Which nail product would you recommend?

[body talk]

Hi everyone, I'm just starting out doing nails again after a long break from doing them (qualified over a decade ago) & looking for some advice please. I want to use a polish that will give the client about 2-3 weeks wear. I want to try and stay as close to natural nails as possible, and at present I'm using Gelish. With Gelish there is still the filing and buffing of the nail (which, I feel weakens the nail?). I've read that with Shellac there is no filing/buffing needed - but then I don't understand how Shellac then has the 'strength' that something like 'Jessica nail polish' can't give?
Then there's Gelcolour by OPI, which seems like it might be the kind of thing I'm looking for? But I'm really unsure.
Is there a nail product out there that is good on the nail (as in, it lasts a couple of weeks but doesn't damage the nail bed)? What would you recommend?
All I know is that I don't want to go back to acrylic (done it years ago and its not for me), but I do want my clients having healthy natural hard wearing nails - preferably without having to buff the shine off their own natural nail.
Any ideas on which products are best?

 

[pure]

CND Shellac have a choice of different top coats which offer different 'strength'. Their strongest one is called Duraforce.

 

[body talk]

CND Shellac have a choice of different top coats which offer different 'strength'. Their strongest one is called Duraforce.

Thanks for your reply Pure. With Shellac I don't have to buff the nail plate to take the shine away, do I?
Also - can I ask if you know about a product called IBX? I've been reading on here some things about it being good and I was thinking of getting that for the salon but don't know if I need to go for training in it or can I just use it without their training (it looks like it's an overseas company, I'm based in the UK).

 

[pure]

Thanks for your reply Pure. With Shellac I don't have to buff the nail plate to take the shine away, do I?
Also - can I ask if you know about a product called IBX? I've been reading on here some things about it being good and I was thinking of getting that for the salon but don't know if I need to go for training in it or can I just use it without their training (it looks like it's an overseas company, I'm based in the UK).

You're right, with Shellac there is no buffing either before application or for removal.
IBX is a fantastic product. You don't have to do training to use it but I did the training last year even though I'd already been using it since it's launch and I actually learnt so much and I've had better results since. Louella Belle are the UK stockists and they also offer training too so worth asking them where your local trainer is based.

 

[fluffycloudland]

I went to the famous names roadshow to do my IBX training & I definitely get more out of it now than before.

Its worth doing the shellac conversion course.

 

[body talk]

You're right, with Shellac there is no buffing either before application or for removal.
IBX is a fantastic product. You don't have to do training to use it but I did the training last year even though I'd already been using it since it's launch and I actually learnt so much and I've had better results since. Louella Belle are the UK stockists and they also offer training too so worth asking them where your local trainer is based.

Thanks again Pure. I'll look into Louella Belle and see if there's training near me. Thanks!

 

[body talk]

I went to the famous names roadshow to do my IBX training & I definitely get more out of it now than before.

Its worth doing the shellac conversion course.

Thanks fluffycloudland. Can I ask a(nother?) daft question? I looked up the shellac conversion course to see what it was (I'm new going back to nails so I'm more like a newbie really), and it says that for the course I'd need a CND UV Lamp. I use an Gelish LED lamp at the moment - is that OK? Should I not be using the LED lamp for Shellac? Does it have to be UV? Sorry if this is a daft question, there just seems to be so much more info nowadays than when I was trained years ago. I definitely need some refresher courses.

 

[pure]

Thanks fluffycloudland. Can I ask a(nother?) daft question? I looked up the shellac conversion course to see what it was (I'm new going back to nails so I'm more like a newbie really), and it says that for the course I'd need a CND UV Lamp. I use an Gelish LED lamp at the moment - is that OK? Should I not be using the LED lamp for Shellac? Does it have to be UV? Sorry if this is a daft question, there just seems to be so much more info nowadays than when I was trained years ago. I definitely need some refresher courses.

If you were going to do the Shellac course you would need the CND LED lamp only. Not sure if their Shellac beginners course includes one in the kit or not so it might be worth checking as if so it would be great value for money.

 

[body talk]

If you were going to do the Shellac course you would need the CND LED lamp only. Not sure if their Shellac beginners course includes one in the kit or not so it might be worth checking as if so it would be great value for money.

Do you mean a CND 'UV' Lamp? I'm really confused now lol sorry! The site says a CND 'UV' lamp. My lamp is a Gelish LED lamp. You're suggesting a CND LED lamp? Does that mean my own LED lamp would work fine??? Sorry if this is so obvious but I'm finding it confusing lol

 

[pure]

The CND UV lamp is being discontinued so it would have to be the new LED lamp. Your Gelish one would not be acceptable as CND guidelines state that it has to be CND in order to guarantee a full cure of Shellac. You couldn't turn up to a CND class with a competitors product anyway.....wouldn't look good! lol Are you checking the course details on the official www.sweetsquared.com site?

 

[body talk]

The CND UV lamp is being discontinued so it would have to be the new LED lamp. Your Gelish one would not be acceptable as CND guidelines state that it has to be CND in order to guarantee a full cure of Shellac. You couldn't turn up to a CND class with a competitors product anyway.....wouldn't look good! lol Are you checking the course details on the official www.sweetsquared.com site?

Ah, I did not know that, so thanks for that! I didn't see them as competitors, more as another alternative, so it's good to know what not to do. I wasn't aware of sweet squared so I've looked it up now and sent them an email to get some more info. Thanks for your help - much appreciated