Salon Manicure Choices – What’s the Difference? Gel Nail Polish

There are so many amazing nail treatments available now! In this series we’ll review the professional manicure systems for use on natural nails on the market today. Here we continue our series on selecting the perfect natural nail manicure system for your needs, exploring the pros and cons of gel nail polish.

Gel Nail Polish

But first – did you know that gel nail enhancements have been around since the 1980’s, but just didn’t have the break out success back then that they were in the early 2000’s?

“At the time, the manufacturers of gel lights and the gel itself had not joined forces, not yet recognizing the need to precisely match the intensity of the light to the photoinitiators in the gel… ­using the wrong light or applying too much gel caused a burning sensation on the client’s fingertips. ­Additionally, education on gel application was limited, leaving nail techs in the dark about the product, and home-use ­systems were introduced around the same time, damaging the reputation of salon-use systems by ­association. By the end of the ‘80s, many companies had pulled their gel products from the market.”

Then, in the late 1990’s and early 2000s, the gels that we think of today, with improved formulas over what was available in the previous decade, began to emerge. About 20 years later, it’s hard to imagine a nail services menu without gel services on the list. According to the 2018-2019 Nail Big Book, 90% of salons responding to the survey offered gel polish services. The only other service offered as frequently among respondents was manicuring, also at 90%.

Some of my most enjoyable moments as a nail tech have come from seeing the amazement on clients’ faces when they pull their hands out of the lamp for the first time, and I begin wiping the inhibition layer from their fully cured gel polish manicure. With big eyes, they usually ask something like “Are they already dry?” and I tell them that they are free to do whatever they need to do. They can hardly believe that it’s OK to reach for their keys and walk out of the salon without sitting for awhile to let their manicure finish drying.

Besides this revolutionary speed in finishing a manicure, I love how long gel polish stays on clients’ nails. Even clients who are really hard on their hands typically get more than a week out of their manicure.  Personally, my nails have grown out to the point that it’s bothersome before my nails begin to chip or peel.

Unfortunately, gel polish’s greatest strengths are also a cause for it’s greatest weakness (in some clients’ eyes): the soak off process for removal. And, since it takes so long to remove, clients who get tired of their polish color in less than a week might find the wear time and soak-off to be a negative.

While gel polish might not be for everyone, it certainly fills a need for many people. Ready to try for yourself?

Some professional brands to find in the salon are:

• Gelish – If you’re a regular reader, you already know I highly recommend Gelish brand products. I’ve been using these products in the salon and personally for almost a decade now with nearly flawless results.
• OPI Gel Color – Many techs love this gel polish from a trusted brand.
• CND Shellac – this may be the quintessential gel polish now due to genericization, though gel polish should be called by the correct name and brand used should be obvious to clients.  Using inferior products can lead to service breakdown and, if it happens frequently enough, a downgrading of the professional service.

Easy-to-find beauty store brands are:

• Gelish Mini – the same great formula as the full-size Gelish, but in smaller amounts for personal use (fewer manicures)
• China Glaze Gelaze – to make things even easier, this brand requires no base coat; only top coat.
• FingerPaints – this is the Sally Beauty house brand, and has been around for several years.

You can also find one-step, no-cleanse gel polishes (no base or top coats required), and the latest development in gel polish systems – peelable base coat. I can’t vouch for any of these products personally yet, though I would be willing to test them out:

• Gelish UNO – By Gelish MINI, this is a is a DIY, instant manicure. Brush on polish and cure – no basecoat, topcoat or cleansing is required.
• Maniology Peelable Gel Base Coat – intended to be a temporary, peel-off coating for natural nails, to be painted on and removed easily later.

I personally love gel polish.  It’s one of the greatest inventions ever, in my opinion. What about you? Leave a comment below! Is this your favorite natural nail manicure product?

 

Salon Manicure Choices – What’s the Difference? Hybrid Nail Polish

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There are so many amazing nail treatments out there! In this series we’ll review the professional manicure systems for use on natural nails on the market today. Here we continue our series on selecting the perfect natural nail manicure system for your needs, looking at “hybrid” nail polish.

