I started hearing a lot of buzz ~ positive and negative ~ about gel manicures a few months ago, well after I'd started indulging in the practice myself. Outside of the cost {it's $25 for a gel manicure at my salon, plus $5 for French, which is standard..similar pricing to acrylic nails}, I don't really understand any negative gel manicure press. These aren't gel nails {which are an overlay like acrylics}, just gel manicures ~ gel polish on your real nails. There are several different brands for gel manicures {and different brands may have application processes that are a bit different than mine}; the salon I go to uses Harmony Gelish polishes.
Getting a gel manicure takes only a bit more time than getting a regular manicure. If you have gel polish on your nails already, they will buff the top of your nails first and then soak your nails for a bit to soften the polish. The polish is then gently scraped off {not damaging your nails at all}. Nails are shaped, filed and buffed, and cuticles are pushed back or trimmed {just like a regular manicure}. Once you wash your hands again to get rid of the cuticle oil, etc, you'll start to notice the difference from a regular manicure. A little UV-light box is used to dry your nails before, in between, and after coats of polish ~ this helps the polish adhere to your nails and dry/harden quickly. After your final coat of polish, your nails will dry under the UV light for about five minutes. Your nails will then be spritzed with...well, I'm not sure what. I never bother to ask ~ it may be a setting spray or something that removes a film or something from your nails. They are spritzed and wiped off {yes, your just-painted nails are wiped off...with a paper towel...and they still look perfect!} and you are done.
I absolutely adore my gel manicures, and will probably never go back to acrylics. Here's why.
- Long lasting. If regular manicures were even remotely long-lasting, I probably never would have started my decade-plus, on-and-off affair with acrylic nails. Alas, manicures last a couple days at best {in my experience, anyway}, before they start to chip, peel, and look bad. And isn't the whole point of painting your nails to make them look nice? The second they start to chip, they look like you've been neglecting them anyway. Gel manicures should last you at least two weeks.
- Fast drying. When you walk out of the salon after getting your gel manicure, your nails will be completely dry to the touch. For girl like me, who is about as graceful and careful as a newborn foal, this is an absolute Godsend. I'm not sure there was ever a time in high school or college where I didn't ding or smudge a nail before even leaving the salon. Gel manicures are dried using the same UV light boxes used for acrylic nails, but unlike acrylic nails they're completely dry when you're done.
- Gentle on your natural nails. As far as I can tell, anyway. The acrylic-nail process, if you're unfamiliar with it, involves serious filing down of your nails with electric rotating filers and buffers. And I don't mean filing the tips ~ I mean grinding down the entire surface of your nails, before spackling on a wet paste {the acrylic} across your nail surface. Gel manicures require a light buffing down of your nail surface, but they use a hand-held filer {the square kind with a different grit on each side}, not electric tools. And the only thing applied to your nails is the gel polish. Which leads me to...
- No commitment. Yes, the gel polish has to be soaked off. {Although I almost always get French, and when I'm "over it" for a while or can't fit nails into the budget, I just let them grow out, clipping the tips myself...once the white tip is gone, all that's left is clear polish}. With a light color or French polish you should be able to squeeze at least three weeks out of your gel manicure. And if/when you are done with manicures for a while, let them grow out or go to the salon to soak them off {probably for a smaller fee}. You don't have to deal with painful nail-removal, like with acrylic nails, because these aren't fake nails!
So, in neat and tidy bullet-point format, now you know why I love and recommend gel manicures. They last a long time when you want them too, but are easy to be done with when you don't. They don't require power tools to grind down your natural nails, or a removal process that leaves your nails tender for days after. And I think they're relatively cost-effective, especially if you're already accustomed to getting your nails done regularly. They cost the same as acrylic nails at my salon {$25 for gel manicure or an acrylic refill, plus $5 for French}. Regular manicures cost around $12 {probably $15-$17 for French} at the salon I go to, and those last a week if you're lucky. A weekly manicure for a month would equal $48-$68 {plus tip}; I usually get a gel manicure every three weeks if I'm going on a regular basis, which is once a month most months.
Immediately after leaving the salon {with my hot-pink pedicure too!}
A few days later ~ hands are a little dry, but polish still looks good! No chips!
Don't believe anything you read that says gel manicures make your nails thick like acrylics ~ it's just polish!
Always go to a salon you trust ~ one that is clean, that sanitizes their tools and has their license to operate displayed. Gel manicures aren't ideal for people who like to change their nail color frequently, because they are so long-lasting; I get almost exclusively French-style manicures whether I am getting acrylics, a regular manicure or a gel manicure {because they always match my outfit and because regrowth doesn't show as much}, so gel manicures are perfect for me. {Gelish does have a large array of polishes though, for those of you who are more exciting than I am. :) I did get a sparkly red on short nails for Christmas, though}.
Click here for a Stylelist summary of a few different gel brands, although I'm not sure how accurate it is with all the brands ~ it says the Gelish brand doesn't require filing before application {it does, lightly} or soaking for removal {it does, and you can see on the bottle in the picture they show that it says "soak-off gel polish"}.
Happy Pampering, ladies!
xoxo
Jillian
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