What went wrong? :(

[mrsnails]

Hello,

Im a bit disheartened, in fact, Im qute upset so please be gentle with me but someting odd happened with a set of nails I did and I just cant figure out why !

I did a set of NSI balance gels over white tips on Thursday night, done them before, never had a problem, she had them a bit longer than I advised but she was aware that being longer she might struggle with them or have teething problems with them, I applied the tips as normal, removed the shine from the tips and applied the gel normally, used pure plus and balance primer.

Well at 6pm she text me saying all the gel had come off, I was out at the time and nearly threw up lol ! I said Id need to have a look and she came over half an hour later.

She slightly exagerated, they hadn't all come off at all, one finger she said the gel just came of the tip so she filed the rest of it down, then 7 of them have various stages of liting and cacking, bits missing from the gel of the tip, on closer inspection it looks like the white tip has completly lifted of her natural nail under the gel (n.b. the gel was completly fine, no lifting etc on her natural nail) the whitetips wer definatley stuck down correctly when I did them, but I cannot understand how/why this has happened, and not on all, just 8 nail are a state.

On one of the tips on one side of the free edge you could lift the gel up off the tip and then lift the tip up of the natural nail ??!!

I've never experienced anything like this before and never read / heard about anything like this before.

Has anyone any ideas/advice for me?

I'm gutted as this is the first time anything has ever gone wrong on a client and it was my 2nd client that hadn't met/known before.

Please help

 

[ValencianNails]

Did you use white gel over the white tip?

Were the tips sized correctly to fit her nails sidewall to sidewall?

Are you sure your bulbs don't need replacing?

Did you cap the free edge sufficiently?

Are you sure that you didn't touch the tips once you'd removed the shine and dust? (ie transferred oils from your fingers to the tips).

Lastly, don't worry :hug:

Talk us through exactly what you did, we might be able to pick up on something and be able to help you more.

 

[MissOwen]

Poor you. Its horrible when you have something like this happen on a new client.

Were her naturally nails unusually flat or anything? It could be that the tips you were using had a natural curve to them and the pressure of being applied to flatter nails has caused them to lift away from the natural nail.

Also, you say the gel has come away from the tip too, did you buff the shine off the tips before applying the gel?

I still consider myself a new girl in the nail world and i'm an l&p tech so these are just a couple of things i could think of.

Hopefully some of the super experienced bodies will have some more ideas for you. xxxxx


Oooooops, shouldnt take so long typing. Sandi beat me to it

 

[mrsnails]

Thank you for your reply, I'll go through each question one at a time:

Did you use white gel over the white tip? No, I used Builder Clear Gel and then finished with Glaze & Go ( I think G&G may have played an important part to it all going wrong as I have only used it a few times and I have it over my gel finger and toes and it seems to have 'cracked' think Im putting too much on.

Were the tips sized correctly to fit her nails sidewall to sidewall? I believe I am doing it correctly, I do exactly as I was trained, if Im not sure if it fits nicely I size up and file the sides down to get perfect fit.

Are you sure your bulbs don't need replacing? I've had my lamp 3 weeks,so hope not!

Did you cap the free edge sufficiently? I think this could be something I am doing wrong, I cap it, but then I think I am filing it off the edge when I am finishing the shape & tidying, do you have any tips to help this?

Are you sure that you didn't touch the tips once you'd removed the shine and dust? (ie transferred oils from your fingers to the tips). I know I didnt touch them, I am always very cautious with this.

Lastly, don't worry :hug: Im trying

Talk us through exactly what you did, we might be able to pick up on something and be able to help you more.

Other than what I've put above, I think maybe there could've been air bubbles in the well of the white tip, that I cant see, because they're opaque?

Another thing I think maybe a factor, I didnt use Pure Plus BEFORE I stuck the tip on, thus maybe the natural nail wasn't prepared enough, I applied it after I had fixed the tip and removed the shine.

Something else that I thought could be that I didn't etch the white tip enough, what grit file is best for this?

Thank you so much for taking the time to help me

 

[lilly]

I use balance and in the beginning had probs with chipping and cracking then I re watched the dvd I realised I was applying it far too thin.
Also take care with side wall prep, get right into the nooks and crannies with the dehydrator and bond.
When you say the gel had come off the tip, do you mean it had cracked and been picked off, its a hard gel so wont peel ?

 

[mrsnails]

Oh no it definatley peeled off the tip, she showed me it just pulled up like rubber and then broke off, but it was defnatley hard.

I think I am putting on to thinly.

 

[lilly]

I should phone nsi, it def shouldnt have anysort of rubbery feel/apearance, that sounds very odd ! I've used it over tips before and once its on its on, and hard, no way could I peel it off ! phone em. I'm interested what they say ! x

 

[ValencianNails]

Did you use white gel over the white tip? No, I used Builder Clear Gel and then finished with Glaze & Go ( I think G&G may have played an important part to it all going wrong as I have only used it a few times and I have it over my gel finger and toes and it seems to have 'cracked' think Im putting too much on.

