SensatioNail Invincible Gel Polish -___-

[kahakaigurly16]

What the Heck!!! im annoyed by this I have to admit. Gel Polish with an led lamp that you can buy at wal mart -__- and now there are beauty gurus doing reviews for the product.

[NancySyd]

Don't get your panties in a bunch over this one. In the kit, the top coat and base coat are the same, there's no cuticle oil, they have you buffing the natural nail and they have folks removing the product by soaking 15 minutes in a bowl of warm acetone and then scraping the remainder off. I figure after two manicures, their nails will be so damaged that they'll be running to your door.

[sobeit]

I actually do not mind consumer grade products hitting the market. I hate to sound like a broken record here, but honestly Nail Polish has been sold to the public for ever. My clients do not polish their own nails with traditional polish let alone gel polish. Plus in my view there is a market for everything. Not everyone can afford the salon, and yet they deserve to feel better about themselves and if that means doing it at home to save money, then I am all good with that. There are those that want it done by a pro. There always have been, and they are still coming in, they do not want to do it at home, they always have had access to product and could have just passed on the salon service. I relate this to home hair color. Our salon is packed with color services all day long, why is that when they can buy a box of already mixed easy to apply dye?

[lexibunny]

They will stop doing their own when the acetone eats the finish off their furniture ,or they warm the acetone in the microwave and start a fire ,or when they try to do their soak using a styrofoam cup ,lol...

[NancySyd]

I actually do not mind consumer grade products hitting the market. I hate to sound like a broken record here, but honestly Nail Polish has been sold to the public for ever. My clients do not polish their own nails with traditional polish let alone gel polish. Plus in my view there is a market for everything. Not everyone can afford the salon, and yet they deserve to feel better about themselves and if that means doing it at home to save money, then I am all good with that. There are those that want it done by a pro. There always have been, and they are still coming in, they do not want to do it at home, they always have had access to product and could have just passed on the salon service. I relate this to home hair color. Our salon is packed with color services all day long, why is that when they can buy a box of already mixed easy to apply dye?

As a DIYer, I absolutely agree with you about making SOG consumer products available. I use the professional products like Shellac, Gelish, Geleration, etc., but I love RCM and Gelish minis.

My concern is that Sensationail simply doesn't provide a good product. Unlike RCM and Gelish mini, Sensationail does not provide what a person needs to have good, healthy nails. A person who uses Sensationail is going to have dried, thin, splitting nails and cracked cuticles within a couple of months.

I don't think any of the DIY SOGP or SOG DIYers in general are a threat to professional nail techs. I do think that Sensationail isn't a very good product and will give SOGPs (particularly DIY SOGPs) a bad name.

[sobeit]

This is why gelish and the minis which are the same formula and Shellac and the list goes on, are professional grade, and, sensationail is consumer grade. You pay less for less quality. I don't think the general public should buy pro gel polish in a drug store. It should be drug store quality. Available to those who want SOGP at a price they can handle.

[NancySyd]

This is why gelish and the minis which are the same formula and Shellac and the list goes on, are professional grade, and, sensationail is consumer grade. You pay less for less quality. I don't think the general public should buy pro gel polish in a drug store. It should be drug store quality. Available to those who want SOGP at a price they can handle.

I don't think a consumer grade product is less quality than a professional product. Gelish mini and RCM are both excellent consumer products packaged with all the necessary stuff for consumers. I think that is key - the consumer stuff has to be pre-packaged while pros can pick and choose and put together what their experience and clientele says they need. My complaint with Sensationail is that it doesn't provide what consumers need to use SOGP without doing damage to themselves.

[moonkissed]

You will always have those that do it at home and those that can but don't want to. That is why they go to the salon. I wouldn't worry about it.

[sobeit]

Nancy I'm not sure you read me right, I said Gelish minis are the same exact product as the full size. Making it a PRO grade item. It's not a cheap consumer drug store item. I think these gel polishes in the drug store are poorer quality than what we use in the salon.

