Maggie Rants [and Raves]

Feeling Betrayed

by Maggie Franklin | July 1, 2011 | Bookmark +

Wow. I had no idea how heated the debate regarding the appearance of Gelish at Sally’s would get, but anyone who’s been over to the Beautytech message boards lately can attest that this is one BIG controversy!

I am not terribly concerned with the availability of professional products to the consumer market. It’s always been possible to get your hands on professional products if you really have a mind to. The Internet just makes it easier. But I strongly believe — no, not just believe but have learned — that the products do NOT make the professional.

There are many, many “professionals” in the industry who don’t know their monomer from a hole in the ground and couldn’t sculpt their way out of a paper bag. Just as there are many, many professionals in the industry who could sculpt a nail from mud and make it look beautiful. On the flip side of that, there are also many, many “civilians” out there who can out-sculpt some of the best of the pros and there are many civilians out there who shouldn’t be allowed to use traditional nail polish unsupervised.

A license from a regulatory agency is not what determines skill or chemical responsibility.

If the “professional” is unable to do nails better than the client can do for themselves, then that’s a good indication that it’s time for that professional to either step up her skill-set or find a new profession.

We are inundated by chemical products in our daily lives. I don’t think the risk of over-exposure is greater from Gelish than it is from any commonly available hair dye or pesticide for killing weeds in your garden, and UV-cured gels are already available direct to the consumer. Some people will develop allergies, but most won’t.

I’m more swayed by the argument that Nail Harmony sold out and betrayed the professional industry. I was looking through the newest NAILS Magazine last night and took a close look at all those shiny, expensive Gelish ads and sure enough, they all clearly state that the product is “sold exclusively to licensed professionals.”

Maybe they mean “driver’s license”? Because it’s obvious that the Gelish available at Sally’s is packaged specifically for the consumer market.

I understand that people can change their minds and go in a different direction than they originally intended, but it’s obvious that the packaging and marketing for the consumer market didn’t happen overnight so the advertising to the professional industry should have stopped promising “licensed professional only” sales several months ago.

Yeah. I’m disappointed and will probably be a lot more angry about it once my head stops spinning from the surprise of it all. No. I’m not packing up my product and selling it on Craig’s List. I’m gonna keep using it because my clients love it. But there are so many lines of UV polish on the market now to choose from, I don’t need to stock just one line. It’ll depend a lot on what my clients want and even though I’ve informed all my clients that they can now go get their own gel polish, they still want me to do their nails.

I just hope they fixed that stupid little porthole window in the label for the consumer version.

 

 

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