Acrylic nails

Try RescueRXx - its about the best thing I have used - but it does still take ages to show any improvement

Hi - Try RescueRXx - It still takes ages for your nails to show improvement, but I do think it really helps

I use gel nail polish....my granddaughter loves my nails, but I've got to be very careful when I carry and change my little grandbaby's nappy.

I had to take my nails off to have an operation,it took me almost three years to get them back to normal,not to mention the cost.

I have always had long strong nails. I once tried acrylic some years ago when I had been decorating & broken a few- when they were taken off my nails were like tissue paper & took a long time to grow back.
I now have my own nails but I have SNS ( Supreme Nail System I think it stands for) on them & I have had it for more than 2 years- I get it done every 4-6 weeks. When they soak it off my own nails look OK- maybe a bit thinner than normal but fine.It never chips or cracks & they have love;y colours plus a good range of glitter polishes- which are my favourite. It's my indulgence!

I have very brittle nails that break easily but since I ve retired I ve been having gel nails done every few weeks which seems to have strengthened my nails quite a bit. I go to a reputable nail bar and the girls are great and always soak off my previous colour and massage my fingers with oil afterwards. I think it pays to go to a reputable place that takes care of its customers

I had acrylic nails for about 5 years (previously badly bitten). I decided to have gel instead and yes they were thin and fragile but I persevered with the gel and I have love nails now.

Had semipermanent varnish a few times for special occasions - but always let them grow out and have a rest.

I noticed that the beautician does not wear gel or acrylics herself, and as we get on well- I asked her why. She said that they are a huge source of poisoning the body and that it is very very unhealthy to wear them all the time because of the chemicals used that penetrate through the nail and nailbed. She refuses to soak the vernish off due to the strong chemicals, and very very carefully and gently, patiently, files it off. I asked her why she agreed to do it - and her reply was 'clients want it- and it is best I do it, using the best products and with the greatest care' than someone else in it just for the money. She encourages all clients to have a rest and let the nail breathe for a few weeks twice a year.

You’ll never be able to show your own nails again ? they will be destroyed.

Hello icanhandthemback!
I use a nail and cuticle oil made by OPI. Before I go to bed I put a tiny drop on each cuticle and gently massage it in, then put on hand cream - my daughters bought me a tube of L'Occitane for Christmas as a treat. I use Vaseline Intensive Care Aloe Soothe Body Lotion after every shower - it's not very expensive so I can afford to be generous .

My nails were ruined too, just from a salon acrylic gel polish. I'd never have it done again. The problem is when you want to paint your own nails for a special occasion, it's difficult to find one in the shops now that isn't gel.

The problem is there are three different types of nail enhancement - acrylic, gel and polygel. Acrylic are the most damaging, gel slightly less so and relative newcomer polygel least damaging. The other major factor is the nail technician/salon - and some of them are horrendous.
It took me a while to take the plunge. I used to have my nails manicured once a week with traditional nail polish, but I could only have them really short and they often split and chipped. Then the salon I used introduced acrylics, but they looked so false and the fashion for weird nail art didn't really appeal. Next I found a salon where they introduced gel nails - the gel was painted straight on to your natural nails to strengthen them, I could grow mine a little longer and I only had to go once a fortnight! Now I have polygel, again painted straight on to my natural nail, it's very light and now that I've retired I can have them longer . Just had my first pedicure of the summer at the salon - I do them myself in the winter - and feel like I'm walking on air!

They ruin your real nails. Have them removed. You will be stuck forever wearing them. Even acrylic nail varnish damages the nails

I have the most awfully soft, thin, brittle nails you can imagine so having long, beautiful false nails made me feel very glam. However, where my nails are very poor, when the nail underneath grew, if I caught my false nail on something it bent the natural nail backwards which caused great pain and damage. Now my natural nails are awful, hard to clean and even softer.
If you have false nails, it is best to leave periods of time when you have bare nails. It is the same if you use nail varnish. Your nails need to breathe to keep healthy.

on the same topic, can anyone recommend a recovery oil or treatment to repair after-acrylics? My nails are ruined and in desperate need of repair!
thanks

I have been blessed with very strong, fast growing nails and have always done my own manicures. At Christmas time, a friend was staying with me and insisted and 'treating' us both to a gel manicure. Beautiful indeed, but what a nightmare since they started growing out. The gel is impossible to remove - a salon quoted me a figure of £10 just to remove the stuff!! I did it myself, but as others have said, had to file it off and left my own nails so thin. If I had a special occasion without time to let my own grow out, I would use the stick-on ones and remove them immediately.

You should get rid of them now and make a big apology to your natural nails by taking care of them with organic oils etc - they will be absolutely ruined for ever if you don’t take this remedial action

i've worn acrylic nails for years and go every four weeks for infills.
I had to have them taken off when I went into hospital in august last year and the technician said "they'll be lovely and long when you next come in". they weren't! they just didn't grow - ok I was expecting that as i'd had acrylic nails about 20 years ago too.
so, as soon as I could, I went back to have a new set put on and now i'm happy again. I fully intend to wear them for as long as I can afford to have them done as my "proper" nails have never been good - they split horizontally right down to the quick and hardly ever grow so I can file them into shape.

Ruined mine too. It was some years ago. Took the top layer off so my nails were like cellophane afterwards. Took ages to recover. Other thing I didn't like was, as my nails grew underneath I got a ridge that collected dirt. So I felt they were unhygienic for food prep.

It took my nails from late August until February before they began to recover. Still a bit thin and flaky now. I wouldn’t do it again!

bikergirl
What on earth were they doing? I could almost fall asleep when its being done. There's nothing that can hurt.
They clean your nails: no pain. They put the glue on: no pain. Put the 'nail' on: no pain. Adjust to the size you want: no pain. Then the polish. Then the lovely hand massage.

I even avoid the gel manicures now, they made such a mess of my fingernails. When the gel was removed it took most of the top layer of my nails with it. I have gel pedicures in the summer and let them grow out over winter ( very sluttish I know ?) I keep my fingernails short and just use a clear or pale polish.

My hair grows like a weed, but my nails? Forget it!

They break at the drop of a hat, and always painfully low, to the extent that I have to clip the side off to try avoid "catching" them.

When Mr P and I got married, I opted for temporary stick on ones from the chemists, looked good on the day and were easy to take off.

I had gel ( I think they were classes as gel)
on the day of my dd wedding..I have never felt so much pain whilst it was going on! it was a little nail bar set up in a shopping mall.
The way I describe it is having my nails bashed with a hammer!
I had to take paracetamol for days I got the nails off the next day.

I now just occasionally use the double sided sticky ones and take them off as soon as.

fizzers
I too love my nails and they're never coming off ?
My latest colour