Gelish

Originally I aimed to carry out acrylic nail services in my salon after passing my Nail Technology course at college but I then later decided against it when I came to realise how time consuming the treatment is and I also became conscious of the damage the process of applying acrylic does to our natural nails. Although some people still do prefer acrylic nails, I have found a lot of my clients have turned against them and now prefer to enhance their natural nails with gel polish. 

Gel Polish is applied like a regular nail polish with the 3 steps; base coat, colour coat and top coat but the service requires a little more preparation to ensure beautiful nails that should last 2 weeks. 

The benefits of gel polish are that you don't have to wait for it to dry, it just simply needs to be cured under a UV or LED LAMP and after that you are ready to go with no worries of smudging, chipping or denting the polish. As with any treatment after care is important so if you want to maintain the perfect manicure I would advise you to steer clear from strong chemicals (like acetone or bleach) which may cause the polish to peel, or if you must do so, wear gloves to avoid direct contact with your nails. 

When your nails have grown you will be able to visibly see the growth and it may be tempting to start picking away but you should not remove gel polish by peeling it off, this will damage your nails and make them brittle and weak.

Gelish after 3 weeks! 

Removal of gel polish is also easy, this can be done at a salon or at home. To remove, finger nails need to be soaked in acetone for around 10 minutes, after that you will be able to see that the polish has lifted from the natural nail and you should then push off the polish with a cuticle tool. To finish, a buffing file should be used to smooth the surface of the nails and remove any remaining traces of the polish. 

I started collecting gel polish for my salon just before Christmas, there are many different brands of gel polish but after doing my research and test driving products from various brands, I decided to stock Gelish by Harmony Nails. What I found with Gelish is that it can last longer than other gel polishes, with some of my clients it has lasted 3 weeks! But the main reason I picked Gelish is because of the huge colour range. 

So far I have 19 colours (I have a sheer colour painted on another colour wheel) which have all been really popular with my clients. Gelish often bring out new colour collections but instead of buying a full collection I prefer to choose the colours I like and I think my clients will like and also colours they have requested. Some of the most popular colours in my collection are the glitters, which looks lavish all year round. When choosing colours I go for what is in demand at the time, for example at Christmas I ordered shades of red, where as now it is coming to the summer I have started buying bright and vibrant shades which are highly sought-after. When it comes down to buying, Gelish is quite expensive so I try to order about 4 colours at a time. I order online so I go through the many colours and narrow it down to my favourites. I think the next colours I buy will be a silver glitter, turquoise glitter, yellow, coral and a red/pink. 

If you are one of my clients what colours would you like to see in my collection or if you use Gelish yourself what colour would you recommend?

'Carnival Hangover' and 'All That Glitters Is Gold' with Swarovski crystals

'My One Blue Love' and 'All That Glitters Is Gold' with Swarovski crystals