Earlier this winter I wrote about Gel Nail manicures and the pros and cons of this new manicure technique. Being a sucker for beautiful nails and a regular at my local nail salon, I began to tell myself, “…OK, just this time. Next visit I’ll give my nails a break and go without polish…” That mind set led me to 5 months worth of Gel Manicures. I have to say that during those five months, once the manicure was set, my nails looked AWESOME! They never chipped, split, tore or otherwise got ratty.
But I began to notice (OK, I couldn’t help but notice) that when I was in the middle of a manicure my nails were painfully dry and had ridges and nasty white spots, as if I had splattered White Out all over my hands. But once those gels were on, my manicure was truly lustrous for a full two weeks. Finally, last week, the girl who was doing my nails said that my nails were so dry and brittle that she could not in good conscience put any product other than oil on my nails. Ouch. 
So here I am with dry, brittle, ridge filled nails, slathering oil on my nails every chance I get. I have decided to wait a month before polishing my nails again. Would I get another Gel Manicure? Probably. OK, definitely. But I won’t get one every time, maybe only for special occasions. If you are considering Gels here is a list of pros and cons:
PRO:
Your manicure will look fabulous for a full two weeks
Your nails will be like teflon, even when doing household chores
You will be able to fumble for your keys in the bottom of your purse before leaving the salon
CONS:
You have to soak in chemicals for about 15 minutes to get gels off and you can’t do it at home
Your nails become painfully dry
Extended use of Gels can cause ridges and white “bruises” on your nail beds
A regular manicure just isn’t as satisfying once you get going on gels because it won’t hold up as well as a gel manicure
Have you tried Gel manicures? Are you addicted to them? Leave a comment and let us know!
