Yellowing calgel

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gillian w

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As this keeps coming up in various places (which i now cant find) i thought id do a specific thread to make it easier for those looking.
This is info from the calgel summer newsletter written by Robyn an educator at calgel,Luton.
She suggests mixing calgels purple nailart gel CGA6s into the clear gel to eliminate the yellow honey like colour of the clear gel.
Using the metal tool (CUTO)pick up a small dollop of purple gel (a little less than 1/2 cm up one side of the tool) briskly stir into a full 10 gram pot of clear gel.Wait for gel to settle about 1-2 hours before use.
For 25gram pot add about 1 cm.
To check you have added enough purple,place a dollop of the mixed gel into the inside of the lid,you should see a light purple colour.You may need to add more purple or more clear depending on the colour.
This will not take the place of calcrystal which must still be used.
 
Very helpful - thank you.

Do you know whether you can use a hard gel topcoat such as Glaze n Go over Calgel ?

I did a lovely coloured overlay on my own nails the other night but wrecked them last night when doing a client's nails :mad:.

I always used this over l&p to prevent this problem.

Thanks
 
Very helpful - thank you.

Do you know whether you can use a hard gel topcoat such as Glaze n Go over Calgel ?

I did a lovely coloured overlay on my own nails the other night but wrecked them last night when doing a client's nails :mad:.

I always used this over l&p to prevent this problem.

Thanks

i have not tried glaze and go but when i tried brisa finish gloss over bio sculpture (similar gel to calgel) it cracked straight across the stress area...im thinking because the gel underneath was far too flexible for the brisa gloss.

So ...nope wouldnt advise it.

I find if peeps do their aftercare i dont have a problem with yellowing. SMOKERS i find the worse for discolouring a french.

Amb x
 
I tried it (i try anything me, nails stuff that is)
same as Amb said it cracks because the under gel is too felixible. It actually shattered like a cars windscreen but did not come off until buffed. The only top gloss coat I have found to work is Le Chat in the redy oranage bottle as long as you buff the calgel first. If you want to know more PM me.
 
Surely they should be on at their manufacturer to get some violet put in the mix of their clear gel to help prevent the yellowing without techs having to faff about and mix it themselves.....violet would go down a storm in their whites also!......
 
Surely they should be on at their manufacturer to get some violet put in the mix of their clear gel to help prevent the yellowing without techs having to faff about and mix it themselves.....violet would go down a storm in their whites also!......
Sounds like a logical answer to me :hug:
 
me too! wonder why they dont?

I wish there was a more active Calgel spokes person on here !

AMB x
 
i have not tried glaze and go but when i tried brisa finish gloss over bio sculpture (similar gel to calgel) it cracked straight across the stress area...im thinking because the gel underneath was far too flexible for the brisa gloss.

So ...nope wouldnt advise it.

I find if peeps do their aftercare i dont have a problem with yellowing. SMOKERS i find the worse for discolouring a french.

Amb x

Ah that's a shame - think it was just the top coat that I was wiping off mostly but they looked awful when I got home ! Will have to try and work differently I think.
 
me too! wonder why they dont?

I wish there was a more active Calgel spokes person on here !

AMB x

Me too...Calgel is such a great product, two downfalls I find is brushes and yellowing. If clients do adhere to aftercare, no problems, but we always get those few who niggle about the yellowing. Apart from putting the purple in the clear, is there a super sonic calgenic scientist awaiting to take on a challenge:eek::eek:
 
Me too...Calgel is such a great product, two downfalls I find is brushes and yellowing. If clients do adhere to aftercare, no problems, but we always get those few who niggle about the yellowing. Apart from putting the purple in the clear, is there a super sonic calgenic scientist awaiting to take on a challenge:eek::eek:

whats your prob with brushes matey?
 
I don't use Calgel so forgive my ignorance... but... why does it yellow in the first place?
 
Surely they should be on at their manufacturer to get some violet put in the mix of their clear gel to help prevent the yellowing without techs having to faff about and mix it themselves.....violet would go down a storm in their whites also!......

I agree! In Canada Calgel has done just that - it's called UV Gel Topcoat. And it's just a premixed formulation of the one suggested here. I use it on all of my Bio and Calgel french overlays. I love it.

My own nails yellow quite badly and I'm a nonsmoker. I think it also depends on what your hands are in and the kind of lighting you're exposed to day to day. I like to lightly buff my nails with a blue spongeboard after they get yellow - it comes right off with the surface gel, then I reapply Calcrystal. Works really well.
 
I don't use Calgel so forgive my ignorance... but... why does it yellow in the first place?

It seems all the porous gels like Calgel and Bio yellow easily. I was told that the sun yellows them as well as some lighting and even liquids your hands are in since it can absorb materials.
 
How long does it take from when the gel is applied for it to yellow?

Like I said, I don't use it so have no idea, but I'm interested to know :wink2:
 
How long does it take from when the gel is applied for it to yellow?

