“A GOOD SYSTEM SHORTENS THE ROAD TO THE GOAL.”
—Orison Swett Marden, Self-Help/Balanced Living Pioneer and Success Magazine Founder in 1897
A lot of people ask if it's okay to mix nail products from different manufacturers. We reveal the absolute truth about mixing nail brands here.
We like to think of nails as equal parts art, science, and magic. Add a dash of this, then a sprinkle of that, Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo! Life shows us that there are certain formulas that work and others that don’t. What is the perfect coffee to cream ratio? What is the best short-cut for the morning commute? Should I bathe every night or shower each morning? What’s the optimal amount of sleep to feel well-rested?
Each step of the way is trial and error before we discover a perfect set of circumstances that offer prized moments of ease in an often unpredictable day. Out of curiosity, we often run experiments in our everyday lives, refining the levers and turning the dials to happily identify our preferences and land on systems that work every time, without disappointment.
MIX HAPPENS
Young Nails Inc. is a nail care manufacturer. We are 100% biased. We’ve put our hands on many, many, many product formulas. We have found some good, some bad and some not worth mentioning. We take great pride in our YNI research and development to take the guesswork out of your job as a nail professional. We understand that sometimes, it might be too irresistible or possibly financially necessary to mix and match nail products from various brands. We do our best here to debunk any brand mixing urban legends and give you as much honest and neutral feedback as possible.
Yes, you can technically mix nail products from different brands. It’s highly unlikely that mixing and matching product from different nail brands will have any explosive effects. Do we recommend you do this? No, we do not.
Why is that? Simply put, we cannot test and solve for all the other product that isn’t ours. YNI is always here to help, regardless of if you’re using our brand exclusively or not. The reason we cannot recommend mixing and matching brands is because when you introduce a product that is not ours, it limits our ability to help you problem solve if and when any problems come up like your acrylic lifting.
If you were to call in for technical help, the first thing we would ask you is, “How are you prepping the nail?” Preparation is the biggest cause of problem nails. The second question is “What are you using?” We know our brand and hold the product quality to the highest standards. We are only experts in our YN product line. We know how our liquids, powders, and gels perform and can anticipate any of their possible quirks because we’ve tested them out there in the world on real clients.
CHEMIST BARBIE
If you do mix one company’s monomer with someone else’s powder, and this combo has repeatedly proven stable, than you do you! We call this Chemist Barbie. You’re using a little of this and a little of that and so far it’s working out.
We see Chemist Barbie come out in nail techs because the nail system being used is somehow not checking off all the boxes. There is a part of the system that is under performing. Maybe it’s the color powder or the monomer.
The nail tech is afraid and not willing or able to move on from what’s not working. Instead you settle for something that is “good enough” relationship. You don’t want to change what you’re using all at once because it can be stressful. Yikes. Deep down you know what you have to do. You are in charge of your own happiness and “semi-happy” is not an ideal long-term situation.
SYSTEMS WORK
Not all nail liquids and powders are created equal. As a nail pro, you should consider what standards of quality are meaningful to you, what you like and works best for you and your clients.
These are the factors we use to develop all our nail care systems. Then we send them out for rigorous testing with our community of busy YN mentors and only then are they certified systems that work. If you’re ready to move out of “semi-happy” to entertain the possibility of “full on happy”, might we suggest just trying out a sample of one of our complete systems. Road test it on a willing and understanding test client. We can’t wait to see where you go from there.
**This is an adaption from our YN Biz Talk playlist on YouTube, “IS IT OK TO MIX NAIL BRANDS?”
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