Wanted Shellac and got Gel! :(

[Andrea85]

Hi

I have just had a call from a friend of a recent client of mine. She said that she has just had gel nails done and they look awful. She wanted Shellac, so now wants me to remove the gel nails for her later and then Shellac them.

Firstly, how do I remove the gel? Do I soak in acetone? Do I need to buff at all? (I only do natural nails so am not used to this)

Also, am I ok to Shellac her nails after I have removed the gel?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Andrea85]

Also, how long will it take to get them off, or would that depend on exactly what has been used?

 

[Rainbow Bright]

It depends if its a soak off or a buff off gel. Personally I would buff the top layer of gel, put wipes soaked in acetone and wrap the fingers in foil, leave them for 10-15mins with a heat bag if you have one. If its soak off gel by then it will come off easily with an orange stick. If it hasn't budged then it's a buff off gel. hth

 

[Andrea85]

It depends if its a soak off or a buff off gel. Personally I would buff the top layer of gel, put wipes soaked in acetone and wrap the fingers in foil, leave them for 10-15mins with a heat bag if you have one. If its soak off gel by then it will come off easily with an orange stick. If it hasn't budged then it's a buff off gel. hth

Thank you. No I don't have a heat bag. I'll give the foil a go though, hopefully they'll come off easily.

Poor girl, she sounded really upset about them.

 

[Yadagi]

Andrea , you can wrap her hands in a towel after you have wrapped the fingers in the foil to allow her own body heat to warm up and speed up the removal process.

I have someone coming to me too soon who has Bio gels on and wants them removed so I have done a bit of research so that I am well prepared .. I hope !!.
Let us know how you get on .

 

[Andrea85]

Andrea , you can wrap her hands in a towel after you have wrapped the fingers in the foil to allow her own body heat to warm up and speed up the removal process.

I have someone coming to me too soon who has Bio gels on and wants them removed so I have done a bit of research so that I am well prepared .. I hope !!.
Let us know how you get on .

Thank you, I'll try the towel and let you know how I get on. I hope yours goes well too.

 

[whitesatin]

Hi Andrea, this happened to me last week. I went into a salon expecting shellac and received gelac. I am now worried that the gel will have ruined my nails. Can you let me know how you get on with the soak off and what condition your friends nails are after removal. You can pm me if you like.

Thanks and good luck.

 

[Andrea85]

Hi Andrea, this happened to me last week. I went into a salon expecting shellac and received gelac. I am now worried that the gel will have ruined my nails. Can you let me know how you get on with the soak off and what condition your friends nails are after removal. You can pm me if you like.

Thanks and good luck.

Thank you!

I will let you know how I get on. I'm not entirely sure what she has on her nails at the moment, I'm not sure she knows either! I didn't have too much time to question her as I was working at my other job when she called. I'll update this post later and let you all know what happened. Thanks for the comments so far everyone.

 

[unas escarlata]

I use a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel - the clients love it as they then sit with it on their lap or feet for the rest of the service x

 

[Andrea85]

So, it turned out to be acrylic! It took ages to get it off. I couldn't believe how bad they looked, really uneven and lumpy, ver thick, some started further back than others, nails different shapes lengths, just awful!

The girl was lovely and really pleased with the result. I did Shellac in Hollywood. She was so grateful and couldn't stop thanking me, she even gave me a big hug as I was leaving!

I just can't understand why someone would use acrylic when she originally asked for Shellac.

 

[Yadagi]

OMG , that is so so wrong. Well done. how did you get it off ?

 

[Andrea85]

I had to soak them in acetone for ages, it was so thick it just didn't budge! Her nails didn't look too bad afterwards though, and once the Shellac was on they looked great.

 

[Evaperk]

I've heard before that some of the NSS use acrylic and call it gel even have gel written on one of the pots of powder!

 

[Andrea85]

I've heard before that some of the NSS use acrylic and call it gel even have gel written on one of the pots of powder!

Really?! That's awful! At least she knows now not to go there again. I'm tempted to go and have a look at the place, I must pass it all the time, didn't even know it was there.

 

[geeg]

Hi Andrea, this happened to me last week. I went into a salon expecting shellac and received gelac. I am now worried that the gel will have ruined my nails. Can you let me know how you get on with the soak off and what condition your friends nails are after removal. You can pm me if you like.

Thanks and good luck.

I'm sure it wouldn't ruin your nails, but buffing of the surface of them first will not have helped them and they may be quite dehydrated and brittle after removal as the surface protection will have been removed when the technician buffed your nail surface (well trained Shellackers do not do this) and the Acetone removal will dehydrate the plate.

Best to remove and replace with Shellac and then Solar Oil every day until any damage grows out.

There are allot of dishonest people about aren't there? Enticing you in to the salon by saying they do Shellac and then giving you a Gel that you din't want? It goes on allot so consumers beware!! If it doesn't say CND on ALL the bottles used and the UV Lamp then you are not getting the real and the one and only Shellac.

 

[laurakate]

it drives me up the wall how a lot of people are miss using the word shellac

my inderstanding of it is that a lot of people don't know that it's a brand and think that it has something to do with coloured gels or nail polish with a gel top coat. someone was strongly trying to tell me that she has shellac put on the other day with the EZ flow system and I was like hmmmmm

 

[Andrea85]

I'm sure it wouldn't ruin your nails, but buffing of the surface of them first will not have helped them and they may be quite dehydrated and brittle after removal as the surface protection will have been removed when the technician buffed your nail surface (well trained Shellackers do not do this) and the Acetone removal will dehydrate the plate.

Best to remove and replace with Shellac and then Solar Oil every day until any damage grows out.

There are allot of dishonest people about aren't there? Enticing you in to the salon by saying they do Shellac and then giving you a Gel that you din't want? It goes on allot so consumers beware!! If it doesn't say CND on ALL the bottles used and the UV Lamp then you are not getting the real and the one and only Shellac.

If was acrylic that she got, I don't know how people can be so dishonest! I've advised her to apply her Solar Oil every day, as often as she can, so I'm sure they'll be looking great when I see her again in 2 weeks.

 

[geeg]

If was acrylic that she got, I don't know how people can be so dishonest! I've advised her to apply her Solar Oil every day, as often as she can, so I'm sure they'll be looking great when I see her again in 2 weeks.

My post was to 'whitesatin' which is why I quoted her but the information in it applies to anyone who has had their nails buffed prior to whichever service they have had; the result will be the same and the 'damage' will vary in degree.

 

[geeg]

it drives me up the wall how a lot of people are miss using the word shellac

my inderstanding of it is that a lot of people don't know that it's a brand and think that it has something to do with coloured gels or nail polish with a gel top coat. someone was strongly trying to tell me that she has shellac put on the other day with the EZ flow system and I was like hmmmmm

As far as this goes ... I suppose it is called being a victim of ones own success !! The brand is SO well known that everyone calls everything by that name ... HOWEVER ... the technicians KNOW full well they are not using Shellac and they are using the public's ignorance.

For example ... we all call a vacum-cleaner a "Hoover" ... the word has even become a verb (like Shellac) but I use a Dyson and I know it is a Dyson but I still call it the hoover and I still hoover the house.

I can discount client ignorance but I can't discount the knowing misrepresentation to clients from technicians who are promoting a Shellac service and then giving the client something else. You would not go into Currys expecting to buy a Dyson and be sold a Hoover. That would be dishonest.

 

[Daisy_Hill]

It's a pity CND didn't come up with a name that wasn't already in common use. It's easy to understand how people think that the name refers to the generic process of shellacking and not the application of a specific product with the same name. Of course not many people would want actual shellac on their nails :wink2: