Shellac or alternative gel polish brand?

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Lisamv

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I’ve been using shellac for years, but have some problems with the odd client not lasting which is tempting me to invest in a gel brand also. The only thing that puts me off is the removal. I’m just looking at different brands but there are so many it’s hard to pick!
What’s your gel brand removal like, how long does it take to remove? and how long does it last? Do you charge more for this than shellac removal? Do you feel it’s more damaging to the nail? And if you offer shellac and gel which one do and your clients prefer?
Sorry for all the questions!
 
I'd be interested in knowing the above aswell. I'm thinking of adding a second gel brand into my nail services to use along Shellac so am interested to know what people's recommendations are and why ☺
 
I have some shellac, but I also have OPI, OPI works beautifully, and still removes easily with a light buff to the top coat seal. I use the Bond Aid with my clients who struggle with keeping it on and it works well.

I also have Gellux and bluesky - Gellux is a pain to remove in 90% of cases and bluesky isn’t easy (but with foil wraps it removes easier then Gellux)
 
I m obviously biased but I use the flirties gel polish, It seems to cover well, easy to apply and remove and there is heaps of colours to choose from too x
 
I have some shellac, but I also have OPI, OPI works beautifully, and still removes easily with a light buff to the top coat seal. I use the Bond Aid with my clients who struggle with keeping it on and it works well.

I also have Gellux and bluesky - Gellux is a pain to remove in 90% of cases and bluesky isn’t easy (but with foil wraps it removes easier then Gellux)

Thank you, I was thinking about OPI. How long does removal take?
 
I m obviously biased but I use the flirties gel polish, It seems to cover well, easy to apply and remove and there is heaps of colours to choose from too x

I’ve trained in flirties brows and lashes so this is tempting [emoji846]
 
I also use flirties gel polish. Clients are getting at least 3 weeks wear. They are well priced to
 
I have some shellac, but I also have OPI, OPI works beautifully, and still removes easily with a light buff to the top coat seal. I use the Bond Aid with my clients who struggle with keeping it on and it works well.

I also have Gellux and bluesky - Gellux is a pain to remove in 90% of cases and bluesky isn’t easy (but with foil wraps it removes easier then Gellux)
What's bond aid?
 
I think the days of only carrying one kind of gel polish (Shellac) are over and that most techs use two or three different brands. I think this allows us to use the most appropriate brand for each client and to have an overall "arsenal" that suits anyone. My go to brand is OPI, but I think it replicates a lot of the qualities of CND Shellac. My favorite brands are LeChat, Artistic Colour Gloss and Cuccio, all of which have outstanding colour ranges and last close to three weeks. Shellac is the gold standard for easy removal, but OPI's hybrid base also has easy removal, especially using Expert Touch. The others are not as easy, but I find that patience and perhaps some heat still make for easy removals. Done properly, no gel polish removal should cause any damage. I didn't charge differently for different brands, but I found most clients chose based on what colors they liked!
 
What's bond aid?
Bond aid is OPIs systems prep ph balancer
I agree with all Nancy said but I changed away from OPI but I did like when I used it and I never fell in love to shellac like other did. Its take me about 10 minute to remove opi gel. I use many brands now and like having option for clients.
 
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Thank you, I was thinking about OPI. How long does removal take?

No more then 10 mins with foil wraps usually! My clients know opi is the best for removal (as most do itthem selves) so tend to gravitate towards it!
 
Ink is a really good product and reasonably priced too ...
 
I am currently looking into The Gel Bottle inc.
As it sseems to be really taking off and also last longer. I currently use CNd which last average around10 14 days and removes like a dream. Blue Sky which last really well great to wrk with and removes slightly harder than shellac. I also work with opi gel which is good for some clients but not all. And i hate taking it off it takes ages compare to shellac. IBD is fanatstic for the nail plate at the primer really protects nails and not to hard to remove.
I always use Disolve cnd or acetone on cotton wool with CND clips for removal .
 
I have some shellac, but I also have OPI, OPI works beautifully, and still removes easily with a light buff to the top coat seal. I use the Bond Aid with my clients who struggle with keeping it on and it works well.

I also have Gellux and bluesky - Gellux is a pain to remove in 90% of cases and bluesky isn’t easy (but with foil wraps it removes easier then Gellux)

Hello. Which brand is the Bond Aide please?
 
Reading all of your replies, I'm just interested to know if you are holding more than one brand of gel, do you have the brand lamp too for each brand, or are you successfully using one lamp for all your brands?
 
Reading all of your replies, I'm just interested to know if you are holding more than one brand of gel, do you have the brand lamp too for each brand, or are you successfully using one lamp for all your brands?

Yes, I have the correct lamps for the brands I use. I have even proved to myself that not all lamps cure the same. When I first started trialling TGB's BIAB they didn't have their own lamp and recommended using a 48w lamp so I used my INK lamp (which is 48w.). I wasn't confident that it was curing properly though and experienced a lot of heat spikes. As soon as they started selling their own lamp I bought it and noticed an immediate improvement and virtually no heat spikes.
The other worrying thing about lamps is we have no way of knowing ourselves if they really have cured the product properly as it isnt always visible as gel hardens at 50% cured, but this is not enough. Although you will hear many nail techs say they use Xxxx lamp to cure YYYY gel and have "no problems" - they won't know if they or their clients are being exposed to under cured product which over time could cause a permanent allergic reaction.
 
Thanks for the confirmation originally I thought any lamp could work, but reading everyone's advice, I see now why that isn't true. Thanks for the feedback!!
 
I've just started using Ikon.iQ Nails hypoallergenic Prima gels and did my first full soak off yesterday. By the time I had finished wrapping the last finger the gel on the first one was good to go, practically fell off... I'm well happy! [emoji5]

The base is thick like BIAB, the colours go on perfectly in just one coat and the gloss is amazing. I'm seeing three to four weeks wear time with it depending on how much wear and tear it gets.

The added bonus with it being hypoallergenic is that I'm getting new clients who haven't been able to wear gels for ages due to allergies. They're over the moon about it.
 
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I'm so envious!!I wish we had access to Ikon.iQ Nails. Everybody raves about their products. Fingers crossed it won't be too long before they venture into South Africa
 

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