Do you use shop bought varnish

[dee]

even when i first started i just used a few polishes from sallys , the attitude ones which are cheap but stiall aint a retail brand,
it hen went on to build up my collection of creative !! (its a bit addictive , lol )

 

[talented talons]

When starting out, i got brand ones from Star Nails, like Attitiude, plus i would get cheap ones i could find just to give myself a good range of colours to offer.

Now i use Creative, Orly, OPI and Toma as well. I do have clients that have bought their own polish to me as it matches an outfit, so i don't mind doing that, especially as most of my clients have good taste and don't buy cheap ones.

(one client bought a polish from Debenhams and it cost her £21! I wouldn't pay that for it, but it is a fab polish and colour)

 

[Helen Keating]

I personally agree with all the above.... shop bought just does not look right in a salon.... your client will think that its something they can buy anyway... personally i cnd polish and just love it... the client can only buy it from me and not at any wholesalers who sell to the public ( not to mention any names as i hate this), OPI is also a great polish but again can be purchased by anyone now..... If you are looking to save some pennies my advice would be to shop at the shows you can get some great deals and sometimes VAT free.... Good luck.

 

[jacqueline]

I have to agree I don't think it sets the right tone to use something you can buy in the likes of Boots,Superdrug, Wal*Mart etc.

When I go to a salon when I am in the US, it has Opi etc to choose from but also some cheapy ones, I never pick those even if I like the colours as I just know I can buy them for $2 in WM!

 

[NatalieJ]

There isn't much difference in price for some of the products anyway so I would always stick to the professional ones. I have Creative and I can say that the over the counter ones I have that I use on myself sometimes are so not the same quality. The over the counter ones I have go gloopy, the Creative ones I have had for over 2 years are still free flowing, I think thats the major difference for me.

Also if you use professional products the client will feel a lot more special and will take more care of her manicure IMO x

 

[S'nails]

Hi there,
I'm quite surprised that you all seem to prefer "professional" varnishes, how do you cope limited to a certain amount of colours?
I'm a mobile technician and I specialise in Nail Art so I'll use any colour that tickles my fancy. I'm particularly loving BarryM varnishes at the mo (Boots). Naturally there are certain brands I'll avoid due to quality purposes (or rather lack of) but generally if there's a colour I like I'm not fussed who's name's written on the bottle!

x x x

 

[jes]

Hi,

For health and safety/insurance reasons I never use a polish that I don't have a MSDS for. I doubt that the girl on the Boots checkout would be able to supply you with these?

 

[Bagpuss]

Hi there,
I'm quite surprised that you all seem to prefer "professional" varnishes, how do you cope limited to a certain amount of colours?
x x x

I have never felt that we lack colours in the pro ranges......usually there are that many i have a job deciding which to have next...

 

[emerald]

I use toma, i bought quite a few of them at the beauty show in oct as i really like them and they stay on well, have a nice range of colours and retail well. I dont think i would like to use otc products tbh.