Thread: Avoid acrylic nails! The will ruin your natural ones!

Originally Posted by jaypeeps

I know a fungal infection can take a year to clear up!

It is longer than that, a mate of mine once got an infection from a fun gal and it took almost two years, lots of medication and a few scrapes!

It is much better to stay away from them Fun Gals no matter how much fun they seem........

Originally Posted by Red Devil

Oh s**t! Now what do I do??? I have had them on a week and due to go for infills in couple of weeks time.
Are you saying they have to be grown out then or is that not practical?

I'm sure our expert will be along shortly ... in the meantime, if you google "how to remove gel nails" you will see lots of people recommended soaking them in acetone

Here's one How to Get Rid of Gel Nails - HowToGetRidofStuff.com

Doreen . . . . . . ask any qualified nail tech, to prove how wrong that website is !!

Red Devil, you can grow them out. you can slowly file them down thinner, but DON'T file the nail itself.

read the link that Doreen has given , about each nail type, then come to your own conclusions. then go ask in every nail shop as to which they offer and recommend . the answer will be acrylic. a 'Creative Nails' qualified technician is the industry's best !!

Both, to help get rid of them quicker !

Below is explanation of different nails available

Acrylic nails are most popular choice and are also the most durable. TIPS First the original nail is filed down and artificial tips are glued onto the original nail. Next, an acrylic coating, created by combining a liquid monomer with a powdered polymer, is spread over the base of the nail and over the artificial tip. The dried coat looks like a hard plastic shell. Once the mixture hardens, the nails are filed to smoothness and are then sculpted and polished. Because the tip is first applied and then covered with a thick coat of acrylic, the nails are much thicker in appearance than natural nails but are also much stronger, and the likelihood of breaking a nail is not as great. One distinct characteristic about acrylic nails is their odor, which is quite strong.

SCULPTURED the same as tips but instead of a tip, a foil is used to 'sculpture' the acrylic to form a nail extension. They are removed by soaking them in Acetone which slowly dissolves the acrylic over about 20 mins and the excess material can be scraped off.

Porcelain or Fibreglass or Silk nails are similar to acrylic nails but are formed from glass-like material. Because of the finer material, they are more fragile than acrylics. They can be formed very thinly, to look more natural. They are slightly more expensive and less popular than acrylic nails because of the fine material from which they are formed. They are removed as with acrylic nails, using acetone.

Gel nails have a very natural look but are not as sturdy as acrylic nails. Gel nails are formed by the application and hardening of layers of resin. (resin=glue) When creating gel nails, the nail technician will either apply artificial tips or simply use thin layers of foil or other thin fabric as a base to place the gel coating over. The resin hardens when exposed to light, usually using a UVA lamp. Unlike acrylics, gels come in colors and therefore polishing is not necessary. Another distinct difference is the lack of odor. Unlike acrylic, gel is odorless. Gel nails are desirable because of their natural look, however, many salons do not offer this product type. There are 2 types of Gel nails, one can be removed as with acrylic nails using acetone, the other, most popular , has to be removed by filing . Just be aware that gels that are able to be soaked off, are not as strong as the ones that are not.

finally, always return to the original nail technician to have the product removed, as they'll know the best procedure and should not damage the nail plate.

My reasoning - If you got highlights done at the hairdressers you wouldn't ask him or her how to remove them at home would you? I don't think so. You'd make an appointment at the hairdressers and come back for a colour correction or whatever you wanted. And if you went to the drugstore and purchased an 'off-the-shelf' colour and decided to do it yourself, well then, that's your choice. But no hairdresser would ever recommend that, would they. Well the same goes for nail technicians.

Hope that helps !! x x x

SCULPTURED nails are the ones i have

i have in-fills every 2 weeks and every 4 weeks i have the tips re-whitened,

since i've been having them done my own nails have grown and are as long as the sculptured nails i have.

At 1st the odd one broke because of my job, and i had to have the foil used.

but there fine now.

every 10 weeks the lady soaks them in acetone for a bit to remove the build up of stuff on them, and then files them down, to make them smooth.

I don't have them to long and think that they look lovely.