Glaze and Go won't cause the gel to come away from the tip so I doubt it's that which has caused this problem.

Were the tips sized correctly to fit her nails sidewall to sidewall? I believe I am doing it correctly, I do exactly as I was trained, if Im not sure if it fits nicely I size up and file the sides down to get perfect fit.

Sounds good to me

Are you sure your bulbs don't need replacing? I've had my lamp 3 weeks,so hope not!

We can rule out the bulbs causing the problem then :wink2:

Did you cap the free edge sufficiently? I think this could be something I am doing wrong, I cap it, but then I think I am filing it off the edge when I am finishing the shape & tidying, do you have any tips to help this?

When you apply your gel cap every layer that you apply... when you're finishing the nails file the free edge at a 45 degree angle to ensure that the gel is always slightly forward of the tip or natural nail (if doing a natural nail overlay).

Are you sure that you didn't touch the tips once you'd removed the shine and dust? (ie transferred oils from your fingers to the tips). I know I didnt touch them, I am always very cautious with this.

Lastly, don't worry :hug: Im trying

Talk us through exactly what you did, we might be able to pick up on something and be able to help you more.

Other than what I've put above, I think maybe there could've been air bubbles in the well of the white tip, that I cant see, because they're opaque?

Another thing I think maybe a factor, I didnt use Pure Plus BEFORE I stuck the tip on, thus maybe the natural nail wasn't prepared enough, I applied it after I had fixed the tip and removed the shine.

Something else that I thought could be that I didn't etch the white tip enough, what grit file is best for this?

Thank you so much for taking the time to help me

Using a gel adhesive will help fill in any gaps where the natural nails isn't even in shape, that will ensure that the tip fits nice and snug to the nail. It definitely sounds like the tip has come away from the natural nail with it being an opaque colour in places.

I use a 180 grit to remove the shine from tips when using gel as the gel I use (and a lot of buff off gels) need either a natural nail to adhere to OR a 180 grit prepared surface.

Hope that helps you a bit :hug:

 

[user 35377]

Sounds to me like the nails may have too long for her. People not used to having long nails are quick to damage them without understanding how they did it since they are not doing anything out of the ordinary--yeah, ordinary for someone with short nails!
Also, you can cap the tip all you want and file all you want, it should not make a difference. Capping the tip is counteract the shrinkage during curing and doesn't really offer any benefit when the curing is done.
Good luck, but were it me, I would offer to start her out with shorter more rounded tips and let her grow into them.

 

[mrsnails]

I'll give them a ring and see what they say ! Im going to watch the dvd again and just make sure I am doing it correctly.

Thank you Sandi for all your help

Where can I get a gel adhesive? Do you use it the same as normal nail glue?

Im feeling a bit better, I will crack this !

 

[ValencianNails]

I'll give them a ring and see what they say ! Im going to watch the dvd again and just make sure I am doing it correctly.

Thank you Sandi for all your help

Where can I get a gel adhesive? Do you use it the same as normal nail glue?

Im feeling a bit better, I will crack this !

Find out if NSI do a gel adhesive. I use Creative's Gelbond so if NSI don't do one then you'll be fine to use Gelbond as it isn't system specific.
You apply it to the well of the tip and it fills in any gaps that might be present, it's been a lifesaver for me on quite a few occasions when dealing with difficult shaped natural nails.

As C-C said, length might have contributed to the problem. Some clients want the instant length and then don't know how to use their fingers. They need to use the pads of their fingers as opposed to their nails, if they do use their nails then they're putting extra pressure on them and with the unnatural length they have more 'leverage' and more chance of breakages. Building a strong apex (with the correct placement) would help with that.

Pleased you're feeling more positive about it, you'll get there, have faith in yourself :green:

 

[mrsnails]

Thank you for your replies

The lady is coming back on Thursday to have them repaired/replaced (i didnt have time to do anything to them yesterdy other than file the gel in ad make sure they were 'safe')

I thinkIm going to have to remove them and start again, I am planning to use normal tips & blend but she wants the french look with gel. I've never done this before :o

I have Brush On White, can I do it with this or do I need specific white gel?

 

[ValencianNails]

Thank you for your replies

The lady is coming back on Thursday to have them repaired/replaced (i didnt have time to do anything to them yesterdy other than file the gel in ad make sure they were 'safe')

I thinkIm going to have to remove them and start again, I am planning to use normal tips & blend but she wants the french look with gel. I've never done this before :o

I have Brush On White, can I do it with this or do I need specific white gel?

Brush on White is fine to use for your French look, either that or white sculpting gel, whichever you prefer.