Shellac timings

[Pinkthistle kirby]

Hey geeks, I would love to hear what your timings are for shellac. I got a new job and the salon are only allowing 30min for shellac I'm really struggling with this as I was taught to do full cuticle work before application and I find it impossible to file,do that and apply in 30mins. I think they are getting frustrated with me as I'm always running behind after shellac appointments. They said I should be telling the clients to book a manicure with shellac if they have bad cuticles but then that's going to cost them a fortune. So maybe I have to cut back on the amount of work I do, I just think I'm not going to be doing the job right if I don't tidy them properly. What do you guys do? Im an experienced therapist of 15 years but only been shellacking for a year.

 

[fluffy26]

This is ridiculous..... 30 minutes for shellac! Just a polish maybe, but I, like you also do full cuticle work & file before shellac, that is why I call it a shellac manicure because that's exactly what you get & what you are paying for, it's part of the shellac process for goodness sake!!! On request I can just do a shellac polish but don't openly advertise this service as I feel it's not ideal & I don't feel it does my work justice! I'm an experienced therapist (18+ yrs!) I would say a shellac manicure can take me anywhere between 45-1.15 depending on the amount of prep I have to do to the clients nails. My advice to you would be to talk to the salon manager/owner, if their not beauty trained & tell them 30 minutes is not a realistic or reasonable time for shellac & you feel it is comprising the quality of your work, maybe you could try 50 minutes? Talk to them their only human!! X

 

[Pinkthistle kirby]

This is ridiculous..... 30 minutes for shellac! Just a polish maybe, but I, like you also do full cuticle work & file before shellac, that is why I call it a shellac manicure because that's exactly what you get & what you are paying for, it's part of the shellac process for goodness sake!!! On request I can just do a shellac polish but don't openly advertise this service as I feel it's not ideal & I don't feel it does my work justice! I'm an experienced therapist (18+ yrs!) I would say a shellac manicure can take me anywhere between 45-1.15 depending on the amount of prep I have to do to the clients nails. My advice to you would be to talk to the salon manager/owner, if their not beauty trained & tell them 30 minutes is not a realistic or reasonable time for shellac & you feel it is comprising the quality of your work, maybe you could try 50 minutes? Talk to them their only human!! X

Thank you, this is what I think too, iv spoken to them a lot about it and said that I feel I'm compromising on my work to try to fit in the timings but the other girls seem to just get on with it so they are probably just thinking I'm being unreasonable. I love everything else about the salon but this is a major bone of contention. I also love doing nail art but there is not a hope of me fitting that in either. I just don't know what to do. I suppose I wanted to see what the general feeling is and if I found that most of you took longer then 30mins then I could possibly show them this thread to back up my views. But if 30mins was the average then I'd just have to suck it up to try to not be so picky about the cuticles.

 

[noreenoconnor]

Many salons leave out cuticle work but still charge the going rate of a true shellac manicure I personally think it's just as bad as using a cheap knock off brand and passing it off as Shellac. Your clients are paying for a full service and getting half a service.

unfortunately as your employed there is not much you can do. In 30 mins you really only have time to file and polish, particularly if a colour needs 3 coats. I suspect the salon owner knows this but prefers quantity over quality.

 

[pinknsparkly]

I can do it in 30 mins with cuticle work but where I used to work a few years back, we were expected to do it in 15 mins with no cuticle work so just got super quick. My staff take about 45-50 min though

 

[GWEN321]

I can do shellac in 30 mins with cuticle work, but 45 mins with soak off but over Christmas we book off 45mins for shellac (no soak off) and an hour for soak off as most clients want Nail art such as Santa/reindeers/etc

 

[JERSEY JOCK]

45 mins no soak off
60 mins with soak off

 

[Pinkthistle kirby]

Think I'm just going to have to get on with it, but I just would die if clients started coming back with lifting due to me not being meticulous about the cuticles. Thanks all for your input I am thankful they are not giving me 15 mins!!!

 

[noreenoconnor]

I can do it in 30 mins with cuticle work but where I used to work a few years back, we were expected to do it in 15 mins with no cuticle work so just got super quick. My staff take about 45-50 min though

How do you do it so quickly?

Have you any time saving tips etc ?

 

[ButterflyQ]

CND say you have to do the cuticle work in order for it to be a proper CND Shellac manicure. They don't allow you to do just file and polish because the nail needs the prep work, and as a premium brand they maintain the integrity of the industry by insuring clients get a full and proper service and don't cut corners. Maybe take it up with CND and see what they say? That's what I was taught when I trained with CND!
Timings wise, we do 45 minutes for a Shellac Manicure, 60 minutes with soak off. Extra 10 mins added if they want glitter or nail art etc xxx

 

[IBUK]

We allow 45mins for Shellac but we have 2 members of staff who can do this in 30 with full pep. They are both Shellac Trained and Master Painters

 

[GWEN321]

What I do is the minute they come in take coat and if they want cup of tea we have trainee to do tea, get them to sit down the shellac colours are all on a shelf on a wall where they can see so I ask what colours do you like want etc whilst pushing the cuticles back then cut cuticles then ask shape and then I shape the nails etc bring 2/3 colours down for them they liked so if they said red I would bring 3 choices of red I think they'd like put a sample of each on their nails get them to choose scrub fresh nails and begin , don't stop what you're doing to talk I used to do this and I'd go over time just talk whilst prepping and colouring I have the fast shellac lamp also so that helps a lot!

