Trouble with fibreglass

[VHunter]

P.S. I've always used my fingers in applying fiberglass and have had no problems with lifting from doing so. Of course limiting the amount of contact would be a good idea, but you don't have to be like a surgeon in handling fiberglass.....:lol:

Is it necessary to be mocking?

Prep for gel and acrylic is different than for fiberglass. Gel you need a bonder and acrylic you need a primer. You don't need either of those for fiberglass. So all you need to do is push back cuticle and buff off the shine of the nail.

Also for a natural nail overlay you need a thin coat of resin adhesive (dried) on the nail before laying the material on the nail. That isn't necessary when applying a tip.

You said "the top two layers of gel wrap is lifting exposing the fibre glass". Not sure I understand this. There is no gel in doing a wrap. Do you think it could be your gel topcoat is not adhereing to the wrap?
As Gigi stated before applying a gel topcoat you will need to make sure that the surface of the finished nail is clean of all dust and wiped off with alcohol or a nail prep.

Fiberglass is not always easy to hide the material. You might want to try silk wrap. It totally disappears.

You do not push back the cuticle.
You push back the EPONYCHIUM, and need to remove the CUTICLE from the nail plate. If Cuticle is left on the nail plate, it will cause lift.
Then you need to buff the shine off the nail (not etch).
Then remove dust and apply a cleanser or dehydrator to remove residual dust, and natural oils and such from the nail plate.
Where oils are left - WITH ANY SYSTEM - there WILL be lift.
Gel-Resine (aka tip-n-dip) uses a resin adhesive like that used in wraps.
Resin adhesive will not have a strong grip on the surface if debris and oils are left on it.

I'm glad you listed your steps, that makes it easier to figure out what the problem might be.

When applying tips you don't need a layer of resin on the nail first.

Using too much resin can result in lifting. You are better off to use several thin layers. You do need to activate before laying the material. You don't have to activate every time (not sure if that causes lifting) but it will save you time and money.

I stopped dehydrating the nail and haven't noticed any difference. When applying a tip you need the dust on the nail. When doing an overlay, the dust needs to be removed.

I use a sponge type buffer after I have applied all product on the nail. this ensures that I am not filing too much into the product.

To be honest, I have not had too much luck with overlays. I've tried everything and anything I can think and it just doesn't seem to last. It usually pulls away from the free edge.

Like I said before, try silk. It will disappear in the resin and still gives the strength.

You need to cap the free edge as you would with any other system. You can cap with the resin.
And again, you need to do a proper prep. Poor prep results in poor adhesion, which will result in lifting..........................