Wow Karen, this was really in-depth!
When soaking off eco So Quick there are 2 things you should keep in mind.
1. if you put any polish top coat on, remove that with your normal
quick swipe of acetone
2. Using a 180 grit file, etch the surface of the gel, just breaking
the gel seal
Now a cotton ball/acetone/foil wrap in 5 minutes will remove every
last drop of the old color
There is no need to do a traditional manicure prior to applying eco So Quick
1. Prepare all of the nails by pushing back and removing all of the
cuticles. This step is very important. The most common cause of
lifting is cuticle left on the nail.
2. Using a 240 grit file or White Buffer Block, gently remove the
natural shine from all of the nails. This removes surface oils and
contaminants on the nail plate.
3. Clean the nails and remove dust using Finishing Wipe on a lint free Wipe.
Some people have indeed said using primer prior to application will
increase soak off time. eco So Quick does not require primer UNLESS
you would like the client to go more than 2 weeks. I have seen even
without primer, no chipping or wear in over 4 weeks on my own nails.
I have pictures posted at the web site.
You are quite correct, these products (eco, Shellac & Gelish) do not
provide any added strength. These products need to be marketed to a
regular manicure client, not an enhancement client as a long lasting
polish alternative..
Yes the labeling needs some work and I have been in touch with the
office about that. I also hope to, in the next 2 weeks, have a full
array of colors posted with descriptions at www.manicuresthatlast.com
Yes the pots need to be stirred. The pigment, especially for the
darker colors, is very high, many of the colors have shimmer that
does settle, so yes they need to be stirred well.
Lorraine, webgirl
www.ManicuresThatLast.com
eco So Quick Soak Off
Turn your Part-Time Clients into Full-Time Bookings!
3 Minutes On, 5 Minutes Off - Guaranteed
At 10:31 PM 5/22/2010, you wrote:
I received a kit from Tony Cuccio to try the Eco SOG ... please
pass along my sincere thank you to him for me!...and I purchased two
kits from Nail Harmony (Gelish) to try as well.
Here are some comments:
I' ve worked with traditional gels for 10+ years and with colored
ones since IBD first came out with them. With that background, I
feel pretty comfortable working with gel-based products. I have to
say that I LOVE, love the ease of this new generation of pigmented
gels. "Back in the day" the more pigment in the gel the harder it
was to work with...it crawled, it pulled bald spots, it bunched up,
it wept into the slightest file mark or low spot! But I kept at
it...and I truly feel that I knew NOTHING about product
control....until I started trying to master colored gels. I credit
the fact that I have no lifting on any of my enhancements to all the
work perfecting colored gels!
I love the idea of gel in a polish-type bottle....will have to see
if it becomes a question of economics when you get down toward the bottoms.
I am just fine with small pots of colored gels...I already have a
drawer full of them.
I have tried "trials" of both the Star and the Gelish...following
their recommendations and had no issues that I know of. When I went
to soak them off, at first I tried the foil/cotton ball method--just
as the client came in. I found that the 6 minutes mentioned by one
was not enough...and at least 10 seems to be needed. I found this
works a bit better if your application is very, very thin. If you've
used the scultping gel to build up a little arch, it takes longer.
My experience is that the product does NOT dissolve, get fluffy or
in any way resemble soaking off acrylics...it just allows you to use
some sort of appropriate pusher to slide the entire application from the nail.
I found that doing a traditional manicure...(I do soakless manis
with paraffin treatments) is NOT a good idea before you use the SOG.
They peeled right off the next day...per the client.
I have used non-acid based primer....or not....without noticable
differences in the wear. It might make the product a wee bit harder
to soak off, tho. As a color option only for natural nails, it's
applied very thinly, and I tell my clients not to expect their nails
to suddenly be tough enough to use as screw drivers, but in most
cases, they came back very impressed with the amount of growth they
saw in their natural nails, and were amazed that after soaking the
product off, their nailplates looked untouched....complete with
natural ridges! So, for my manicure clients, I am checking on their
preference before we begin...and treating their nails basically like
a quick natural nail overlay service, followed by application of a
good cuticle oil and then the paraffin at the end. No added time has
been needed, so far.
For my nail enhancement clients, I have just been offering the SOG's
indiscriminately with my regular colored gels as another option.
Since in this case, I prefer a thicker "base" gel, fully cured,
before applying color coats, I just buff their nails with my e-file
for prep. I find the SOG buffs off a bit easier than the tradtional
colored gels. It doesn't seem to get quite as "hard" or something.
No added time to my service.
This last couple of weeks, I have mixed, matched, combined,
candy-appled, basically any and every SOG and traditional
enhancement product with no noticable product break down.
For example, I have one client that I do a traditional L&P P&W, then
apply Gelish shimmery coat right over the top, cure it and out the
door she goes!
I have several traditional gel clients that I've combined their
Young Nails Base with Star, Gelish, or both. I've used the Gelish
Foundation and Top it Off with all combos. So far I have had no
peeling, unusual chippage, dingage, breakage.
For french style, I have not gotten my hands on SOG white, yet, so
have been just using my YN Hyperwhite on the tips...seems fine with
both Star and Gelish.
I've noticed that the Star Eco labelling needs some work...it may
just be that the pots I received were quickie/temporary, but the
labels do NOT stay on the pots...have had to tape them all on. And
the label colors are not a good match for the product at all.
I have noticed that the Gelish bottle that I've had open the
most....seems a bit thicker than it was...so am wondering if the
polish component of SOG's has evaporants in it like polish does and
that they'll thicken over time? I feel the little window on the
bottle is dangerous...and I have tried to be very careful not to let
those get where my UV light can shine in them.....am wondering if
ambient lighting (I use the "full spectrum" bulbs) will have an
effect on this over time...if I kept the bottles on a normal shelf?
I've noticed that you have to stir the Star pots to get the true
color....so that makes me think we should be gently shaking or
rolling the bottle ones, too? Would a mixing ball in there be a help?
I can't wait to get my hands/eyes on the product at Premiere so I
can choose colors....none of the websites seem to show the true
colors...in my opinion. I need more colors, and more time playing
with them....and then am going to do a full out marketing campaign.
This is so timely for me...am eager to continue the rebuild of my
business (which is going really well!) and this might just be the
stimulus package I need!
Karen Hodges
Morning Glory
Key West
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "NailTech" group.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
[email protected].
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/nailtech?hl=en.
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"NailTech" group.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
[email protected].
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/nailtech?hl=en.