[NancySyd]

Nancy I'm not sure you read me right, I said Gelish minis are the same exact product as the full size. Making it a PRO grade item. It's not a cheap consumer drug store item. I think these gel polishes in the drug store are poorer quality than what we use in the salon.

I understand that, I guess where we differ is in considering Gelish mini a Pro item. I think that its being sold at Sally's without a pro card requirement makes it a consumer item, even though it is the same as the pro item (but smaller). Also, the way it's packaged, the Basix kit for example, makes it a consumer product. And RCM and Gelish are essentially the same product. Like Lomasi, I'd say that these are PRO GRADE products, but packaged and marketed to consumers. I think they are good products. Sensationail is a consumer product and is, in my opinion, a poorer quality product, particularly because it does not provide or even recommend the things that prevent damage - cuticle oil, removal wraps, etc.

So, I'd say there are two categories of consumer marketed SOGPs - the drugstore grade - Sensational; and the Pro grade - Gelish mini, Red Carpet Manicure and Lomasi (there are probably others). Perhaps the difference is their origins. The pro-grade kits were developed by companies that already had a professional line, while the drugstore grade kits come from a company focused on other drugstore nail products.

But my original point remains - that I don't think DIY kits and/or DIYers are at all a threat to the professional nail tech. I think we are in agreement that clients don't go to professionals because they can access better products; clients come because pros have better skills.

[scratchmyback]

clients don't go to professionals because they can access better products; clients come because pros have better skills.

So you're saying that clients wouldn't care if their hair stylist whips out a box colour the next time they go to the salon?

[NancySyd]

clients don't go to professionals because they can access better products; clients come because pros have better skills.

So you're saying that clients wouldn't care if their hair stylist whips out a box colour the next time they go to the salon?

No, but I am saying that most pros could (should) do better with a box of home hair color than a client could do with the very best salon professional products. I go to my stylist, not because she can access products, but because she knows what to do with them . But you're reversing the point - the issue isn't whether salon pros should use drugstore products, the issue is whether consumers should have access to pro products - and whether that makes a difference.

Most clients can get their hands on any salon/professional product there is. But they don't know what to do with them or can't do it well. If pros base their having clients primarily on access to products, they are doomed, because in this amazon/ebay/alibaba world, anyone can get anything, anytime. It's your skills that make the difference.

[sobeit]

I do not buy drugstore grade hair-care, nail care, or color. Its poorer quality. Its a one size fits all deal. The Gelish minis cannot be drug store quality when the little bottle contains the same exact product as the large bottle. OPI is not drugstore grade polish no matter where you buy it or what size it is. BUT Wet n wild or Sensationail are what I consider consumer grade. They are the low priced, thinned out, poorer performing products. I am sorry but there is just no way a product changes quality when packaged differently. When ya buy a little kit that doesn't come with our professional instructions, step by step guide, then good, cause ya don't need our trade secrets to application or technique. That's what you get when you go to the salon. Not when you walk into walmart and buy a generic style box of at home nails. This is where things differ for me. If you can only afford to do your nails at home with a sensationail kit, why would you expect professional looking work and results? Do they expect those results to look like a set of professional acrylic when you buy a box of press on nails? Ok I am done now.

[NancySyd]

Sobeit, please read what I wrote. I think you and I are in agreement that drugstore brands don't compare to pro brands. But not everything directly available to consumers is drugstore grade. Gelish mini, RCM and Lomasi I think are pro-grade or close. And most people aren't equipped and willing to train enough to get professional results.
I do worry that people will try products like Sensationail, damage their nails and blame it on gel polish generally instead of on that product and their own lack of skill.

[Anna from Toronto]

Who "makes" RCM"? Is it consumer version of ACG?

[sobeit]

I think where your veering off from me is the definition of quality or grade. Drugstore brand and or consumer grade products are in my experience diluted, thinner, short lasting poor performing, Pro products tend to give me a much differnt experience.

