Nails - ColouredGelsAndAcrylics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bio Sculpture’s red coloured gel.
Many of your clients will be looking forward to their Summer holidays and won’t want the hassle of worrying about chipped nails. So now is the ideal time to think about introducing, or extending, your coloured acrylic and gel enhancement range.
Both acrylics and gels are known for lasting longer than normal polish and proper application can strengthen and promote growth of the natural nail.
With coloured gels and acrylics your client can have beautiful nails in a colour of their choice and not have to take time from relaxing to re-apply nail polish.
Acrylics
For acrylic nails, also known as liquid and powder, it is important that all shine is removed from the nail so that they are smoothed and refined. You should also eliminate surface contaminates before purifying the nail plate layers.
Roxanne Valinoti, CND Education Ambassador says the most important part of the treatment is the prep. It is the preparation of the nails that prevents the acrylic from lifting and means that the enhancement will last longer.
Roxanne explains that there are four simple steps to this procedure. First of all, prepare the manicure so that the cuticle is removed from the nails whilst
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ensuring not to clip anything that is living as this could lead to lifting and possibly a bacterial infection.
If your client has soft, pliable nails or likes to wear their nails long, then acrylic enhancements may be more suitable for them, opposed to gel nails.
Audrey Heffernan, OPI educator comments: “The acrylic system is my favourite of the nail enhancements. I find them very hard wearing and if applied by a good technician, very natural.
“Very seldom will you get an acrylic nail that has popped off or an acrylic nail that has chipped. The strength of acrylic is like no other system.”
Gels
Over the past few years, gel enhancements have become increasingly popular mainly because they are simple to apply, there is no waiting for them to dry and it lasts on clients’ nails for two to three weeks without any chipping.
Many nail technicians often find that using gel to create an enhancement is a very simple process due to the fact that gel is a one component nail treatment and therefore can be easily applied without having to mix together any separate elements. This limits the risk of a product that has been mixed
incorrectly which can result in imperfect nail enhancements.
Creating the actual enhancement is quite simple using a gel formulation and gives the flexibility of either using a tip or a form to create the extra length. Using a form, the enhancement can be sculpted using just the gel. The gel is applied to the natural nail and continued onto the form to the desired length of the enhancement. An overlay of gel is then applied using a colour of your client’s choice followed by a gel top coat.
Once the coloured gel is applied, it is cured immediately under a UV lamp, eliminating drying time and making it a quick process for clients as they can leave as soon as the application is finished. This also means that you spend less time with each client and have more time to fit in other appointments.
In the Illustrated Beauty Therapy Dictionary, Susan Cressy describes Gel nails as: “Application of a gel over a plastic nail tip to produce a natural- looking false nail with a high gloss finish. The gel is set hard by using ultraviolet light or spraying with setting gels.” However, enhancements can also be created from gel using a form and sculpting method.
Turn the page to see a round-up of some leading coloured Gel and Acrylic systems . . .
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