Like I said, I don't use it so have no idea, but I'm interested to know :wink2:

It seems to depend on the person and their activities. For me I find it yellows around day 9. It really bugs me.

I got a Brisa overlay to test it out and I can't believe how the colour stays exactly the same! I am planning to train in it in November for this reason.

But, the Bio S Gel helps with yellowing a lot as it's not as porous, but it can be a finnicky (sp?) gel. Even with the purplish Calgel and the Calcrystal, it does still yellow before a rebalance unless I use the S Gel.
 
How long does it take from when the gel is applied for it to yellow?

Like I said, I don't use it so have no idea, but I'm interested to know :wink2:
Let me tell you, I have seen BioSculpture french nails that after a week are yellow.....clients don't seem to notice too much because it's a gradual thing......I had to (yes had to lol) do a couple of Calgel nails on a client with Bio and the difference was immense, as in the original colour....I'll have to see her again in a couple of weeks to see how they have yellowed in comparison.

The thing that bugs me in my area is the techs who are doing the semi-permanent french manicure (NNO), using Bio.....basically they are painting a french tip with Bio white and then top coat.....obviously there is a ridge and as soon as that grows out and gets top heavy the natural nail will snap......and it does....seen it so much these last few weeks....so much for taking care of the natural nail....... if this is what the are promoting for salons to make money! Healthy nails, I think not!
 
I don't suffer any of those problems with NNO using Brisa, no damage to natural nail as overlay still intact after 2-3 weeks, no yellowing of product and no snapping.

I'm sorry of this offends anyone... but why use a product which gives those kinds of results?

Why not use a product that doesn't yellow after 9 days (or thereabouts), why not use a product that doesn't yellow at all?

Is it the soak off option that attracts technicians to use these gels?
If they yellow then what are the other reasons for using them?

I'm on the lookout for a soak off gel but I'm not interested in one that yellows, at the moment Nobility is on my shortlist but I haven't heard too much about it so haven't made a firm decision yet.
Does Nobility yellow between rebalance appointments?

I know this has gone slightly off topic (sorry peeps) but might as well discuss it here that do a new thread :wink2:
 
Let me tell you, I have seen BioSculpture french nails that after a week are yellow.....clients don't seem to notice too much because it's a gradual thing......I had to (yes had to lol) do a couple of Calgel nails on a client with Bio and the difference was immense, as in the original colour....I'll have to see her again in a couple of weeks to see how they have yellowed in comparison.

I use both and find Calgel more prone to yellowing. If I overcure Bio it stays the same colour, but I have even seen Calgel turn slightly yellow if left in the lamp too long (easily done since it's a 30 sec. cure and my timer is 2 minutes!)

If you use S Gel as the final coat (as opposed to the sealer) it cuts down and even eliminates, in some cases, the yellowing - again depends on the person.

It's funny how clients don't notice - it drives me crazy on my own nails!
 
I don't suffer any of those problems with NNO using Brisa, no damage to natural nail as overlay still intact after 2-3 weeks, no yellowing of product and no snapping.

I'm sorry of this offends anyone... but why use a product which gives those kinds of results?

Why not use a product that doesn't yellow after 9 days (or thereabouts), why not use a product that doesn't yellow at all?

Is it the soak off option that attracts technicians to use these gels?
If they yellow then what are the other reasons for using them?

I'm on the lookout for a soak off gel but I'm not interested in one that yellows, at the moment Nobility is on my shortlist but I haven't heard too much about it so haven't made a firm decision yet.
Does Nobility yellow between rebalance appointments?

I know this has gone slightly off topic (sorry peeps) but might as well discuss it here that do a new thread :wink2:

The fact that it soaks off is why i started to use it as i gave up in the past with the hard gel i was trained in because i hated buffing it down.
I also like the fact that you can soak off the gel and the nail is still strong i dont think there is the same softening as with hard non porous gels.

As said before if clients take care of their nails the yellowing can be kept to a minimum so it wouldn't really be obvious,after all natural nails arn't bright white and pink.

Ideally a retail pack is sold to them with their calcrystal,oil,a foam buffer and various other things to maintain their nails.They also must always wear gloves for cleaning etc as they will stain because they are porous.
They should gently buff and reapply their calcrystal every few days if they have a light colour,french or clear.
Also its good to have the colours
 
It seems to depend on the person and their activities. For me I find it yellows around day 9. It really bugs me.

I got a Brisa overlay to test it out and I can't believe how the colour stays exactly the same! I am planning to train in it in November for this reason.

But, the Bio S Gel helps with yellowing a lot as it's not as porous, but it can be a finnicky (sp?) gel. Even with the purplish Calgel and the Calcrystal, it does still yellow before a rebalance unless I use the S Gel.
How often are you or the client applying the Calcrystal between infils?

Calcrystal is supposed to be reapplied every 2 to 3 days, so it is advisable to retail it to the clients just as you would a cuticle oil.

Sorry if I'm jumping the gun here CurlyQs if you are already doing this. HTHs.
 

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