Contents
Have you ever longed to pick a beauty editor’s brain? Or maybe you want to hear about tried-and-true cosmetics from a seasoned beauty expert. You’re in the right spot. Each week, Real Simple’s beauty editor, Hana Hong, will address your most pressing questions about skincare, hair care, and cosmetics. If you have a pressing beauty-related issue, submit it here and we may answer it on the show every Tuesday!
Is it true that gel manicures are harmful to one’s nails? Should I stop in the middle for a while? In the words of Rita Watson:
I’m a chronic user of gel manicures. The promise of a chip-free, nearly indestructible manicure is appealing – and highly addictive – to someone whose lifestyle involves a lot of hands-on work.
I had to temporarily stop getting weekly gel manicures since the process was leaving my nail beds dangerously thin and fragile. I blamed the polish at first, but it turned out to be my hasty removal that was to blame. I had gotten lazy and was sometimes just peeling off my gel polish instead of taking the time to soak my nails in acetone. (This is the worst possible nail offense.)
My nail health improved drastically once I began having my gel nails professionally removed at a salon on a regular basis. In fact, if I may say so, they are longer and healthier than they were before I started using gel.
But don’t take my word for it. To bolster my claim, I consulted with a few professionals in the nail industry. Please visit Maby blog to update the latest nail news.
How risky are gel manicures?
In a nutshell: it depends. The chemical components of most contemporary gel polish solutions, on their own, are extremely low risk. “Suggestions to let your nails ‘breathe’ occasionally between manicure services of all types is a myth that has been floating around since the birth of extension services,” explains Heather Reynosa, OPI Global’s education design director. It’s vital that you know that semi-permanent nail enhancement products like gel paint are safe to use. As a matter of fact, it can aid in shielding your natural nails from the weather.
Why do gel manicures usually endanger the nails?
According to Reynosa, the majority of malfunctions with these services are mechanical and can arise in a few different ways. She warns that damage might occur if you “rough up the nail with files not meant for natural nails prior to application,” file aggressively after removal, pick and peel off the gel polish, or apply excessive force when removing the product.
And even if your gel manicure still looks good after two or three weeks, it’s time to take it off. The extra weight, adds Reynosa, “can start pulling on the edge of your nail, causing tears in the base of your nails.” This is the main risk of leaving a gel manicure service on for more than three weeks. They can then lift, causing more mechanical injury by peeling back layers of keratin. After two to three weeks, removing a gel polish manicure without resorting to harsh scraping and peeling becomes increasingly likely. Using a do-it-yourself gel nail polish kit can be more cost-effective than frequent appointments to the nail salon if you want to keep your gel manicure for more than three weeks.
Safely removing gel polish
In order to ensure that your gel polish is removed carefully and without incident, research the salon in advance. “If you catch your service provider prying off your manicure products by force, aka using a tip or other tool to slide under the acrylic or gel and ‘peel’ it off, ask the provider to stop,” advises Reynosa. As the saying goes, “If they don’t, leave.”
More cause for concern? Not removing the shine with a file first. “Acrylic or sculpting gel removal needs to be pre-filed to remove the bulk of the product to get to a layer similar in thickness to a gel polish coating,” adds Reynosa.
According to Jin Soon Choi, famous manicurist and inventor of JINsoon Spas and JINsoon Nail Lacquer, the best technique to remove gel is using 100% acetone. The coating can be easily peeled off with a light touch and a plastic cuticle pusher if the remover wraps (i.e. foil or cotton) are left on for the recommended amount of time (usually 10 to 15 minutes) and the remover fully penetrates the coating, says Shelena Robinson, OPI’s global education manager.
Tips for knowing when to stop getting gel manicures
If your nail beds are chipping and peeling, your cuticles are ragged, your nails are thinning, they are dry, and you notice white spots, these are all symptoms that you need a break from polish, says Choi. Any of these symptoms could indicate that you need a vacation from gels for a bit.
The time it takes to heal depends on how badly your nails were damaged and how quickly they grow. You can’t make the nail bed “thicker,” so the only option is to keep it moist and hope the damage grows out while the nail recovers. Choi suggests giving your hair a two- to four-week vacation from gel to notice immediate results. According to Reynosa, “it can take anywhere from four to eight weeks to grow the nails back out for painful, more intense damage from repeated picking and peeling.”
Applying high-quality cuticle oil can shorten the waiting time. After a week or so of applying cuticle oil to bare nails, Reynosa advises, “if your nails have gotten too dry and the splitting/peeling is really obvious, cut them down” and “they should bounce back quickly and be polish-ready after that.” It wouldn’t hurt to use some hydrating hand moisturizer, either. In addition, please refer to: DIY gel nail polish: the easy way.