Your L&P/Gel experiences....

[Bagpuss]

After attending The Event last weekend and getting my lovely master kit I decided to have a play....I have been doing gels since 2004 so this L&P game is totally new to me.

I was inspired by watching the demos at The Event and as always they make it look so easy...while we where practising on tips I find it flowed really nice...and those lovely glossy beads (when you do a right one..:lol are quite mesmerising. What did scare me was how it sets, using gel you can play and perfect till your heart is content and until you put it under the lamp its not going to cure. So I found I had this little panicky feeling in my tum, hoping that I would have enough time to do a decent smile.

I have done 1 hand on myself and it went ok, (no pics as i have soaked them off) They felt lovely on, like glass and I couldn't believe how thin I could get them, yet so strong. I had them on for 5 days and no lifting at all :green:

My mix ratio was wrong on some beads as I could see a marble like effect on some where my zone 2 met my zone 3....something that wasn't really apparent till they had set and even more apparent when i buffed to a high shine (used the glossing block and have to say it was effortless)

I also found it harder to file than Gel so I now understand totally the need to shape using your brush and not your file.

I have along way to go with L&P but have to say that I will be practising some more and will add this to my services once i feel ready.

Anyone else had a play with your Gel/L&P kits....?

 

[ValencianNails]

What did scare me was how it sets, using gel you can play and perfect till your heart is content and until you put it under the lamp its not going to cure. So I found I had this little panicky feeling in my tum, hoping that I would have enough time to do a decent smile.

I soooo hear you Angie... as a gel and fibreglass girl myself I found it quite strange to have to work a lot faster and not feel like I had all the time in the world. I've been like this since I did my L+P conversion in April, feeling almost 'rushed' for want of a better word. It's a totally different ball game to gel!

My mix ratio had changed slightly (my own fault) and I think at times I had been working a bit drier which made it much harder to work with. Being shown again how to do it has made me realise how easy it is to let my work 'slide' and not do things 'properly'. It's sometimes difficult when you haven't got your educator sitting over your shoulder pointing you in the right direction and talking you through it all.

I've done a full set of warm opaque and sin city on myself (Tuesday) and found it so much easier to work with, especially doing my own. I have seen a huge difference in how I work with L+P on clients this week too, all for the better I might add :green:

The biggest difference for me (working on clients) has been my L+P smile lines.
By the time I'd done my 5th/6th tip at the Event I felt I'd achieved a lot and got a lump in my throat when I was told by Jan that I'd done an excellent smile :o She'd been watching me without me knowing, thank goodness she kept quiet or I'd have been a bag of nerves :lol:

 

[adelekeegan1]

I've been playing too............I'll let you know

 

[Bagpuss]

I liked the bit about just putting that white bead on...letting it settle and then go right in with those ears...pushing them right up and just leaving the middle...then once those ears are done just dab that smile into place...No swiping...just gently pushing into place and creating that little ledge.

 

[becki x]

I liked the bit about just putting that white bead on...letting it settle and then go right in with those ears...pushing them right up and just leaving the middle...then once those ears are done just dab that smile into place...No swiping...just gently pushing into place and creating that little ledge.

Those of us who didn't attend would be greatfull of a step by step and pics of this method :wink2:

Is this new CND teaching ?

 

[Urban Geek]

Being an L&P girl at heart, it is Brisa that I have struggled with. I can do a nice enough set of nails but after about the 3rd maintenance seem to get a breakdown and have to buff almost all the product off to redo. I felt this was very harsh on the nails so only use Brisa for toes.

Perhaps I should get my Brisa out again and give it another go on the hands.

I wouldn't say gel is an easier system, just a very different one to L&P and anything outside your comfort zone is going to be harder.

Great thread!

 

[sknight]

Those of us who didn't attend would be greatfull of a step by step and pics of this method :wink2:

Is this new CND teaching ?

Here is the tutorial hun x
http://www.salongeek.com/nail-application/2734-million-dollar-smiles.html

 

[tracey louise]

Those of us who didn't attend would be greatfull of a step by step and pics of this method :wink2:

Is this new CND teaching ?

i second this,so please share with us sad geeks,lol as soon as you can.x

 

[becki x]

Here is the tutorial hun x
http://www.salongeek.com/nail-application/2734-million-dollar-smiles.html

Oh is that all :o i thought i'd missed out on something new from the event :lol:

 

[Vetty]

Being an L&P girl at heart, it is Brisa that I have struggled with. I can do a nice enough set of nails but after about the 3rd maintenance seem to get a breakdown and have to buff almost all the product off to redo. I felt this was very harsh on the nails so only use Brisa for toes.

Perhaps I should get my Brisa out again and give it another go on the hands.

I wouldn't say gel is an easier system, just a very different one to L&P and anything outside your comfort zone is going to be harder.

