nail, not very good looking. Even thow the hole experience creeped me out i did not complain, it served to make me understand the current standards for the nail industry in our country. Hopefully if i do enroll in the nail business i can help to set higher standarts

 

[geeg]

Sorry for my profile, it should been updated. I'm currently taking an Essential Nails course in order to be qualified. I didn't found many options in the area i live (south of Portugal). But i've now searching for adicional training, i've contacted Creative distributor is Spain/Portugal/Andorra to see if it is possible to attend some classes in Malaga or Cordoba (I've even sent you a PM asking if you where the distributor, remember?)
Also, i've been seriously considering enrolling in a nail business rather than Mareen Biology, over the last few years i've found that there aren't many career oportunities in this area in Portugal .
The nail business is rapidly growing in Portugal and it is almost unexistant in my area, since i've seen to have grown a passion for this, it seems like a good career oportunity to me .
Actually i'm almost thru with my course, i'm loving it, and i've been getting pretty good results, but i'm always seeking new ways for improvent.
Maybe this is a bit off context, but this weekend i went to visit my family at Oporto, and the nail business in blooming over there, unfortunatly i broke one of my nails (witch i do myself). Since i've never had my nails done by anyone else i often wondered how they were suposed to look, and if my work was very different from a pro. So i went to a nail salon near my family's home witch seems to have lots of business and asked them if they could repair my nail (a corner was missing), they said yes and i became a little bit horrified with their work. The nail tech didn't disinfect my hand(s) or their's. The files and buffing blocks were the same for all clients. The e-file was only clensed with nail wipe/polish remover, the brushes were in a cup with no cover whatsoever and were quite old. She used a reusable nail forma that had seen better days and wasn't even clensed before put away. She used a clear gel to repair a french manicure. The final result was a bulky nail, not very good looking. Even thow the hole experience creeped me out i did not complain, it served to make me understand the current standards for the nail industry in our country. Hopefully if i do enroll in the nail business i can help to set higher standarts

Well I certaily applaud your standards although one visit to a bad technician does not indicate that the standards in Portugal as a whole are bad ... just means you went to a bad technician.

You must be dong an Essential Nails course in some system other than gel I am assuming as all your questions are about gel and I would have thought all these questions would have been addressed on the video. I believe Essential Nails do a gel course as well.

My Niece is a Marine Biologist in the USA but does another job now for the same reasons as you .... not enough opportunities and low pay ... she could make more in a restaurant (nice after 4 years study and a degree isn't it?)

 

[Prionace]

Actually, here Marine Biology is 5 years, waaay to much time...
Yes, i'm taking the gel course, and this questions are more or less covered, but techniques evolve constantly and i'fve found that some techs do things diffently, so i how like to know what experienced techs find more effective. For example we are taught to cure 1st the 4 fingers on one hand, then the 4 fingers on the other and then the thumbs together to avoid having them sideways under the lamps, alowing the gel to slide and then ending up with loopsided nails, but it seems that in some toturials the 5 fingers are cured together and i would like to know if the final result is good. (Maybe the hole hand lamps cure faster not giving the gel time to slide). If this can be done without compromising the final result, then i should get myself another lamp in order to save some time
That's why i posed all of these questions, maybe the answers can help me to be more efficient
And yes you are right, maybe i'e just came across a bad nail tech or salon but if they have plenty of clients maybe they aren't aware of how salon procedures should be and how good their nail should look. Next time i go there i'll have a quick snoop around some other salons. At least to see if they too use the same files on everyone.

 

[geeg]

Actually, here Mareen Biology is 5 years, waaay to much time...
Yes, i'm taking the gel course, and this questions are more or less covered, but techniques evolve constantly and i'fve found that some tech do thing diffently, so i how like to know what experienced techs find more effective. For example we are taught to cure 1st the 4 fingers on one hand, then the 4 fingers on the other and then the thumbs together to avoid having them sideways on the lamps, alowing the gel to slide and then ending up with loopsided nails, but it seems that in some toturial the 5 fingers are cured together and i would like to know if the final result is good. (Maybe the hole hand lamps cure faster not giving the gel time to slide). If this can be done without compromising the final result, then i should get myself another lamp in order to save some time
That's why i posed all of these questions, maybe the answers can help me to be more efficient

It depends entirely on the system and the UV Lamp used with that system, as to how it is best to cure it and to apply it.

Some gels are runny. Some hardly move. Some gels sag. Some gels require a low out put of UV light and others require a lamp with bulbs that give a very HIGH output of UV light. Systems differ, are not all the same and different rules apply to different systems. You cannot always buy any old UV lamp for any old gel system ... it can actually be dangerous to your client to do so if the lamp you have chosen does not completely cure the product! this is one example of why product knowledge is so important to a technician.

Most courses teach you to work in the most efficient methods for the particular system with which you are learning. I would stick to the recommendations they give you on the Essential Nails course and if you change systems in the future then attend a class for that paricular system.