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BEAUTY
UV Gel Polish & The Big Boom! By Lauren Burton
UV Gels first appeared in the U.S and have been around since the early 1980s, but some say they were met with limited success, this was hugely down to the technology available at the time and the lack of accessible training. But, nowadays, if your salon is anything like mine, I have seen a huge increase in gel nail clients in the last 2-3 years and it seems to a service that continues to grow exponentially specifically Gel Polish manicures. Gel Polish manicures are in effect an enhanced manicure that has so many unique and beneficial selling points to a regular manicure. Gel polish is a UV gel product that often has a solvent content this generally makes the gels apply more like a nail lacquer but also makes them easier when it comes to removal, and can also be applied very quickly, therefore being a lucrative treatment to offer. The original Gel Polish product was created back in 2009 by Danny Haile CEO and founder of Hand & Nail Harmony and creator of Gelish soak-off Gel Polish, he revolutionized the industry by seeing a gap in the market for a gel product available in a polish bottle which applied like a polish but had the staying power of gel, this was closely followed by the launch of CND Shellac, and since then a multitude of brands have followed in launching their own gel polish ranges. I started my training in nails back in the early part of 2011 after many months of researching who to train with I remembered reading in a professional nail forum, a thread discussing these new gel polish product ranges created in the USA
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that had made it’s way to the UK, in particular, one by a very new brand and I thought wow, a manicure that can last up to 21 days won’t chip or smudge and is completely dry after the service is complete! That’s like crazy futuristic technology stuff. I read as much as possible specifically about Gelish soak-off gel polish product and found out the brand was Hand & Nail Harmony, I read about that company, the people involved, their background in the industry and fell in love with what the brand represented, I found they had a training division in the UK, so off I went to train directly with them in all aspects of nails. When it came to our gel polish training I was just in complete awe of this product, in fairness I’d been in awe throughout my training, I initially only trained to do nails on myself, but my mind was being changed, especially when I saw Gelish in action! I remember straight after my Gel Polish training course in 2011, I did my older sister Carrie’s nails with a stunning Gelish colour “Bella’s Vampire” as it was very similar to her favourite OPI nail lacquer “Lincoln Park After Dark” she didn’t do her nails very often as regular polish just didn’t last and often chipped within a day or two. She very rarely had acrylic extensions as she just wasn’t that keen on them. I messaged her every day to see how they were wearing and the results were incredible a full 21 days of wear, and Carrie was hooked on gel polish, and that made my mind up that I was going to get into working in the nail industry because this product was going to explode, I just knew it! And explode it did! I’ve attached the picture of my sister’s nails I used to market the treatment that created such a huge increase in clients for me back in 2011, but it was
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2012 that boomed. 2012 was the year Gel Polish took off, well it did at least in the USA and Europe. About 90% of my clients were gel polish treatments and the other 10% were acrylic/hard gel. I very nearly stopped acrylic and hard gel altogether as the treatments were just taking too long in comparison as I wasn’t that experienced with them and I was very rarely asked for them, however that changed when I moved overseas to the Gold Coast in 2015. All of a sudden my new client base was all about liquid and powder acrylic and rarely did I do gel polish manicures, no matter how I pushed it I only had a few gel polish clients I managed to convert, most of those were gel polish pedicure, the tables had turned. I continued to push but I also pushed my acrylic treatments, as my speeds in that quickened as I was offering them a lot more. But fast forward 24-36 months ago clients started to come in asking for gel polish manicures on their own accord and it continues to grow, especially now with welcomed additions of products such as soak-off builders in a bottle such as Gelish structure gel that provide gel polish manicures with that extra bit of strength and durability. The majority of my clients are gel polish manicures again, I still offer extensions and still have many clients that have them, but a lot more Australians are and seem to be embracing their natural nails and wanting treatments specifically for them, with good reason. Their nails are their own and they can grow them with the aid of a gel polish coating, and they love that! Lauren Burton is a Master Educator and Head Education for Hand and Nail Harmony Australia, distributors of Gelish Gel Polish. Visit www.gelish.com.au
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Beauty Biz Year 14 Issue 4