Hybrid Nail Polish

Hybrid nail polish is also called long-lasting or long-wear nail polish, and it attempts “borrow some of the best qualities from both gel and lacquer without needing to be cured” .  It seems the goal in developing hybrid polish was to create a polish that would last as long as UV-cured gel polishes, but applies easily and could be removed as quickly as traditional nail polish. Some brands take this a step further by incorporating oligomers into their top coats that cure in ambient UV light, and become harder over the course of a day or so.

Hybrid polishes were introduced a few years ago, after the gel polish craze evened out, and seem to have been going steady ever since. Like traditional polish, they’re easy to apply in the salon or at home. Some brands make it even easier by requiring no base coat for their systems. However, it’s important to use the correct base (if required) and top coat for the system to achieve the result for these polishes.

Image from Amazon.com

 

Ready to try for yourself?

Some professional brands are:

• OPI Infinite Shine Primer, Long-Wear Lacquer, and Gloss
• China Glaze EverGlaze Prep, Extended Wear polish, and Active Top Coat
• CND Vinylux Long Wear Polish and Top Coat (no base required)

 

 

Image from Amazon.com

 

Easy-to-find drug and beauty store brands are:

 

• Sally Hansen Miracle Gel polish and Top Coat (no base required)
• FingerPaints Endless Wear Nail Color and Top Coat

 

 

 

I tested the Sally Hansen brand earlier this year. Here’s one of my manis with a color called Shock Wave.

From my perspective, these hybrid polishes felt like a wannabe gel polish – they fell short on delivering on their promises and, overall, my experience with these was a non-starter.  Leave a comment below with your experience! Is this your go-to natural nail product?

Winter Watercolor

The chill in the air inspired me to do some winter-themed nail art this week.

 This is Gelish Medieval Madness topped with 2 coats of My Secret Santa, from the Gifted With Style holiday trends collection. I created watercolor decals using FingerPaints Artistic Azure, It’s Azure Thing!, and Fall-ing for You, and stamped with Bundle Monster Plates BM-14 and BM-319 and Konad plate k20.

 

Color blocking

The polishes I used are:

1. Rimmel London Lasting Finish Pro in “Baby Pink”
2. FingerPaints  in “Eclair Creme”
3. Sally Hansen Hard as Nails in “Tailored Crème”

Velveteen

You’ve likely seen this trend from Ciate and from other bloggers. After finishing my version I realized why the polish should match the flocking powder…

I used one coat of FingerPaints “Well-Cultured Pearl” and then one coat of FingerPaints “Private Collection” on top of that.  Once that was dry, I applied top coat to the entire nails, and used tweezers to pick up globs of flocking powder and press them into the nail.  I used Recollections brand (from Michael’s craft store) black flocking powder.

As I mentioned before, Ciate offers sets of matching nail polish and flocking powder.   The reason that you should use matching shades is that the flocking powder will either not adhere to all parts of the nail, or it will start to fall off gradually, and the polish below will show through the gaps.  If you do what I did, the lighter-colored polish underneath is going to be very visible and it does not look as pretty.  My photographer took this photo immediately after I was done with the design so the flocking hadn’t started to thin out yet, but by the next morning it was very thin.

 

Black Liquid Sand

The OPI Mariah Carey Liquid Sand set includes “Get Your Number”, “Can’t Let Go”, “The Impossible”, and “Stay the Night”.  This design features the intriguing black polish with magenta glitter called “Stay the Night”.

For this design I applied two layers of FingerPaints “Bid on It Berry” on the middle finger and thumb.  Once that was dry I laid down nail art tape in two stripes down the nail.  Then I applied two coats of the liquid sand enamel to those nails, back to back as quickly as possible.  As soon as the second coat was on, I pulled the tape off, revealing the berry-colored polish beneath.  On the other 6 nails I applied three coats of the liquid sand enamel, allowing each one to dry thoroughly before applying the next.  Later, I applied a thin layer of top coat.

I have used several of OPI’s Liquid Sand polishes so far, and they are really nice.  They apply evenly and dry more quickly than I expected.  My only complaint is that the “liquid sand” appears slightly white after the polish is thoroughly dry.  I think you’re not supposed to apply top coat so that you won’t smooth over the texture, but I found that a thin layer of top coat fixed the whiteness issue while retaining the textured feel of the polish.  I hope you can see that in the photo.