Think a Gel Manicure Ruins Your Nails? Breaking the Rumors on Gel Polish

There’s a reoccurring myth that continues to float around the salon world and it’s that gel nail polish ruins your nails. You will find it in every nail salon you go to and overhear the words in conversation – “I wish I could do gels all the time, but it ruins my natural nails!” What the real truth behind how this rumor came about is actually a simpler and easier way to avoid it actually happening.

What Really Damages Your Nails from Gel Polish

The nail gods truly shined upon the beauty industry when gel polish crept into nail salons worldwide. A genuine long-lasting nail polish that doesn’t chip right away? Too good to be true! No, ladies, it’s for real. Shellac was the stepping stone for gel polish, which uses chemical compounds that react to UV light to cure the polish to your nail, just as window tint film is cured to a window.

This creates a tougher and most resilient bond to of the polish to your nails for a beautiful nail look that can last for weeks. While gel polish and shellac are mostly revered and the top pick by most salon and spa-goers, there are also reluctant people who fear to get gel manicures twice in a row. The common misconception of a gel manicure is that it weakens and damages the nail, nail bed, and hardness of the nail.

However, it has nothing to do with how often you do gel polish, but how it is removed.

Typically, gel polish doesn’t chip so much as peel from the nail after the initial first week. This varies from nail to nail, as some people have naturally strong nails, nail beds, long nails, and differ with lifestyle, genetics, and nutrition. When a gel manicure starts to peel or chip, mainly by someone picking at their nails or damaging it somehow, the urge to peel it further is strong.

Or, if this first occurs, the course of action is to return to the nail salon or spa and have their nails redone anew. Then the nail technician would soak the nails in acetone to remove the gel polish. If your nails do become damaged or weakened from this technique, it is simply because the gel polish was not soaked for long enough. If gel polish is properly soaked, when it is scraped off it should be a smooth and gliding process. If it’s bumpy or ridged when the polish is taken off, then it wasn’t soaked for enough time to remove the cured polish from the nail. This results in a thin layer of the nail plate to be taken off with the gel polish.

This is the real cause of gel polish having a bad reputation for harming your nails.

There are also reports that acetone is the culprit because it dries out the nail plate. This, too, is false. It removes natural oils from the nail but does not damage the nail. The main and only real cause of nail damage with gel polish is the action of prying or forcing the polish off the nail. As time-consuming as it could be, taking the extra step to soak off gel polish will ensure that you can repeat gel manicures one after the other without harming your natural nails.

Botanica’s Gel Manicure

A manicure is the process of cleaning, trimming, shaping, and prepping the nails for polish. This step is crucial to prolong your manicure and give your cuticles, nail plate, nail bed, and whole fingernails some love and attention. At Botanica Day Spa, your hands are lavished before a long-lasting shellac gel manicure is applied. The best part of having your nails done at a spa rather than a nail salon is the no-rush, relaxing atmosphere with our professional nail technicians taking extra care of you.

No loud nail salon, waits, or sub-par cleanliness.

At Botanica Day Spa, our building is Instagram-ready and tranquil, which we all know is one of the real reasons we get our nails done – to relax and unwind after a stressful week. Visit us at our downtown Clearwater, FL location or call us at 727-441-1711 to book your gel manicure appointment or make one online!

Love,

Gen