When I first heard about a gel that applies like acrylic but cures under uv/led lights, I must admit I was a bit sceptical. I have been working with hard gel for over 10 years so I think it is understandable. I worked with acrylics as well for a little while, I understand and love a lot of things about it but my heart was set on hard gel. These new kind of gels popped up on the market day after day from different companies but I still did not want to believe it. You know the saying: seeing is believing which in my case ; trying is believing 😉.
A few weeks back, NABA launched their own “acrylgel” products and called it as REVOLUTION gel. It was time for me to give it a go. Needless to say how excited I was when my parcel arrived on a very hot Monday afternoon. Perfect time to give it a go when the temperature is 30 degrees in the salon. As we all know, even the thickest hard gel would go a bit runny and harder to work with under such circumstances. A little bit of challeng, me thinks😂.
REVOLUTION gel promises endless time to play with as it will not move, or flow. Challenge accepted! 💪🏻
There are 2 different cover pinks available: medium and dark, pink builder and white. All the above are the perfect combination of French nails and Babyboomer nails.
Personally speaking non of the above are my favourites so it makes all this testing even more interesting.
Anyway, let’s open the pot and spoon out some gel. First thing I had to realise, it aint gonna happen with my favourite cat #6 brush. It is either the gel too hard or my brush is too soft to do the job. Need to find something else then: mixing spatula 💡! Perfect!
At this stage, I was just playing around on a tip. Not brave enough to do it on my nails just yet.
- Gel out of the pot with the help of mixing spatula ✅
- Gel on the tip with the help of mixing spatula ✅
- Gel is rock solid at temperature 30 degrees ✅
Now let’s pick up the brush ( you can either use your cat #6 brush or an acrylic brush - it is personal preference, whichever works better for you ) and move the gel. But it doesn’t want to move! Besides, sticks to the bristles like an old chewing gum 😭 Really?!?!
Didn’t receive any instructions, so trying to remember all of those “helpful” ( or not so helpful ) YouTube videos. They use a liquid to move the gel.
Ok, so here is the thing; if I use monomer then it will stink the salon. One of the reasons why I don’t work with acrylics. So what else to use then?
💡 Cleanser 💡
I love the smell of my NABA Cleanser so it will be fine. And surprise, surprise it works with REVOLUTION gel too.
When you work with hard gel only, your fingers automatically want to move the gel in a certain way. Well with THIS gel, forget those moves. Doesn’t work. If you ever worked with acrylics then you are lucky as you will need to do the “tap-tap-tap” method. If you never worked with acrylics before, it is a new skill to master 😉
I can hear and see my gel beginner students face already 😘 sorry guys, you will get used to it! Promise! It just looks hard but actually ok and of course practice !
So I pour out some cleanser, I am all set and ready to move my still rock solid REVOLUTION gel on the tip. And guess what?! It actually moves nicely, exactly the place where I want it to be 😱 perfect! Let’s cure it now!
I am using my NABA LED lamp and it is pretty solid in about 1 minute but please have a go with your own lamp. I really don’t like giving out information about curing time as it varies depending on your lamp. Have a play!
Let’s just give it a quick cleanse and try filling it. I am using NABA 180/180 file as per usual. Surprisingly, it is even easier to file than hard gel. ( Not because it is hard to file hard gel anyway. ) I actually don’t need to file a lot ( another bonus ) because I managed to put the gel exactly the place where I wanted to. Will this reduce the service time? Probably yes!
Quick buff, top gel and done ✅
Right, let’s be brave and do a set on myself. After I safely removed my old set of nails with an efile, I decided to play safe and do a gel overlay on myself, French style. 😱
Natural nail preparation, prep liquids ✅
NO base gel this time, straight on the nail, starting with DARK COVER PINK.
Tap-tap-tap ➡️ nail bed extension ready ✅ Let’s cure it! Now here is the thing about heat spike. It is a tricky one. There are some people out there who can take the pain, no problem. And some others who cries like a baby 👶🏻 even after top gel application. And yes, that sums me up quite well!! I am the one who 😭 like a 👶🏻.
So heat spike; bare able.
Next gel I am using is the PINK BUILDER, straight on top of my nail bed extension.
Tap - tap - tap, cure ➡️ no heat spike!
As I want to do a proper French set, next gel to use is WHITE.
Tap - tap - tap, cure ➡️ no heat spike!
A quick cleanse and filing and job is done!
Well, as REVOLUTION gel does not move, I am up for the challenge to do the rest of my nails in one go 😉
Conclusion of REVOLUTION gel so far:
✅ a mixture of acrylics and hard gel
✅ cures in uv and led lamp
✅ easy to do French nails with it using reverse technique
✅ you can play with this gel forever as will not move or run at all
✅ extremely easy to file
✅ a new service to offer clients
💡 application is different from hard gel
💡 need to master the “tap - tap - tap” technique
💡 required amount of gel (comes with practice, depends on the length of the nails)
It is ok to say, REVOLUTION gel passed the test for French.
Now let’s see what is happening with BABYBOOMER style?
I am using DARK COVER PINK and WHITE BUILDER gel.
Application is getting easier and easier. Comparing to do Babyboomer with other gels; quicker.
Filing very easy and quick!
As my clients always up for some funky stuff, I added some unicorn 🦄 pigment over these nails and finished with some freehand painting nail art.
You might be wondering if these gels work as extensions now?
The answer is yes! 👍 They work perfectly on tip extensions as well as on sculpting forms. You can pinch it and it stays in form without adding any clip on top 😉 another BONUS!
I would definitely recommend to try this new gel from NABA. It is a game changer, specially for those nail technicians who are struggling with hard gel application. Don't miss out on a brand new service that you can also offer to your clients.
UPDATE: The top picture was taken of my clients nails on 6th July before she went on holiday to sunny Greece 🇬🇷 for 2 months. Yes you heard it right, 2 months of sun 🌞 , sea 🌊, sand and lotion. I used NABA REVOLUTION GELS; cover pink, white and pink builder.
She returned today, on 6th September. Exactly after 2 months without any break or any lifting. Obviously this is not recommended to leave infill for so long but the nails are all good. I filled the length and gave her a new set of nails today. Happy client, happy me 🙂
