This is a great question - how should NT choose a brand?
Start from the basis that you are in business. That means that you need not only reliable products, but good education how to use them and how to solve potential problems. Like most people, you will also want good customer service, so if you have a problem later and need advice, the supplier is there for you.
Remember each customer you lose will lose you money every month! It is hard to get new customers, so that customer who walked away and paid £30 each month, can end up costing you two or three times this before you find a replacement. And there is also the cost to your reputation - an unhappy customer tells on average 9 people!
My advice is always to choose a brand for the quality of education they provide and its reputation. Today it is relatively cheap to create a brand. Gel polishes can be bought in China for a few Dollars, in small quantities and they will even label the products for you. But the products will be illegal in Europe, because to register the products on the European Cosmetic Products Notification Portal (CPNP), you need two things:
- a Product Information File (PIF) that contains information about the ingredients, method of manufacture, chemical formula, etc.
- a Cosmetic Safety Report from an EU based laboratory - which accesses the product(s) for toxicity and deems them safe and legal (or not)
The PIF obviously contains information that most factories want to keep secret to avoid someone copying their product. So for that reason, it is EXTREMELY RARE for a Chinese factory to provide this. Their websites often claim they will provide this, but when I have tested them (sometimes my sense of fun is a tad unusual), they have never delivered or the document is obviously fake (at least to someone who knows what a genuine PIF looks like).
Another problem is that gel polishes that have special effects, such as changing colour with temperature, use ingredients that are illegal in the EU. This is often a good way to discover if the brand is selling relabelled Chinese product. It also explains why serious manufacturers do not sell gel polishes with these effects.
But it is not only illegal ingredients that are a concern. We have seen some gel polishes from China containing far too much of certain ingredients - making them a very high allergy risk.
Of course, if a client develops a health issue and sues, it will almost certainly be discovered in court where the products are manufactured and the insurance would become invalid. Not only that, as a business owner we are all responsible for carrying our “Due Diligence” – this means making every effort to ensure that what we do is legal and safe, and if necessary being able to prove that in Court.
On the other hand it is difficult and expensive to create great education and customer service. For a start you need a lot of experience and knowledge to develop an competent education program, and you need good employees and management to constantly deliver great customer service.
When you consider all of this, the number of potential brands on your short list will be fairly small. Call them up, ask questions, see how fast they answer the phone and how helpful they are. Does it seem like they want your business?
Good luck and have fun!
I’m shellac trained and when you order through sweet squared you would have to show them your certificates to set up an account. You may be able to buy it elsewhere but the price point might not be as competitive as sweet squared. I chose Shellac mainly because people always ask for that brand as it’s fairly well known. But to be honest once clients see the colour choice of any gel brand that’s all they really look at. Lol good luck
