which nail products? Creative or NSI?

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Beautylicious

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Hi,

Im really interested in trying a new acrylic product, becuse i dont like the ones i use now. I have tried samples of NSI and I am really impressed, but I am yet to try Creative, but they are highly recommended. Can anyone advise me on this?

*edit. I removed the poll for fairness sake as I didnt feel it reflected all of the professional lines out there.* - The geek
 
I learnt with NSI and thought they were quite a good product but the service I had let them down a lot. Creative however has the total package, excellent product, perfect service and the training is first class, have you guessed which way I`ve swayed?????????
 
I think you should edit your poll to change Essential Nails to EZ Flow as EN isnt so much a line you would find in the salon.

Just my 2 cents ;)
 
At ExCEL recently I went round all the major liquid & powder suppliers, researching availability, support, costs etc. and had test nails done. Every test nail was of a reasonable standard, but the NSI one had some lifting (very little). The NSI one and the star one seemed to shrink or something as it felt uncomfortable after a few hours. This was not the case with any others. Colour was best on creative & cetuem, Star was good if a little too pink (applied to thick I think?), average on all others, cloudy and greyish with NSI, but the white was nice.

So on to get some samples. I bought NSI as I thought it was easily available and wondered if the cloudiness was a dirty brush or something (it was just as bad when we tried it back home), Star Nails gave me a free sample (found the mix ratio very hard but otherwise good), and then tried to get Creative (they had run out). One of the creative team said to call him and he would send samples for free to me as they had sold out. These arrived just a few days later. I didn't have time to get to EZFlow which was the other one I wanted. I called EZFlow and asked them to send a sample explaining that in cornwall there is no other way of seeing stuff - they absolutely refused. (If you want to have my NSI samples - I will sell them. You can have the star for free if I am sending the other)

Then I researched the technology (This is what I found out which does not mean it is true - you should check for yourself) I found that all the decent l&p systems use cross linking technology - meaning tougher, stronger enhancements even when applied thinly. However, Creative have better technology - reinforced cross linking. This means that with creative it can be beatifully thin and natural and still have the strength. This means faster rebalances as well - less to file.

The next thing is the type of bond with the nail. creative retention+ has a covalent bond to the natural nail which is far superior and longer lasting to the hydrogen bond in other systems. I could not find another system using this - please correct me if I am wrong?

I also need images for use on brochures and website. My gel supplier (IBD) has always been very helpful with this. Both Star and Creative were helpful with this request. Cetuem were good too. (all subject to using their products). No others could help.

So as you can guess, I had figured creative was the way to go, but there was one last thing to check - are their products tested on animals. Answer - No, they are not tested on animals.

I did my creative conversion this week and as you can tell - still very very happy with the product but also the company and it's people. The rest of my team will convert in the next couple of months.

Sorry for a long text, but I have worked hard to find all this out.
 
Ella,

What a fantastic post. More nail technicians should go into product choice in as much detail as you have.

On reading it, I thought for a minute you were Doug Schoon in disguise LOL.

A lot of people only choose by price and ease of availability.

Good post.
 
Retention+ is also a keratin bonding monomer for lift prone nails so there is no need for primer, however, you can still use an acid free primer for clients that still get lifting with retention.

There are also several powders to choose from to achieve the best result for your clients nail plates, whether they are pink, not so pink or even those with blue plates (poor circulation!!!!!!!!).

Creative also offer the best training, scooping the 'BEST TRAINING' award at the Professional Beauty Awards this year!!!!!!!!
 
Hi Ella,

That was truly a great post - well done for working so hard!!
thumb.gif


I am definitely gonna look at Creative Training as so far i havent heard one single bad word said about them!

:D :D :D
 
Thank you Ella,
It is very refreshing to hear of someone being so thorough.

Most of us kind of 'slide' into the nail industry not knowing too much about what is available and with the misconception that everything is very similar ... it costs a lot of money when you find out that your choice could have been better.

I have to say that I am also very pleased that your top choice was Creative Nail Design. As you so rightly say it is not just about product,education, availability and support ... really everything should be in place to give you all the best. We try very hard to do this. I won't say we never mess up ... we do ... but we always try very hard not to.

You are right about the bonding - no one else has this technology and it is patent protected.

Also not only do we not test on animals, we do not use any animal byproducts in our products. Many enamels contain animal products - Creative does not.

Thank you for the encouraging post and we look forward to partnering with you in making your business as successful as it can be.
 
Creative, creative, creative! I am a newcomer and have dabbled with other systems and Creative is the only system I have had 100% satisfaction from. Training, system and tools-of-the-trade...it can only be Creative! :p
 
Hiya - yes for me its creative too. Only thing is that I am now doing a college course (need the bit of paper!) and we are going to be using NSI - I haven't tried it yet - just got the kits - but now I'm not looking forward to it quite as much!