[harmonysky]

My issue with this has always been that our professionals have been sold out by one of our own. Consumers can do whatever they want however they can find it. They always have and always will. However, I get a bad taste in my mouth when one of our own blatantly produces a product that is meant to make it easier for the consumer to bypass the professional.

By the way, my friend who is Asst, Manager at our local Walmart in the H&B section says that out of the 4 systems they stocked, 1 has been stolen and 2 others have been returned. She's not sure they'll re-stock. I said it before, I'm pretty sure this will be something that gathers dust in someone's bathroom along with the other do it yourself gimmicks.

The fact remains we need to look at the root of the situation-we were sold out by someone we should have been able to trust to protect the professionalism of our industry.

[NancySyd]

Sobeit, I agree that drugstore grade products are of lesser quality. What I am saying is that Gelish mini since it is the same as regular Gelish, along with RCM and Lomasi are pro-grade products, but they are marketed to consumers.

[Bob]

Who "makes" RCM"? Is it consumer version of ACG?

Easiest way to find out is to check who owns the trademarks:

http://www.trademarkia.com/rc-red-carpet...82589.html

http://www.trademarkia.com/artistic-nail...99976.html

Same company also filed the trademark for:

http://www.trademarkia.com/gelish-85354456.html

[NancySyd]

Who "makes" RCM"? Is it consumer version of ACG?

RCM is Red Coat Manicure and it is made by Hand and Nail Harmony which also makes Gelish and Artistic Colour Gloss (ACG). It is marketed directly to consumers, primarily at Ulta. Word is that it is just re-branded Gelish - the colours are complete dupes of Gelish, even the new ones.

[sobeit]

Nancy. I am going to go into Ulta and see if they have some mauve colors, and I am going to see how this red carpet manicure wears. I love artistic colour gloss colors, and if your saying it's gelish in a different bottle, I want it. What I don't want is drugstore brand like let's say wet and wild comes out with one, yuck would be my first impression. What's funny is I do not consider Sally Hansen a drug store grade product, but I do consider revlon to be one. I'm wierd. So RCM ima find out all about you. I need stuff at home for my nails and if it works, I am not above using it on clients as the color alternatives. I will still use my pro bottle of foundation or OPI gelcolor.

[onyxkeeper]

Oh harmony sky, you have hit the nail on the head! But considering where that product comes from, I'm sure the the quality is craptastic.

[propeditech]

My issue with this has always been that our professionals have been sold out by one of our own. Consumers can do whatever they want however they can find it. They always have and always will. However, I get a bad taste in my mouth when one of our own blatantly produces a product that is meant to make it easier for the consumer to bypass the professional.

By the way, my friend who is Asst, Manager at our local Walmart in the H&B section says that out of the 4 systems they stocked, 1 has been stolen and 2 others have been returned. She's not sure they'll re-stock. I said it before, I'm pretty sure this will be something that gathers dust in someone's bathroom along with the other do it yourself gimmicks.

The fact remains we need to look at the root of the situation-we were sold out by someone we should have been able to trust to protect the professionalism of our industry.

I agree, and I will express my disappointment and displeasure to the appropriate parties at the three large beauty shows I will be attending this year.

It will be interesting to hear the "spin" they provide in response to an inquiry as to why they felt the need to do this. Obviously the motivation was money, because not one company has come on the forum here as far as I can recall to give us an adequate reason for their need to provide the general public with the same gel systems that we have all worked hard to master and help them to refine.

Maybe they all want to anchor their yachts next to each other and plan the next "sell out" of our profession. If all of the professionals keep insisting "oh, it's OK", we will just see more of this. Of course this is just my opinion, and I wanted to get it off my chest because this really annoyed and disappointed not only me, but my staff of professional nail technicians as well.

[harmonysky]

She should have focused her efforts on a good quality professional product.

[sobeit]

Don't you guys think that the SOGP will become the common nail care product though, like nail polish has been for so long? Before SOGP came along, we were all doing manicures topped with professional nail polish, the same nail polish clients could buy, even from us, to use on their own. Even though they were buying it, they were coming to the salon.