Lighthearted - Nail polish nightmare!

My ddl has a beauty salon and I have had gel polish every 3 weeks for probably 15 years, my nails are still strong and healthy and I couldn’t go back to ordinary polish

Just to add I have a Leighton Denny file and it’s fab. The whole family has one each.

Fairislecable

I use rimmel super gel and find it lasts a few days ( not the 14 days as claimed!)

www.rimmellondon.com/en-gb/nails/nail-polishes/super-gel

I also use Rimmel Super Gel and love it. It lasts about a week and by that time my nails have grown so I need to manicure them again.
In between I use NailsInc Superfood Repair Oil on bare nails. Usually overnight for a good soak

I’m not in a position to advise. I had a pedicure and tripped over the step on leaving the beauty parlour !

My nails are feeble. It’s the acetone remover for gel and even acetone free removers that wreck them.
But I still paint them! Just have a few weeks off every now and then to allow them to recover.
I love the HoloTaco brand developed by the Canadian YouTuber Simply Nailogical. I always use a base coat and quick drying top coat. Because part of my job is packing parcels a manicure doesn’t last more than a few days but they never scuff!

I have gel nails done only for special occasions. It’s expensive! I also have a kit which I use at home. It’s simple to remove gel yourself - no need to pay for it. Just use the foil wraps which you can buy, soaked with polish remover.
Solar oil is good for restoring nails after gel.
For drying ordinary polish, I’ve found Leighton Denny drying fluid is good - just put a drop on each nail. I’ve also found a similar product in TK Maxx.

i have acrylic nails. i have never been able to grow my fingernails as they tended to split.
whether acrylic nails are good for my nails or not i just love having long shapely nails and won't stop having them.
i go every four weeks for infills and my lovely nail technician is very painstaking at getting my nails just right.
i take my own nail polish - i like gold with a sparkly coat on top - and my nail polish never chips or flakes thanks to the top coat which is used.

Curlywhirly

The trouble with gel nails (or shellac varnish) is that they ruin my nails. Despite this, I decided once again to try (after 2 years) and had shellac on my nails for a holiday in June. Had the shellac removed by the salon, and once again my lovely nails have been ruined! Never again - I'm waiting for my dry, flaking and weak nails to grow out, then it's just bog-standard nail varnish for me 😔

It all depends how they move the gel. It should never be removed by filing, just removed with the special solution they use and then gently scraping. I have never had such good nails as I have now. I have my nails dipped in a powder first then set in the machine before she applies 2 coats of gel, drying in the machine between coats. Then a coat of top layer then oil, Mine lasts 6 weeks and never ever chips. I do everything without gloves and am thrilled to bits I have at long last gone decent nails now. I used to have them done in a Chinese salon where they used an electric drill to get the Gell off with, disastrous it ruined my nails for a few years until they gradually grew out again and we started from scratch.

Gel nails ruined my natural nails. I have found that a nail oil rubbed into the cuticles twice daily is a game changer.I use a base coat and top coat over inexpensive nail polish and it works fine.The Leighton Denny Crystal file is great and comes in a protective box- it’s quite expensive but is the best I have used.

I had gel nails done for a special occasion at what I thought was an exorbitant cost. My nails are naturally strong and grow quickly.
Within 2 weeks the colour had grown half way up my nails. I had to pay again to have it taken off. Then it took about 6 weeks for my nails to regrow as they were left rough and brittle. Never again!

I have a terrible nail-biting habit, and the only way for me to curb it (temporarily) is by having polished nails. I used to have gel manicures every 3 weeks. They use lightboxes with UV light which has been damaging to my skin. And as so many others have said, the whole procedure wrecks your nails leaving them very weak. I moved on to SNS (dipping powder) manicures which don’t use UV light and also give a much harder, incredibly long-lasting result. I would go back every 5 or 6 weeks to have it re-done. But this too ruins nails, just as bad as gels. Then I moved onto having Builder Gel manicures which are supposedly less damaging to your nails but frankly I think they’re almost as bad, plus a new problem of lifting slightly from the bottom and/or sides which introduces a risk of getting a fungal infection from water trapped between nail and the builder gel. I’ve tried breaking my nail biting habit in other ways but nothing seems to work (I have even grown to like the taste of Stop’nGrow!) The next thing I’ll try is going to be ordinary polish, applied myself, with base coat and top coat (thanks for your tips about brands!) I’m not thrilled about this because it’s so damn fiddly and time consuming…

Skullduggery

I’ve found the PERFECT solution as I’m allergic to gel and acrylic nails plus the chemicals used are dreadful.