:twisted:
 
I must say I have tried other acrylic systems but Creative retention+ is simply the best :D :D [/quote]
 
Well, I've recently changed over to using EZFlow after using Creative for nearly 20 years or so, and I'm more than satisfied with their vast range of products which illustrates their innovative trends in the nail industry.
 
I had wanted to give EZFlow a try at ExCEL, but the line for getting a test nail done was vast. I spke to someone and they said to come back in an hour or so. I explained that we had to get a train back to conrwall, but there was nothing anyone would do.

I called them after the show and asked for a sample as we did not get to try it at the show. They gave me a flat no.

I had heard really good stuff about EZFlow on message boards and stuff. It is just a shame for them that they didn't make any efforts to attract me as a customer.

I don't know how well their product would have compared, and noone was able to tell me if their technology was anything special. Noone knew if they tested on animals or not. It may well be that their system is one of the best - but I couldn't get to find out so I ruled it off my list.
 
i have to speak as i find, and i have found ezflow to be most helpful, :D i like the product very much and have now booked in with antony buckley to do the conversion, then hopefully before christmas design sculpting (funds permitting) then masters next year.
i do want to do creative also but have to wait a little while :(

without this board being here i am sure i would have wasted a lot of time and money messing about buying different products, i just hope i am on the right track to being the best i can be ;)
 
ella said:
I had wanted to give EZFlow a try at ExCEL, but the line for getting a test nail done was vast. I spke to someone and they said to come back in an hour or so. I explained that we had to get a train back to conrwall, but there was nothing anyone would do.

I called them after the show and asked for a sample as we did not get to try it at the show. They gave me a flat no.

I had heard really good stuff about EZFlow on message boards and stuff. It is just a shame for them that they didn't make any efforts to attract me as a customer.

I don't know how well their product would have compared, and noone was able to tell me if their technology was anything special. Noone knew if they tested on animals or not. It may well be that their system is one of the best - but I couldn't get to find out so I ruled it off my list.

Hi Ella

I do know what you mean - these shows are just sooooo packed it is very hard to get close to some of the companies to ask a one on one question. I think more companies should consider "open days" or roadshows, much like those run by say LCN - you have far more opportunities to speak to the people who can give you the answers to all your questions, see demos close up and of course have a demo done on yourself.

I go armed with a shopping list of must haves and those suppliers I specifically want to raise a query with but invariably come back minus a few items and the answers to those questions, purely because I just don't have the will to fight my way past the crowds after a couple of hours of it!

Hopefully Antony will be reading your message and will be able to offer you some assistance because obviously EZ Flow would like your custom I'm sure.....[/list]
 
i'm more in shock than anything. i cant believe they would flatly refuse. i think we sold out of them at the show but that is no excuse for impoliteness on our part. i will be looking into it though. i'm sorry if its caused any offence to you and i would like to apologise on there behalf.

please feel free to pm me regarding this.

antony
 
Hi everyone and thanks for your replies to my post. I cant believe the response! Its so helpful to get some genuine tried and tested advice, rather than some company doing their sales pitch. Ive definitely changed my mind about NSI, I wasnt sure about them from the start, they definitely arent as big as Creative, and I havent heard as much about them as Creative, they arent as well established in Scotland either, I would have to travel to Glasgow for the nearest training, whereas Creative do training in Aberdeen.

However, I am quite interested in doing a course on using a drill, because Im still rather slow, and I know that NSI do this course but Creative dont. But Im told that because Creative products are so much better to work with I wont need to use a drill.

Also, can anyone tell me how to change my poll? your right, I do need to change Essential to EZ flow (i think i was thinking more along the lines of training than products).

Anyway I dont want to blether on too much, but I would just like to say what a great site this is, if only I had found it sooner, Someone reccomended it on the Babtac website, and Im hooked! D

Cheers for now.....
 
I would hold back from buying a drill until you have taken your Creative class, if that is the way you decide to go.

You may find (as so many of us have) that when you learn a different mind set i.e. making the finished nail with your brush ... you will never need to make this expensive purchase.

It has been an interesting poll, though a tad misleading with the absence of the likes of OPI and EZ Flow.
 
geeg said:
It has been an interesting poll, though a tad misleading with the absence of the likes of OPI and EZ Flow.

I couldnt agree more. Thats why I have removed the poll.
I dont want the site to be thought of as a platform to push a particular product, and as Gigi mentioned, it isnt really representative of a lot of lines out there (mainly I assume because you can only have 5 options).

Toodles
 
Sorry Geeks! I would have changed the poll, after your suggestion, but I dont know how to! Im only new cry
 
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