Should I change my Gelish for CND Shellac

[claire cannings]

Hi everyone
I'm so indecisive about this, Ive been using gelish for about a year! I used shellac the other day and loved using it. It came off much easier aswell. I also really like the fact shellac has matching vinylux and that vinylux dries so quickly! I've heard you can stamp well with vinylux too??? Should I sell my gelish and start with shellac? Would I need to do the shellac conversion course as well does anyone know? Xx

 

[AcidPerm]

When I was doing Nails, I offered OPI & Gelish as I don't think one product range is suitable for everyone.

You could look at investing in Shellac and offer it alongside Gelish and after six months, review how each service has performed in terms of profitability.
I certainly wouldn't consider selling all the Gelish kit until you were certain your existing clients prefer Shellac.

 

[claire cannings]

When I was doing Nails, I offered OPI & Gelish as I don't think one product range is suitable for everyone.

You could look at investing in Shellac and offer it alongside Gelish and after six months, review how each service has performed in terms of profitability.
I certainly wouldn't consider selling all the Gelish kit until you were certain your existing clients prefer Shellac.

Thanks, I don't really have many regular clients as I'm still doing my level 3 at college. I thought before I start up properly possibly swapping brands x

 

[blossom]

I have used CND Shellac for 4 years and it is not suitable for everyone although very gentle system.

I also offer Gellux now, perfect for all the people Shellac doesn't suit, and only slightly longer/more tedious to remove.

Shellac is certainly the least profitable of everything I offer. I charge the max for my area considering I work from home with no overheads as well but it still is the least profitable by far.

 

[noreenoconnor]

CND Shellac is a premium brand, and so deserves a premium price tag. Just because others offer it for cheaper in your area doesn't mean you have to I often find those who offer it for cheaper are cutting corners and are not giving the true CND Shellac Treatment as it is meant to be given.

I do think Shellac is grossly underpriced for what we do, but I think that because people don't appreciate the value of a true Shellac Manicure, We need to educate our clients on why we are worth the extra money, I'm on a mission to raise my prices and prove to everyone here in Cork why it's worth it to pay more for a proper shellac manicure.

I looked into a lot of salons in my area who charge €30 for shellac (and thats the highest i can find) but all they do is file , buff the nail (!) , and paint. 20 mins and the client is out the door. I too charge €30, but do a detailed cuticle work, with neat precision painting and gentle removal using all CND products, it takes me 45mins-1hour. Repeat clients often have a ring of damage growing up the nail at return appointments and can't believe that shellac doesn't have to ruin your nails!

Something has to give, lets start a shellac revolution !!

To the OP i started out with Gelish, and kept it for 2 years. It's a good product but i too found removal time difficult, i also had issues with fading. If your working from home its not the end of the world but if in a salon environment where time is money the removal can become an issue. I kept Gelish and introduced Shellac and found it to be actually confusing for clients, they would ask which is the better one - how can you decided that for a client? Its so personal but when shellac had no buffing, it was always the one i would recommend. In the end my enthusiasm for Shellac won out and they could see i was passionate about shellac and not so passionate about Gelish, so i gave my Gelish to another tech and solely invested in Shellac. I did loose a few clients but do you know what , the clients who i lost were the clients who came every 5-6 weeks and expected flawless nails, with no aftercare. I realsed that Shellac catered to a different type of client, a client who was interested in maintaining the integrity of their natural nails, they buy all of their retail from me because they are thrilled to see and improvement in their nails, and they come regularly every 2-3 weeks so as not to damage their nails.

If i can a client with challenging nails, I now recommend a L&P or Gel overlay, I don't believe that another more abrasive brand of gel polish is the answer. I know L&P and Gel has taken a bashing in the last few years but I have definitely noticed a come back with it, some clients are apprehensive but when you show them what a good set looks like, they don't even have to admit their fake

 

[cheekychick]

I switched from Shellac to Gelish as I preferred it and it's worked out perfectly for me & my clients.

As already stated sometimes one brand isn't suitable for everyone (although I'm yet to find a client of mine that hasn't got on with Gelish thankfully)

One thing to think about is Gelish is a bit more hard wearing than shellac so I'd bear this in mind if you convert clients to shellac that are used to the strength of Gelish. Maybe think about also offering smoothing gel aswell as shellac.
Just my personal opinion.

As I've found the opposite. (Clients have preferred the strength of Gelish compared to the shellac manicures they used to have with me)
x

 

[noreenoconnor]

I switched from Shellac to Gelish as I preferred it and it's worked out perfectly for me & my clients.