Google Japanese manicure.

My DIL is a qualified beautician and facial specialist and her salon offers Japanese manicures.

They buff the nails then use some type of powder and wax to polish your nails to a deep shine and it lasts!

I’ve had mine for 2 weeks and they’re still shiny but I now have nail growth so will need to re-do it but she’s left me her kit.

Honestly, it will be the next Big Thing!

I remember my mother using something like this here back in the 50s. She put a pink cream on her nails and then used a leather buffer which brought up a high shine, just like nail varnish. I think these buffers were a common part of manicure sets then. I don’t know when or why this went out of fashion. It was probably much better for your nails than varnish and chemical removers.

Yes, same as DamaskRose. It’s clear base and top coat, that works fine for me now.

My nails were in awful condition after having regular gel nails so I stopped having them done to let them recover. I missed having painted nails though and bought Sistaco a couple of years ago. Lasts for ages on my toes (3 weeks minimum) and I apply every week or two on my fingernails (there are so many lovely colours!).

I’ve found the PERFECT solution as I’m allergic to gel and acrylic nails plus the chemicals used are dreadful.

Google Japanese manicure.

My DIL is a qualified beautician and facial specialist and her salon offers Japanese manicures.

They buff the nails then use some type of powder and wax to polish your nails to a deep shine and it lasts!

I’ve had mine for 2 weeks and they’re still shiny but I now have nail growth so will need to re-do it but she’s left me her kit.

Honestly, it will be the next Big Thing!

Boots have one for just under £10 at the moment that comes in a handy container so hopefully I won't drop it.

I had strong healthy nails until I had gel polish applied for my daughters wedding. They lasted really well for two weeks then I went back to the salon to have the polish removed.My strong healthy nails were gone all mushy.Took many months for them to recover.I would never have gel polish again.

Curlywhirly

The trouble with gel nails (or shellac varnish) is that they ruin my nails. Despite this, I decided once again to try (after 2 years) and had shellac on my nails for a holiday in June. Had the shellac removed by the salon, and once again my lovely nails have been ruined! Never again - I'm waiting for my dry, flaking and weak nails to grow out, then it's just bog-standard nail varnish for me 😔

I have this problem too - I like gel nails because they look good, don't chip and last for weeks, but my own strong nails are in a terrible state when the gels are removed. I had gel nails applied twice over Christmas and New Year, and now feel it is something I won't do again - like you my nails have taken months to recover.

Same as Visgirl. I don’t bother with my toe-nails in the Winter. No one sees them. Finger nails - yes! Always paint them, with a breather every couple of weeks .

Am I the only person to have reached this elevated age never to have had a professional manicure?!! My nails were always fine until the recent imposition of various medications - some are soft, some are hard and they all have ridges. Nail polish would make them look like a ski slope! Just curious.

A few years ago I started to have Gel nails, thought they were brilliant lasted weeks and no chips. Then come Covid I stopped and realised my nails were wrecked they used to split down to the base, it took a year for them to recover, I will never use again.
Rarely use nail polish now except on special occasions but I do like Avon nail polishes,

No more gel nails for me either! I just use clear polish now.

I'm glad some of you posted about the damage done to your nail after Gell or Shalac, I thought it was just me.
I do get my toe nails done, every 6 weeks or so they use Gell but they seem to be fine.
However, once my socks go on, I don't bother getting painted toenails, they have a little bit of a breather.
It's just my finger nail that get wrecked once the Gell is taken off. I too have given up.

My nails are flakey ,bendy and break easily.
They looked good when I had fake ones -but now they are worse than ever .
Months of illness may have caused two toe nails and one thumb nail to drop off .
The thumb nail has regrown ,but the toe nails haven't recovered .
I'm using Nail Envy ,which is helping .
I've tried so many nail polishes .
I think that the expensive ones are a waste of money .
I've had more success with Sally Hansen , Rimmel and H and M .

I don’t care that gel nails damage the nails, I didn’t have them done over Covid and yes they were pretty dreadful, but after about 3 weeks they started to recover.

I prefer having nice gel nails rather than ugly ones without gel. I have them done every 2 weeks.