 

[glitz and glam]

I've been doing Gelish for almost 4 years now and with full prep and the new lamp that is 5sec for base coats and 30 s for colours ( two coats ) and also top coat. In my salon i have a online diary and you have 15min times slots, so we have Gelish set at 45 mins, and 1hour for soak off and new sets. This includes cleaning down the desk too. I have one girl who works for me and when she first started she needed a little longer so I told her it had to be 50 mins with working her time down, it really didn't take long. This is how we do it, greet client and sit her down make coffee while she chooses colour I then start prep and duscuss colours if needed they client has narrowed her choice down by then or even chosen. Then do the Gelish manicure step by step. These things helped my therapist to get her times down.... Have all Gelish products ( except colour) laid out on desk in order to use so your not hunting for the right bottle, talk to the clients hand, keep momentum, don't keep clock watching that will slow you down for sure but a nurses watch on your tunic can really help. I've even started discussing with my client what colour they might like at their next app ( mainly because of Xmas) and putting their fav/s on their client card. With a removal too get their nails wrapped and then use that time to make her a coffee, choose colours ect. Pressures not helping, maybe ask if you can just extend by 5 mins while you get your timings down a bit or if they would put you on a shellac workshop ? . It is achievable to do in 30mins if you've had a fair bit of practise, ok cuticles and they are decisive about their colour good luck, don't be disheartened I think the recommended time is 45 mins.

 

[Emily S]

I do in 30 minutes, 40 minutes with removal.

PEP should take 15 minutes and then 15 minutes for polishing. I work back to back and only ever book these timings out, even clients with more 'awkward' nails I do it and all prep work is good.

Where are you building your time up?

 

[Sparrow23]

Hey geeks, I would love to hear what your timings are for shellac. I got a new job and the salon are only allowing 30min for shellac I'm really struggling with this as I was taught to do full cuticle work before application and I find it impossible to file,do that and apply in 30mins. I think they are getting frustrated with me as I'm always running behind after shellac appointments. They said I should be telling the clients to book a manicure with shellac if they have bad cuticles but then that's going to cost them a fortune. So maybe I have to cut back on the amount of work I do, I just think I'm not going to be doing the job right if I don't tidy them properly. What do you guys do? Im an experienced therapist of 15 years but only been shellacking for a year.

A basic mani with gel should take around 35 min. If they need extra cuticle work you need to advise them to upgrade their service. The time also is shorter with the CND LED lamp. Basically if they are paying for a basic they need to get a basic. Time is money. You should advise that they really need an upgrade at that without it you can not guarantee a full 2 weeks. It is not fair for you to do 20 min... Cuticle work and only get paid for a basic. It is tough to let go of perfection but if they are not willing to pay you need to do the basic.

 

[pinknsparkly]

How do you do it so quickly?

Have you any time saving tips etc ?

I think it's just practice my cuticle work and prep takes me 15 mins and I'm just super fast at polishing, one of my regular clients actually commented on it the other week she timed me putting on one layer of French white on in a perfect smile on both hands and it took 3o seconds then I have a big double lamp which is not led as I can't be bothered swapping lamps about as do gel nails at the same table a lot too....... so I guess I really save time on application.

 

[loobylou22]

What do you all do for nail repairs? Also do you charge for soak off?? I'm £18 inc soak off, repairs and whether or not they want a feature nail, glitter fade etc and always book out an hour. Xxx

 

[noreenoconnor]

I think it's just practice my cuticle work and prep takes me 15 mins and I'm just super fast at polishing, one of my regular clients actually commented on it the other week she timed me putting on one layer of French white on in a perfect smile on both hands and it took 3o seconds then I have a big double lamp which is not led as I can't be bothered swapping lamps about as do gel nails at the same table a lot too....... so I guess I really save time on application.

How do you do your cuticle work? Do you use a knife/pusher and a curette?

 

[littlebluebird]

I am finding I take from 50 minutes to an hour depending on how much prep their nails need. Filing and reshaping long or uneven nails takes me the longest! I have got my cuticle work timing down but only by not being quite as thorough as I would like to be. Still removing as much as I can but I would like to be able to clip off all the dry untidy bits aswell and make them look super neat and photography worthy lol but I am simply not fast enough without running over my appointment times. This is bearing in mind that currently I do about 2-4 shellac mani's a month, I'm sure if I was doing them much more frequently I could improve my times with practice.

 

[packerfan]

Ridiculous is right by the time you remove the old polish all you would have time to do is paint you need to do the cuticles I would tell your employer to watch a video and then see what they have to say