Acrylic vs hard gel?

[Steffanie]

I'm starting to get well known for acrylics now but the last few months I've been thinking of offering hard gel too in the new year to attract some more mature clientele.
I prefer applying acrylics but I do prefer gel on myself I just despise the removal but with soak offs coming on the market I'd like to try them.
I've had a few people lately asking if I do gel as they prefer them over acrylic as they appear more natural and there doesn't seem to be anyone in my area offering them.
I guess what I'm asking is, is it popular where you are? What kind of price should I be looking at charging? What brand do you all like? (Soak off only) is it worth offering hard gel too or do you find its sitting in a drawer?
I charge £25-30 for acrylics as that's the going rate round here but I feel hard gel should be more, am I right?
I'm trained in both but might need to brush up on my skills a bit and I don't want to invest in a full kit to decide it wasn't worth it.

Apologies for the essay as per xx

 

[Fisou]

Pricing would be up to your actual cost of service, plus any additional costs you would incur on top of it. If you've felt the need with clients asking for it I'd say it's a good start.

Personally I use hard gel a lot for overlays but whether you'd use it yourself would really depend on your market, your client's needs and the market around you.

 

[Sugar_Girl]

It's not popular around here, I can only find nearby places that do gel overlays not extensions, the closest place I can find that does gel extensions charges £38 and is over 45mins away

HOWEVER literally everyone I've talked into having gel rather than acrylic has said they prefer them will get gel from now on so I am quite happy to be the only one locally doing them, personally I like them better as I can provide the service quicker and get out the tiniest bit of lifting if any. But YMMV. I use Scyscraper gel from the Creative Beauty Group (cures in the Gel II LED lamp)

Not officially launching until Jan but my price will be £28, (only finished my level 3 a couple of months ago) same as what I plan on charging for acyrlics when I offer them as any extra product cost is offset by reduced service time for me. I would say most places around here charge £20-£30 for acrylics

Hope that helps a little?

 

[2012salon]

Hard gel services are generally dearer in price

 

[mandy1985]

I used to offer both but this year I decided to to stop offering hard gel and stick with acrylic. Hasn't affected my business at all. Sometimes I get the odd person ask for gel extensions but when I say I do acrylic they try it and are fine. I tried a couple of the soak off hard gels but I still found them a pain to remove. I paid quite a bit extra with my acrylic training so decided to just focus this xx

 

[hippy chick]

I use gel bottle inc builder gel in a bottle. They're great and quite cheap compared to some others. I do acrylics mainly but I do use builder gels on clients that already have length but just want strength. It's also soak off which is great too, Iv also had amazing results when it comes to lifting.... No lifting at all! [emoji173]️

 

[Welsh Heart]

I started offering soak off gel recently and I an using The Gel Bottle Inc. It is as strong as acrylic and hard gel with the benefit of soak off.

 

[blossom]

I started offering soak off gel recently and I an using The Gel Bottle Inc. It is as strong as acrylic and hard gel with the benefit of soak off.

How do you find it on weak/thin nails? X

 

[Steffanie]

I have been looking at the gel bottle builder gels. How do you find removal? I've tried the nsi secrets on myself but didn't like the removal, I found it worse than acrylic so didn't really give it a chance and gave it to a friend. I feel there may be a market in my area as no-one does it and I hear so many older ladies saying they don't like acrylic but gel polish is too soft so if I can try it on them I could maybe convert them xx

 

[beautyxperts]

I have to say the gel bottle builder gels are the best gel product I've seen in nearly 16 years of been a nail tech! It's a dream to apply, doesn't run, strong, no lifting at all, easy to fill, easy to remove. In fact my daughter has had her gel overlay on for about 3 months now (see photo) she needs an infill but as you can see no lifting (she has self tanned hence they look a bit yellow! - naughty gal).

90% of my clients now have the gel bottle, in the new year I will no longer be offering acrylics as I've slowly concerted my acrylic clients to the builder gels (never thought it would happen!) or any other brand just the gel bottle.
The company is new but they are launching a new website in the and they are getting orders out much faster now. X

 

[blossom]

How do you find it for building an apex for long nails? Can you file it after curing? The zero lifting is very impressive. X

 

[Steffanie]

Exactly what I wanted to hear [emoji5]️ I have one lady who is a mega problem lifter since starting medication, do you think this would work well on her? She loves acrylic but we're both getting a bit frustrated now so she's ready to try something else. (I have tried everything with her, they just don't seem to agree anymore since her medication)
What lamp do you use please hunnie? I've got the ink London one but I'm worried about heat spikes as it's quite a warm lamp anyway compared to others xx

 

[beautyxperts]

How do you find it for building an apex for long nails? Can you file it after curing? The zero lifting is very impressive. X

It's great I've had no problems with enhancements, yes it acts like a hard uv gel but file easily to shape & refine X

 

[beautyxperts]

Exactly what I wanted to hear [emoji5]️ I have one lady who is a mega problem lifter since starting medication, do you think this would work well on her? She loves acrylic but we're both getting a bit frustrated now so she's ready to try something else. (I have tried everything with her, they just don't seem to agree anymore since her medication)
What lamp do you use please hunnie? I've got the ink London one but I'm worried about heat spikes as it's quite a warm lamp anyway compared to others xx

I have one client who has always suffered with lifting until I used Brillbird acrylic (was always acrylic client) but ice converted her to TGB builder gel overlay and she loves it X

 

[Steffanie]

I've just ordered the set, can't wait to give it a go [emoji119] I don't think my client is 100% keen as she thinks acrylics are the strongest so if they don't work nothing will but she's happy to try it. Really hope it works for her! I've also ordered protein bond as I've heard good things about it for lifters incase she's not a fan of the gel. Have any of you tried this with problem lifters? Xx
Thanks for all of your help [emoji175]

 

[Welsh Heart]

How do you find it on weak/thin nails? X

My nails are paper thin, due to someone over filing with a nail drill. I was having problems with other gels but this one has been so great I am converting.

 

[blossom]

So which products do you need to give gel bottle a go? Is there a primer/bonder, then the builder then finish with a colour? Does anyone know if I could put a shellac colour over gel bottle builder?

 

[Steffanie]

I ordered the set yday and it came today, mega impressed and itching to give it a go [emoji16] they don't use primer blossom just acetone and I assume once buffed and shaped etc you can apply gel polish as you would with acrylic. If you go on their site they have instructions you can download X