Laura, Experiment on the amount of time you are curing them. Typically, I see dullness with all of our gels (hard or soft) when over cured. In fact, the early days of instructions on Eco, I said cure 3 mins because I wanted to be sure that gel was cured for the client in the event a tech wasn't changing their bulbs often enough. But what I later discovered is it dulled the shine. Now I tell them to cure 2 mins and it is beautiful.
So finding the appropriate time vs cure will hopefully get you the shine you need. Start in small increments. If it says cure 3 mins...test some on a tip and cure 2:45. Then 2:30. Then 2:00 and compare your results. Just watch for softness or signs that gel isn't really curing enough. In a 36 watt lamp, you are usually pretty safe at 2 mins for a product without pigment in the way. Good Luck Kind Regards, Elaine T. Watson Star Nail International Vice President of Marketing and Sales Global Education Director 800.782.7624 extension 321 fax 661.257.5856 [email protected] Blog: itsnotarealjob.blogspot.com On Wed, May 25, 2011 at 9:07 AM, Laura Merzetti <[email protected]>wrote: > I have been using both traditional gel uv topcoats as well as soak-off gel > polish topcoats for a while now. On my regular gel clients, I’ve been > noticing the 5-finger cure in the tunnel lamps doesn’t always produce > shiny, glossy nails with the traditional UV top coats. I’ve experimented > with several – the ones where you wipe the inhibition layer. I am not a fan > of the tackless sealers, so this is not about them. > > > > I thought maybe my bulbs might be wearing out, but I also noticed that > whenever I had a gel polish client, her nails came out amazingly shiny and > stayed that way till her next appointment, 2 or 3 weeks later. Not so with > my traditional gel enhancement clients. I wipe off both with 99 percent > alcohol, if that matters. I can always tell the ones that are really > shiny, and the ones that are going to be dull. I feel like my application > is the same on all fingers, but perhaps it isn’t. > > > > If I cured 4 fingers, then the thumb separately, it would be better. But I > don’t have the extra time to do that. It is bugging me that I can cure all > five fingers to a beautiful, high gloss shine, with say Shellac, or Gelish > top coats. But not Brisa Gloss, for example, or Akzentz Top Gloss. I > have tried to ‘break’ the gel polish systems by either applying too much, or > too little topcoat and each time they come out with a mirror finish and stay > that way. Sometimes my traditional top coat will come out great, and other > times, one side of the thumb might be dull. I also notice it tends to pull > away from the enhancement more than the gel polish topcoats do. I virtually > have NO shrinking with them, ever. > > > > I am really contemplating just using the gel polish top coats now on > everybody, regardless of whether they are traditional or soak off gel polish > clients. I have been wearing it myself over enhancements with no real > issues either. I also like the ‘feel’ of it better, hard to explain, like > the surface feels smoother. What do you all think? Has anybody else > noticed this as well or is it just me? > > > > Laura M. > > Scratch My Back Nail Studio > > www.scratchmyback.ca > > > > -- > 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.