As already stated sometimes one brand isn't suitable for everyone (although I'm yet to find a client of mine that hasn't got on with Gelish thankfully)

One thing to think about is Gelish is a bit more hard wearing than shellac so I'd bear this in mind if you convert clients to shellac that are used to the strength of Gelish. Maybe think about also offering smoothing gel aswell as shellac.
Just my personal opinion.

As I've found the opposite. (Clients have preferred the strength of Gelish compared to the shellac manicures they used to have with me)
x

Do you not find that the extended wear time, and the tougher coating actually encourages clients to not look after their nails and so they leave them grow too long and damage them this way?

I also found that because the coating was tougher, it was tougher to remove which over time affected the health of their natural nails, it stands to reason the extra time in act one will dry them out particularly if they had nails that were prone to be weak and peeling etc.

What is your ethos when it comes to nails? Is it to maintain the health of the natural nail at all times, or is it to provide the most longest lasting coating for them that you can. Because ultimately i think thats where the difference is and i also believe there is a market for both

Not undermining your choice, just genuinely interested to see how you find it with your clients

 

[cheekychick]

Do you not find that the extended wear time, and the tougher coating actually encourages clients to not look after their nails and so they leave them grow too long and damage them this way?

I also found that because the coating was tougher, it was tougher to remove which over time affected the health of their natural nails, it stands to reason the extra time in act one will dry them out particularly if they had nails that were prone to be weak and peeling etc.

What is your ethos when it comes to nails? Is it to maintain the health of the natural nail at all times, or is it to provide the most longest lasting coating for them that you can. Because ultimately i think thats where the difference is and i also believe there is a market for both

Not undermining your choice, just genuinely interested to see how you find it with your clients

Oh your exactly right in your above post about those clients who basically want to just have a gel polish manicure and wear it for weeks on end and not maintain their nails. I have a couple of those. All I can do is advise on aftercare etc.

80% of my ladies come back between 2 & 3 weeks for their removal & redo.
It's only a couple of the younger ones that try to save money that hang out longer with their manicures but to be honest those clients literally don't care about their natural nails (it's a good job That i do)

The care of natural nails is really important to me. Especially as there are so many nss salons surrounding where I work.
So I'll never encourage clients to hang out their manis.

Also when it comes to removal, it doesn't take me long at all. I think new techs maybe leave it soaking for too long. (Just a guess.)
Yes It does take longer than a shellac removal but only like 5 mins more maximum. But at every removal their nails look and are as healthy as they were before they started with Gelish. It's not a rough removal at all.

I must bore people with my aftercare advice but I will bang on about how important it is to look after their nails. And after a couple of appointments with me they realise that it's important and it maintains the health of their natural nails.
I haven't come across any peeling, dehydrated nails yet caused by a manicure that I've done regardless of how long they have waited between appointments.

I did stock Gelish and shellac for some time but everyone who tried Gelish got along better with it so I personally didn't have the need for both but o can totally understand why some do have both.
My clients do seem to be really heavy handed and really did need the extra strength as without it with shellac I was getting a lot of broken nails however now it's very rare with my regulars.

Sorry if I've lost track a bit! Pregnancy brain is slowly taking over [emoji85]
x

 

[noreenoconnor]

Thats very interesting

I found it impossible to remove Gelish with a orange wood stick and a bit of pressure, I tried soaking for 5, 10 15 mins and it just wouldn't budge. I tried plain acetone, and the Gelish Remover and It used to break my heart, It took 5-10 mins to buff the top coat off, it took a good 20mins of soaking and further 10 mins faffing with it to make sure all the base coat was removed. The longer the client wears this coating the harder it is to get off, some of them used to be wielded to the nails haha

I don't use an orange wood stick anymore to remove shellac and can see such a difference. It's unreal i just couldn't look back. With the new topcoat i am soaking for 5 mins, and scrubbing the nails with a plastic backed pad for maybe 60 secs a nail so thats 15 mins in total, half the time of a gelish removal, Honestly how long does it take from the moment you wrap the client to the moment they have naked nails I love to know if it was something i was doing with Gelish Do you buff the top coat?

 

[blossom]

CND Shellac is a premium brand, and so deserves a premium price tag. Just because others offer it for cheaper in your area doesn't mean you have to P

Sadly when I pitched higher than my competitors I had no clients, and actually was asked occasionally when people rang for the price why I was more expensive than salons when I had no overheads. Just embarrassing because that's a valid point.

So I brought my price down and the work came in.

I don't give my clients a choice of Shellac or Gellux though. I have a vast number of Shellac colours and that is what I offer primarily. The Gellux only comes out if there are problems keeping Shellac on, there are fewer colours though.

