Why BIAB (Gel in Bottle)?

Builder in a bottle ,builder gel or gel in bottle well known as BIAB manicure sytem. But why it calls 'BIAB'. BIAB stands for “builder in a bottle” it's an acronym created by The Gel Bottle brand whom invented the service. But what BIAB is excatly? BIAB is a gel type that can be soak-off which is stronger than regular gel and shellac polish. BIAB application is very similar to traditional gel or shellac manicures.

While most gel or shellac polishes are made from animal byproducts, builder gels are vegan and also cruelty-free, so no animal testing is involved of the product. One of my favourite Builder gel products I used for my clients is cruelty free, 10-Free, Hema free, vegan & Australian owned. BIAB has no hash chemicals or even hash smell compares to acrylics and dipping powder system.

The BIAB process will need nails prep, file and buff before applying a thin layer of gel base and cured under a LED lamp for 90 seconds. Follow by applying a thin layer of BIAB builder gel over the nail and cured again under a LED lamp for 90 seconds. The last layer is to create a thick layer on the nail by pressing the thick bead onto the nail bed and sculpt it from side to side to even the builder to cover the nail bed, around the edge of the nail and the cuticle before curing again for another 90 seconds. After, rubbing off with Isocol Rubbing Alcohol followed by buffing, shaping and apply gel polish top coat over and do the last cure under the LED light for at least 60 seconds.

BIAB nails considered to be long lasting manicure than regular gel or shellac polish manicure. This is chip-free and usually lasts up to 3 - 4 weeks. Comparing to regular gel polish which lasts up to 10days to 2 weeks before it starts to chip and peel. BIAB nails are similar to acrylics of how we keep maintaining them by getting your BIAB nails in-fills instead of getting your entire nails soak off and re do them again. You can simply get them in-fill which means filling the gap of the nail grown and re shape them or shorted them. And is this possible to get them infill with different colour without removing them? The answer is yes but depends on colors which you can't go from dark builders to clearly see through. And sometimes the best option for those who likes their BIAB to be a bit fansy. The clients can choose to go for clear BIAB and do gel or shellac polish over the top. And this option would not change anything in term of damaging the natural nail or leading to any problems of breakage.

In order to keep your BIAB to last from day one, to avoiding the heat from cleaning cooking and cleaning. From anything that could affected your BIAB nails, gloves can be an option. This is also beneficial to wear gloves which prevents from scratching so your nails will stay gloss and shine.

The reasons why I stopped doing acrylics and dipping powder system just because all those chemicals and smell. They have damaged the natural nails so much. I've considered something that too thick for the natural nails, it is strong but maybe too strong for the nail bed to hold the product. This is why the natural nails underneath are always dried and fraglied. Just imagine you lay and covered in thick and heavy blankets your body would feel uncomfortably heavy and tight, and its hardly to breath. Also they can cause very bad the health issues. Just imagine all those 7 years I have been working in the salon for 5 to 6 days a week and I got home dizzy, headache and unwanted food for most days. My hands were dried up and peeled from the monomer liquid and dipping powder base. And another reason you will not believe for the short-sightedness eyes like myself I had to wear contact lenses or glasses all the time. But I also had to stopped wearing contact lenses for my work back then. The strength of the chemicals from monomer liquid and dipping powder base , were actually dried up my eyes and my contact lenses and It gave discomfort, burnt and stinked feeling.

Now, what are some cons of BIAB we should be aware of? BIAB doesn't come in as many colours in which I've found more likely to be natural colors and sheers. But I guess this is not a big issue for us we can always apply any gel or shellac polish colors on top. Secondly would be that BIAB trends to peeled at the adge of the nails if we don't build the builder thick enough. This is also been a big misunderstanding for the clients that BIAB is a stronger gel than regular gel polish so they can have get only one thin layer on their natural nails and this would help their weaken nails strong. But no BIAB concept is to build the layers to help your nails to grow without breaking easily. So BIAB can't be applied extremely thin, except if your natural nails are already strong. And the last thing is that BIAB takes longer to be removed compared to regular gel and shellac polish but not as long as acrylic nails.