Maggie Rants [and Raves]

And Now For Something Completely Different — NOT!

by Maggie Franklin | June 3, 2011 | Bookmark +

So, a few weeks ago I had a voicemail from my sales rep. He left me a bright, cheery message all amped up about the new product that his company just released — it's revolutionary and it's going to be the most incredible thing ever. Essentially, he said they had a new gel that would "turn all [my] regular polish into gel polish." It was going to save me a bajillion dollars and I'd never have to buy another $18 dollar bottle of gel polish again.

 

Hmmmmm ... yes, I am interested, please tell me more.

 

It's not that I'm looking for a way out of investing in all those bottles of gel polish so much as I'm looking for an option that prevents my traditional polishes from becoming obsolete. Some time ago I heard about a new gel on the European market that does this — it’s used in conjunction with traditional polish. I was pretty excited about it, but a bunch of my peeps told me I could do this with "any" gel ... which turns out to be sorta kinda true but there are still some issues I want resolved. BUT … this is not (exactly) a story about that adventure. Let's just say that when my sales rep called, I was thinking that this fabulous new product was going to work in the same way as the European product only cost considerably less in shipping to get it to my doorstep. So I was excited to talk to my sales rep about his revolutionary new product.

 

I recently did this. His directions for the new product? Use it as a base coat, then apply two coats of polish, and top it with top coat.

 

I said, "So you use the gel as the basecoat and the topcoat?"

 

He said, "No." Just as a base coat, I'm supposed to use whatever fast-drying top coat I normally use.

"But how does that turn my polish into gel polish?"

 

Apparently, using this amazing new gel as a basecoat will add the additional adhesion and extend the wearability of traditional polish so that it lasts as long as gel polish.

 

"OK. But then the polish won't be completely dry at the end of the service."

 

Well, I might have tested my rep's patience, but I have yet to figure out how doing a gel overlay and then polishing as usual is any different from the gel services that have been available to the industry for what? 30 years? This is so the exact opposite of "new" or "revolutionary" and I can't believe this is the company's biggest seller of all time.

 

In the meantime, on my end, here in the salon every day, my clients love that gel polish is dry at the end of the service. There is no waiting around. There is no worrying, no constantly asking me if I think it's OK to go now. And the 10 minutes it takes to soak off the "polish" to change the color isn't showing signs of damage on my clients' nails (I could do a whole other post about that — and maybe I will) and if I stop offering this service with these benefits, many of my clients will go to a salon that is offering it.

 

One thing's for sure: If I go back to the way I did it 15 years ago and tell them it's "new and revolutionary" they are not going to be amused.

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