I don't have anyone who is prepared to put up with regrowth from 4+ weeks!! Most clients go 2-3 with Gellux but they were only getting 7-10 days with Shellac. So at least I've kept their custom

 

[cheekychick]

Thats very interesting

I found it impossible to remove Gelish with a orange wood stick and a bit of pressure, I tried soaking for 5, 10 15 mins and it just wouldn't budge. I tried plain acetone, and the Gelish Remover and It used to break my heart, It took 5-10 mins to buff the top coat off, it took a good 20mins of soaking and further 10 mins faffing with it to make sure all the base coat was removed. The longer the client wears this coating the harder it is to get off, some of them used to be wielded to the nails haha

I don't use an orange wood stick anymore to remove shellac and can see such a difference. It's unreal i just couldn't look back. With the new topcoat i am soaking for 5 mins, and scrubbing the nails with a plastic backed pad for maybe 60 secs a nail so thats 15 mins in total, half the time of a gelish removal, Honestly how long does it take from the moment you wrap the client to the moment they have naked nails I love to know if it was something i was doing with Gelish Do you buff the top coat?

I use a 180 file to 'break the seal' on one nail & wrap with soak off remover & removal wraps. Then repeat for the rest.

I can normally do a removal & new set in 30 mins. (Depending if they want art/glitters. That usually takes an extra 10 mins)

I feel like I want to time it when I remove my next clients to see [emoji1] x

 

[noreenoconnor]

I can normally do a removal & new set in 30 mins.

It genuinely used to take me that to remove the gel , let alone do a full cuticle work and file and polish.

I take it you don't use a cuticle remover, you must be doing dry prep to be so quick?

 

[noreenoconnor]

Sadly when I pitched higher than my competitors I had no clients, and actually was asked occasionally when people rang for the price why I was more expensive than salons when I had no overheads. Just embarrassing because that's a valid point.

So I brought my price down and the work came in.

I don't give my clients a choice of Shellac or Gellux though. I have a vast number of Shellac colours and that is what I offer primarily. The Gellux only comes out if there are problems keeping Shellac on, there are fewer colours though.

I don't have anyone who is prepared to put up with regrowth from 4+ weeks!! Most clients go 2-3 with Gellux but they were only getting 7-10 days with Shellac. So at least I've kept their custom

I'm salon based so don't have this issue, but just because you work from home doesn't mean you are any less of a professional than a salon, you may have lower overheads, but if you've spent more time and money on training and offer a better service that the local salons why shouldn't you charge higher than them That's my opinion!

I know when you are trying to build a client base its difficult, but once you have a client base established (and i'm sure you do) do you not think it would be easier to raise your prices because you offer a better service? Do you think you offer a better service than the local salons?

 

[blossom]

I'm salon based so don't have this issue, but just because you work from home doesn't mean you are any less of a professional than a salon, you may have lower overheads, but if you've spent more time and money on training and offer a better service that the local salons why shouldn't you charge higher than them That's my opinion!

I know when you are trying to build a client base its difficult, but once you have a client base established (and i'm sure you do) do you not think it would be easier to raise your prices because you offer a better service? Do you think you offer a better service than the local salons?

That is true, I may try a little rise soon as I have a very established client base now. I might just get away with it. x

 

[sarahpoppy24]

I use shellac and gelish. I find the cnd remover the best. My gelish sometimes would not remove easily. Now it does with this removed and it doesn't leave the surrounding cuticle area dry like other removers or plain acetone. That's what has made my removal quicker and easier with gelish. Also how often a client oils makes a huge difference. I have two ladies who have shellac together. One is absolutely brilliant with her oil and her shellac literally slips away. The other admits she forgets to oil a lot. Her shellac sometimes needs a longer and extra soak. X

 

[cheekychick]

It genuinely used to take me that to remove the gel , let alone do a full cuticle work and file and polish.

I take it you don't use a cuticle remover, you must be doing dry prep to be so quick?

with a new client I'll allow more time as obviously those who don't have regular manicures need more attention on their first visit when it comes to cuticle removal & prep.

At the moment I only offer nails part time around my job so I don't have clients too close together so I don't rush and will take extra time where I need to. And I don't 100% keep to 30 mins every time but 9 times out of 10 if I need to be done within that time frame it can be done.
When I first trained & got my first salon job it was drummed into us to be quick & that time is money. They would book us back to back all day long and told us to try not to make conversation with customers as it would slow us down [emoji15] x

 

[noreenoconnor]

I think i need a job like that, I take an hour at best for removal and reapplication! But i do a through cuticle prep on all clients every time