Expert: Lynnette Madden - 5/19/2009

Question
I went to a salon today to have my acrylic nails replaced with gel nails.  I expected GEL.  I received powder that the technician said was gel powder and the application was identical to the acrylic nails.  The only difference was the top coat that required a uv.  None of the rest of the products *powder* required any uv treatment.The gels were $35 and the acrylic nails were $20.  I asked why the price was so much different and received two answers.  1.  They required more time and training and 2. they were more expensive for the product.  The  jar that she was using did say gel powder on it.  Can you clear this up for me regarding procedure and price?  Thank you.

Answer
Lynne,
SIGH!!! Not for you, but for those places.
Shame on them for LYING about gel nails.
Gel training does cost time and money, but believe me when I tell you that the place you got your nails done were not trained in gel. You got MMA on your nails.
There is NO such thing as powder gel. There are companies that have a powder and gel, but it is not as you described.
Go to my site:
http://www.salon29.net and read What Is On Your Nails? and you will see that you have MMA on your nails.
I am so sorry you had this done to you. This is a tactic the chop shops are using since many GOOD techs are moving from acrylics to gels. The chop shops will never be able to compete with the gels as they take too much time and it would not be a money maker for them as they want their customers in and out in record time.
If you let me know where you are, I could put out an APB for you to see if I can find a tech who does great nails!
Please let me know.
I apologize for the delay in answering; my computer keeps crashing.
buenos dias,
Lynnette