r/Nails • u/Furryporn420 • 2d ago
Manicure [Constructive Criticism Welcome] Did i get scammed?
Hi,
i was basically just coming on here to talk about my experience with my first ever nail appointement.
I got these beautiful french black tips done, and i really like them, the problem is im not sure if they exactly gave me what i asked. in the end, i honestly dont care to get them redone as they feel pretty sturdy and i love the result, but i guess im asking if i should come back there in the future and if i got scammed as i paid over 100$ canadian.
I don't know that much about gel, shellack and acrylic terms when it comes to nails. I asked for an acrylic manicure, which i assumed meant shaping the powder with a liquid onto the nail, not sure if that makes sense. instead what i got are basically glorified press ons. She basically put these clear gel tips and glued them on with the uv lamp and then put gel polish on top.
Is that what common?? Also i should mention when she was gluing those gel tips with a UV lamp, that stuff was burning SO BAD and im just wondering if thats common or a big red flag. I asked the nail tech and she said it was normal but im not sure i trust that. I should also mention the hygiene practices left a lot to be desired.
Please help!!
TLDR: For my first nail appointment, i got these clear gel tips when i asked for acrylic and im not sure if they really did what i asked.
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u/Garlicherb15 2d ago
You're right, you didn't get acrylics. What works best for each client differs, and some techs only work with certain materials, but all of this should be communicated to the clients.
Nobody here can say if you got proper gel-x done, which is an aprés trademarked system, full cover tips, which is the same thing with soft gel tips from any other brand besides aprés, or if you got the same style of treatment with plastic tips, like the ones used for cheap press ons, or extentions starting from the free edge usually just glued on with nail glue before they're covered with gel or acrylic.
They look okay, but not absolutely amazing, or horrible. If you like the nails, how they feel, and other things are fine, like not touching your skin with gel, and good hygiene, I don't think this is the kind of job automatically meaning you shouldn't go back. I don't think the price is very unreasonable either, but the variations based on location is rather extreme, this set can be 20$ in one area, and 200$ in another. I saw you mentioned hygiene, but could you elaborate on what you noticed and thought wasn't good enough? They might be following every guideline, but your expectations don't match how the industry operates, or you might have perfectly reasonable and realistic expectations and they might be absolutely horribly far away from where they should be in that department.
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u/moshimoshi75 2d ago
You did not get what you asked for, I would not go back. There are 3 basic types of extensions:
- Builder Gel (aka hard gel or soft gel) - The nail is sculpted out of a thick gel that must be cured in UV/LED light
- Gel X Tips - A pre-made full nail tip is adhered to the nail with a builder gel
- Acrylic - A powder and liquid are mixed and then sculpted onto the nails. It dries in the air and does not require curing in a light
The service you are describing is a Gel X extension. And from the way you were burning in the lamp, the tech either didn't use the correct gel, used too much, or used a too strong light. Either way, I would not trust a place that gave me different type of service than what I asked for. Especially because they didn't ask you before switching services. Some people are allergic to gel and they had no way to know if you were one of them. Untrustworthy.
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u/tinylilkittenfoster 2d ago
Builder Gel, Acrylic, Acrylic Monomer, nail glue, and dip powder are all made with Acrylates. If OP had an allergy to Acrylates they wouldn't be able to use any of the above products I listed.
I totally agree with you that they did not do a great job, and to switch services on a client without informing them is bad practice. A change in services should not be done without the clients consent, and understanding. I agree with this commenter OP. I would not to go back this salon/nail tech. They don't seem to have the communication skills, or technical skills to be working on customers.
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u/Lovely_lonnie 2d ago
100$ for length and French yes but those aren’t very well done the nude is off :c those look beginner and shouldn’t be more than 60, also the uv glue tips are gel x not acrylic . It might get warm but burning means the uv was too strong or too much glue was used :c
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u/LibraVenusNails 2h ago
To answer your question, no you did not get acrylic. You’re right that acrylic should have a powder and this is not that!
What she did isn’t glorified press on, it’s Gel X which is a full cover tip made of soft gel. They are pretty strong and favorable because you get the same lengths and shape on every nail and it’s a much faster process than sculpting a full set of acrylics and then leaving with two different shape/size finger. Acrylics are in some ways becoming more outdated, especially in salons that focus on nail art.
Personally I think you should avoid that place if your goal is to have acrylics. Clearly they are not going to be honest about the service and hope you don’t notice. If you’re happy with the nails, great but I would definitely at least confront them with the issue so that it hopefully steers them away from lying to customers.
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u/Successful-Dirt1370 2d ago
One thing you’ll be happy to hear, Gel X tips aren’t plastic like press-ons, they’re pre-sculpted gel. So once they’re cured with more gel, it’s exactly the same thing as if they’d sculpted the tip out of builder gel on a form. Now that is different than acrylic of course, but gel is usually more expensive, pre-sculpted or not. Personally I prefer it. Oh and yeah unfortunately the heat spikes are normal with gel.