Once Shellac hit the manicuring world, nail tech’s lives got easier – WAY easier! In the past, it was tough to get clients committing to weekly manicures. The only alternative was to get clients hooked on some type of artificial nail such as acrylics that required fills every two weeks. Shellac solves a lot of problems for a lot of people!

1. If done correctly – Nail techs get return and repeat clients
2. Client’s have longer lasting and instant dry polish with a high gloss shine
3. Nail techs make more money in less time
4. Nurse’s are allowed to wear it unlike artificial nails or other polish
5. Gives strength to weak nails

Shellac is super easy to up sell. If a client comes in for a manicure simply say something like “you’re doing shellac for your hands right?” Or “Are you doing the longer lasting polish for your hands or just the regular polish?” This gives clients an opportunity to ask about it and you a chance to educate.

When clients ask how much it costs say “it’s only $15 more and it lasts like three times longer than regular polish”. Make sure you use the word only and don’t say the price total only the additional fee. For example, if the manicure is regularly $30 and the shellac manicure is $45 – don’t say it’s $45 say it’s a $15 upgrade.

Part of my job as a Manicurist Consultant is to see what other salons are doing. Across the board at several different salons, I’ve experienced the same repeated errors. Here are a few tips to keep clients returning because if the Shellac or gel polish lifts, cracks or doesn’t do what it’s hyped up to do, then guess what? You just lost not only a client, but loads of repeat business.

1. Prep the nail clean of all debris and use scrub fresh until it has a white chalky finish. If nails are peeling, make sure you buff off and even out nails. If layers of nail are peeling before shellac is applied they will more than likely continuing peeling after. Clients will not be happy when the polish lifts or cracks shortly after application.
2. The base coat only stays under the UV light for 10 seconds
3. Polish the tips/ends of the nail aka “capping”
4. Keep sacred the tacky layer. What I mean by this is if you find any flaws and need to fix something on the nail, you must buff the polish again before continuing. For example, if you find a hair, or the polish was applied too thick so it bubbles; remove tacky layer, file down the mess, buff the entire surface and then continue. Any time the tacky layer is tampered with, you must buff.
5. If the Shellac brand is too pricey for you – do not call it Shellac. Still use the Shellac brand top/base coat and other less expensive brands in between for best results. (psst…You can find cheap Shellac on EBay.)
6. Try a one week guarantee. If the nails chip within one week, have them come back and fix the damaged nails.
7. Mix Colors! (Test these on your own nails first) I often use a dark color like gray or black underneath the purple and teal colors.

Congratulations! You just made more money