Which gel extension/enhancement brand is best?

[KimmyB66]

Hi all,
Completed a course on Gel Extensions today. I'm a complete newbie to the nail world. Its all mind boggling to me! Now need to buy some products/kit.I have learned that there are two types of Gel systems - soak off and buff off. Which is better, and why? I learned Gel polish last week, and i was told today that if i have someone with extensions with hard gel, with gel polish on top, that would just like the polish changing to beware because i will take the extension off as well as the polish because the removal chemicals and method is the same. So, should i go for buff off gel, with my soak off gelish polish? Whew, what a mouthful, hope i'm making sense!

 

[BellsGels]

Hi, I am very new to this as well and have spent that last week looking into different gels with tips and getting confused with terminology, brands, types etc !. You can use soak off gel with tips (comes in pots white, clear and opaque pink), which brand you use, is your decision and dependant on your research and recommendations but I am heading to salon services this afternoon to get ASP. Basically, the way I see it is it depends on what your client wants, if they constantly want extensions and need them to endure hard work then I would apply the hard gel (aka builder or sculpting gel) but let them know that if they ever do want them removed then they would need to be buffed off and as this can take longer, charge a bit more. For more gentle wear to the natural nails is the soft gel (aka soak off). In my training, we used soak off and mine came away quite easily but that was just primer, white tip and pink gel over top to form your apex. However, someone mentioned if you use a base gel and top coat, this could make them last longer - whether this is correct im not sure so any feedback anyone would be good. I've found that everyone has their own techniques and opinions and a lot of it could be trial and error and plenty of practice on family & friends with feedback.

You will no doubt get someone with much more experience and knowledge than me feedback so I will also be interested to see what they say but hope this sort of helps!! Best of luck

 

[KimmyB66]

Hiya, i found your post after writing mine, and read all your replies. Seems like we are both having the same problems! I used nsi balance gel yesterday. We used a tip and then put 2 layers of clear builder gel, then white builder for the tip and pink builder across the whole nail, with a top coat to finish. We didnt do any removal. I didnt know there was soak off or buff of, but as a last comment before i left she told me what we had used was buff off. So my question was then if i decide to use soak off (because they sound better for your nails i think) and paint with gelish. When changing polish colour but leaving enhancements alone, how do i do that because it will all come off with the acetone! She said buff off the gelish. OMG my head is spinning.
What made you choose ASP? I have seen starter kits for Gellux, Edge, IBD, NSI, all around £100, but which is good i have no idea.
The other thing i was told on my course that i found down heartening is that my brand new Gelish 18G LED light (costing a fortune) may not cure some gels, you need to have the slow UV bulb lights. Anyone back that up? Doesnt sound right to me. Still very baffled by this all!

 

[IBUK]

The other thing i was told on my course that i found down heartening is that my brand new Gelish 18G LED light (costing a fortune) may not cure some gels, you need to have the slow UV bulb lights. Anyone back that up? Doesnt sound right to me. Still very baffled by this all!

LED curable gels are relatively new that's why your trainer said this. Only some gels are curable by LED lamp but all are curable by UV.

Hth