Acrygel - Why I Love It

AAAAHHHH Its my first blog!!!

Here it goes!

Im going to start with a bit of a background. 

I was an acrylic girl, massively!! I lived and breathed acrylic. I loved everything about it. From basic salon extensions, to big fancy pants acrylic designs and shapes! I dabbled in other materials but never really took to them, they didn't last as well as my acrylics lasted.

 

I tried acrygel a few years ago when it first came out. Myself and my clients didn't get on with it so i ditched it and stuck with acrylic. It was my safety net.

 

Fast forward a few years. I decided I would retrain in acrygel and do a refresher. I did this through Katie Barnes and trained with Melanie Lewendon. It was amazing! I was recommended it because I was struggling with hand pain and being told that acrygel reduced filing, I just HAD to try it again.

 

Lots had changed since i first tried Acrygel. I learnt that the products have been adapted and formulas improved over the years. But it was the first time for me trying crystal nails acrylgel!

 

This was my first ever acrygel nail using Crystal Nails Fusion Acrylgel in Cover Pink

I was overwhelmed with excitement! This nail was created with so much ease! Sculpted and minimal filing. I didn't even have to touch the cuticle area with a file! 

Do i need to give any more reasons why I fell in love?

OK maybe one more?

Reverse French!! GAME CHANGER!! 

I haven't looked back! This french above is encapsulated!! I used Royal Gel for the colours, which is part of the hard gel family. 

 

So that is the background of how i ended up obsessed with acrylgel. 

 

What do i use?

 

The brand i use is Crystal Nails. I love the consistency and the colours. Its perfect for me. Cover pink comes in a 60g tube and a 30g tube. Because I only use cover pink, having the 60g option is really great! 

Its very easy after some practice to know how much you need to squeeze out of the tube for either full coverage or an infil. 

The prep system is amazing. It feels very thorough. And the finished result is just incredible. So smooth, It files like butter. 

It doesn't soak off. Its a file off product. I wondered if this would be an issue. But it really wasn't. I use my efile for the majority of the removal and then hand file the rest. But in all honesty, it removes much nicer than acrylic. 

 

SO.. what IS acrygel?

Its a mix of acrylic and hard gel. That is the simple answer.

The product itself has many names. Polygel, Acrygel, Acrylgel, Acrylic-Gel, PowerGel.

They are all the same thing. Some come in tubes some come in pots. There are so many fabulous brands out there. 

Its a putty like texture, with the strength of acrylic and flexibility of hard gel. Its used to create strong and beautiful extensions or overlays. The added bonus of NO SMELL!!

You can sculpt with it or use with tip and overlay method. Its moulded on to the natural nail and in to shape with a brush using a solution. 

When you place it on the nail, it stays there. I can lay a bead on all 5 nails, and then mould each one before even thinking about curing it! It really takes out all the stress! 

You know on those extra cold days or extra hot days when your acrylic sets too slow or too quickly... NONE of that!! 

Once its in shape you then cure it, refine it with a file and bam! Its done! Sometimes i only need to refine it with a 240 grit too!

I predominantly use cover pink with my clients. Then i paint my designs on top of this. I have however recently tried a glitter cover pink from crystal nails. Its called Rose Quartz Its stunning. It has the smallest most sparkly glitter in it. 

 

This is a picture of Rose Quartz Acrylgel

 

How did i switch my clients?

I started by trialling it first on myself. Building a collection before offering it as a service. I needed to be sure that my clients would benefit from it and that i was moving them over for a reason.

I started getting my OG Acrylic clients switched over first. Trialling with ones that would usually trash their acrylics. The results were amazing! No lifting and no breaks.  

I have a fair amount of clients who need regular re-balances too. Using acrygel and the fact it files like butter.. makes regular re-balances soooo much easier! 

 

 

 

If you are thinking of investing in crystal nail arcygel. For their system you need:

• Spray Prep
• Primer
• Builder Base Coat
• Acrygel (In your chosen colour)
• Acrygel Thinner
• A3 Brush
• Mixing Spatula

Typing these in to the search bar on their website will bring them straight up. The set up isn't that expensive. I found it very reasonable. I compared it to the amount i spent on acrylic products.

 

You can click here to view the website.

 

 

Final Words 

I think what i want my final words to be for this blog is, just because you have been doing one thing for a long long time. It doesn't mean you cant change and try something new! 

Go do that conversion course. Go learn something new! Trial that product! You never know where it will take you and what you will learn along the way!

If you have any questions, let me know!

 

 

OMG - that is my first one done. Did you read this far? Thank you so much if you did!

I promise they will get better the more I practice at this writing malarkey!

What did you think? Let me know in the comments.

I will be back next week with a new topic!

 

Erin xx

 

Disclaimer - This is a personal blog written by me and the contents are my own opinions and thoughts. All products i blog about have been bought by myself. If i have been gifted something to review, I will state this in the blog post. The links in my blogs may be an affiliate link. I choose to have affiliate links with businesses that I use and love myself. This means i receive a small commission on a purchase without additional cost from you. The purpose of this blog is share things i know and love about products and techniques. I will never share affiliate links for things I have not tried before or do not use in the salon. If you have purchase through a link on the post, thank you so much for your support!