long time wearers of gel or acyrilic nails

oopsadaisydoddle

Hsve you tried Shellac or Gellish?

If you've not heard of it (apologies if you have), it's a type of gel nail polish that doesn't damage your nails.

I have only used Shellac so will tell you about my experience with that. I had acrylic nails on for approximately 4 yrs and the last time I had them done was 2 days before Christmas last year. It'd gotten to the point where my nails were so weak that even the tips and infills weren't lasting. They used to snap all of the time. I decided to let the tips grow off. I just used to file the length down and paint them. Eventually they grew off but my nails were damaged.

I left them natural for a couple of months and then got a Shellac manicure. The Shellac gel polish lasts for up to 14 days and doesn't chip. There are a good few colours but if you want something natural, you can have a french polish or a nude colour. When I first had them done I had them short and a dark colour. I got them done every couple of weeks and over the last 6 months, my nails have grown and are so strong they hardly bend!

I am trying to debt bust so I stopped going to the salon and bought all the stuff to them myself. I haven't looked back. The only downside is having to use acetone to soak the polish off. I usually do that one night and let them rest and then polish them the next night.

I would say you still have to take care with your nails. Use rubber gloves, moisturise and I use cuticle oil which I massage in a few times a day.

HTH.xx

moneylover

oopsadaisydoddle wrote: »

Hsve you tried Shellac or Gellish?

If you've not heard of it (apologies if you have), it's a type of gel nail polish that doesn't damage your nails.
I would say you still have to take care with your nails. Use rubber gloves, moisturise and I use cuticle oil which I massage in a few times a day.

HTH.xx

thank you for this, its v interesting. I had wondered about Shellac or Gellish, I think they must be more or less the same, most salons use Shellac.
I only know one person who has had Shellac, it was ok for a few weeks then her nails kept breaking more than before. So she took a break then tried a different (more expensive) salon. This salon said they thought that for the price/time the first salon were not doing a proper job, they were filing down too much near the bottom where you should try and keep it thicker (I think thats what she said)
So I might give it a try
Can anyone else say if Shellac has helped their nails break less?

Thanks

Fire_Fox

moneylover wrote: »

no sulphates, I did say further up the chain and wash hair with rubber gloves on anyway, not sure about lanolin handcream have used so many....
Am interested in what you say about Dermanail - what do you know of it, please? It doesnt have formalahyde in it...
loodie loodie loodie recommends it - she says that flexinail which I was thinking of is rubbish - her website is v interesting however I am not a nail technician or similar so cannot say for sure that all she says is right.. just works for her.

The reason I asked again was you specified sulphate free shampoo. I was still concerned about hand washes, and other foaming products, since we wash our hands far more often than we do our hair.

Dermanail like most nail hardeners is largely alcohol which is very drying and you say this has been a problem for you with many strengthening products. Some nail products contain proteins or amino acids which can also be drying. Be careful you don't use any hand creams that contains any significant amount of keratolytic (break down keratin) ingredients like AHAs or urea. These are good for hydrating and plumping skin but may weaken nails with repetitive use.

It may be that your nails need moisture, many hand creams are decent barriers but most are based on ingredients that don't penetrate the skin or nails - minerals oil or silicones for example. Washing hands regularly strips the lipids out of the skin and the nails drying them out, this allows more water to penetrate which further weakens the hair or nail.

oopsadaisydoddle

moneylover wrote: »

thank you for this, its v interesting. I had wondered about Shellac or Gellish, I think they must be more or less the same, most salons use Shellac.
I only know one person who has had Shellac, it was ok for a few weeks then her nails kept breaking more than before. So she took a break then tried a different (more expensive) salon. This salon said they thought that for the price/time the first salon were not doing a proper job, they were filing down too much near the bottom where you should try and keep it thicker (I think thats what she said)
So I might give it a try
Can anyone else say if Shellac has helped their nails break less?

Thanks

Yeah I've read about that but with shellac they shouldn't file the nail down before application so if they've done that then it will damage nails. Shellac has little tunnels in it so that when you apply your oil, it penetrate through to nourish the nails. Might be worth trying and if no good, just get it taken off and rethink.x

moneylover

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Dermanail like most nail hardeners is largely alcohol which is very drying and you say this has been a problem for you with many strengthening products. Some nail products contain proteins or amino acids which can also be drying. Be careful you don't use any hand creams that contains any significant amount of keratolytic (break down keratin) ingredients like AHAs or urea. These are good for hydrating and plumping skin but may weaken nails with repetitive use.

It may be that your nails need moisture, many hand creams are decent barriers but most are based on ingredients that don't penetrate the skin or nails - minerals oil or silicones for example. Washing hands regularly strips the lipids out of the skin and the nails drying them out, this allows more water to penetrate which further weakens the hair or nail.

Firefox, how do you know about Dermanail - you are obviously very knowledgeable about the whole subject and I am impressed! Can you recommend a hand cream/nail cream that is suitable? Are cuticle oils worthwhile so far as the NAILS are concerned as presume dont penetrate the nail? thank you

moneylover

these emails all very useful folks, am taking stock of them all, am prepared to persist 'au natural' a bit longer with right products but otherwise will try shellac and see what happens.
Problem is that no matter how careful re water with weak nails housework and gardening is still ruinous even with the best of gloves for the job and we have to do these things unless complete ladies of leisure and have NEVER met one of those of any age!

AmanitaM

Formerly known as Amanita - Lost my log in!

I wore them for 10 or more years and had them taken off about 2 weeks ago. I'm getting more and more unhappy abou the reports of skin aging and skin cancer from the UV lamps so no more. That also means of course no shellac either.

My nails in really good condition. I have 8 of them 2 or 3 mm longer than the end of my finger. The remaining two are the ones I broke breaking up furniture so that was my own fault. Forgot they weren't reinforced!

I'm latherimg them 2 or 3 times a day in cuticle oil and trying to remember to wear gloves for the rough stuff.

Fake nails don't have to cause permanent damage. It does depend on where you go and for the record I've never had any infections. I have seen some really badly damaged nails so it is essential you get a recommendation and I personally would never go anywhere where they use an electric file. those can do real damage really quickly.

moneylover

Amanita - did you have gel or acyrilic?
10years - wow! I wonder if anyone can beat this record?

oopsadaisydoddle

AmanitaM wrote: »

Formerly known as Amanita - Lost my log in!

I wore them for 10 or more years and had them taken off about 2 weeks ago. I'm getting more and more unhappy abou the reports of skin aging and skin cancer from the UV lamps so no more. That also means of course no shellac either.

My nails in really good condition. I have 8 of them 2 or 3 mm longer than the end of my finger. The remaining two are the ones I broke breaking up furniture so that was my own fault. Forgot they weren't reinforced!

I'm latherimg them 2 or 3 times a day in cuticle oil and trying to remember to wear gloves for the rough stuff.

Fake nails don't have to cause permanent damage. It does depend on where you go and for the record I've never had any infections. I have seen some really badly damaged nails so it is essential you get a recommendation and I personally would never go anywhere where they use an electric file. those can do real damage really quickly.

I use UV protection gloves when I do my shellac - just in case you ever wanted to get them done. Not sure salons have them but worth an ask.

AmanitaM

moneylover wrote: »

Amanita - did you have gel or acyrilic?
10years - wow! I wonder if anyone can beat this record?

Both! Acrylic at first then I switched to gel. I did like the gel better. The acrylic tended to yellow and couldn't be left unpainted like the gel. Also I hated the acetone soak needed to remove it.