Great thread!

I'm with you on this Chris - I'm an L+P girl...... I was really pushed out of my comfort zone on Thursday this week - I was specifically asked for a Brisa rebalance ! I did it but secretely have my fingers crossed for the longevity of it, lol!!! I asked if she'd ever tried L+P but she was adament!!!!

I find gel harder than L+P but I do less of it...... Maybe if I did more I'd feel more confident? At the moment I choose to stay within my comfort zone, but once my L+P Masters is boxed off I'll do more gel training and hopefully feel more confident with it!

 

[MINKUS]

guess what i put on my nails at the beginning of the week:green:

A sculpted set of l+p.

Left hand went on 'ok' right hand OMG lumps r us ! :green::green:

Teeny bit of lifting on a couple and yes i too got a bit of marbelling on 'some' not all nails....but all still on no prob

Practised smiles on LOADS of tips tonight.

Just need a couple of 'well behaved' NON pickers to try it on !

Amb x

 

[Peter Pan]

i found this with the gel angie - i hadnt used gel since i done my masters, but NOW - i love it (gel that is) and am now so confident with gel that i KNOW (if that makes sense) what to offer clients, and am able to tell them the diff, instead of just "oh gel is more flexible" etc

 

[Bagpuss]

I have never been shown so all i know is what i was shown at The Event....What they did was to place a bead of white onto the tip area, let it rest and then push using the tip of your brush up to form the tip of your smile....then again the other side...really pushing it up...then bob the middle into place...this creating a lovely deep smile line.

 

[sian1979]

i too have heard a couple of geeks who have attended the event talk of a different smile line method that was taught...i do not think it is exactly the same from that tutorial from what i have read. I would like to know.....as so many of you have found this one tip so useful.
I think the whole site is buzzing from the event...quite rightly as it sounds like it was excellent and very inspiring. I unfortunatly could not attend this years one as i had family commitments........if i could of been there i would have been...but i will be at the next one (i hope anyway)! I would have loved to have met some of the fab people that travelled over for the event......:cry::cry::cry:

 

[Nataliya]

Gosh, I felt weird on day one with L&P as I am totally gel gal) I have done an EzFlow course with Izzidoll back in April and I loved it.

It was difficult to get the mix ratio right at the Event, the brush was too small as i am used to EzFlow 508 brush which I love to bits. By the time I managed to do one corner the bead was set and it was too late.

I have been practising on tips since I came back it seems to be getting better with consistency and mix ratio finally. I am going to do a set on myself this weekend hopefully.

Event completely changed my mind about Popits, and now see it an extra option and not a replacements to freehand nails.

Day 2 with Brisa was fantastic)))) Smiles lines were fabulous and felt more comfortable. I love Brisa products.

I also totally brushed up on my prep routine thanks to Rox.

I so want to get better at l&p, i am going to keep practising and hopefully get better at it))))

 

[naturalnails]

OK, I have deleted some of the posts which got a bit heated and off topic. Dont know where that one came from!

As to the "new" technique. I dont know if it is new but it was slightly different. I have to admit to not reading the entire million dollar smiles thread for some time but I do remember something about having to add in tiny beads to get the corners to get a deeper smile line.

It seems to be now that CND make much more use of the coverage powders, they are going in for slightly deeper smile lines - not as deep as some of the extremes we sometimes see.

Originally when you placed your white bead, we went out to the sides first and then up whereas now the first thing you do is go up as in a V (as someone already said) and then once that is done, smooth out the free edge.

Then with a dry brush go back in to tidy up if needed.

Hope that helps.

 

[Bagpuss]

Have any of the normally L&P users noticed the difference in filing gel...?

 

[busybee32]

i too have heard a couple of geeks who have attended the event talk of a different smile line method that was taught...i do not think it is exactly the same from that tutorial from what i have read. I would like to know.....as so many of you have found this one tip so useful.
Roxy used a sharpie on the tip to draw a triangle pointing downwards towards the free edge. The 2 corners are where your ears need to be and the bottom point is the middle of your smile line. She placed the bead just below the bottom point then pushed the bead up towards the top right point and then pulled the product back down towrads the free edge. next she moved onto the left corner and did the same.You should have what looks like a V made of white on the tip. Then she took her brush and pushed into the smile line to crisp it up HTH.
The triangle was drawn on the underside of the tip so that you could just see it through the tip.You need to create a litle lip in the middle of your smile so that the pink can butt upto it.
I think the whole site is buzzing from the event...quite rightly as it sounds like it was excellent and very inspiring. I unfortunatly could not attend this years one as i had family commitments........if i could of been there i would have been...but i will be at the next one (i hope anyway)! I would have loved to have met some of the fab people that travelled over for the event......:cry::cry::cry:

Hope this makes sense hunni.
Jen xx