I really don't know why I bother with manicures, usually within ten minutes of leaving the salon I've smudged and chipped the polish all over the place, plus I have a hard time finding someone to make my nails the shape I want them - I hate the squared off look, I like mine more rounded.
I have no problem with pedicures, they seem to last for ages, which is a good thing.
The last time I had my nails done, I was a guinea-pig for a girl practising her gels, tips and overlays, which was fine and the end results were lovely. However, having had gels and acrylics in the past, I knew full well that when the gel came off my nails would be a complete disaster underneath and sure enough when it did come off, they were so thin, weak, flaky and bendy they were a complete disaster. I vowed there and then, never ever again! My nails are usually very very strong and to have them like that was awful.
I'd been hearing about these other types of stronger, longer lasting UV cured polishes for sometime, Shellac, Gelish and Bio-sculpture. Many of my friends use them and I'd heard differing opinions on which one was best. I'm a firm believer however in that application is everything,if you have a good manicurist who applies the product properly, even if you're just using ordinary polish you should get decent wear out of it.
I discovered that the little salon - Tips & Toes, in the Meadows, just round the corner from me did Gelish, so I opted for that as a first try of these gel/polish hybrid brands. I was pleasantly surprised at the number of colours available, but as my nails are super short thanks to their current weakened state, I chose just light pinky colour and I decided to also have the product applied t my toes as well - in for a penny, in for a pound as they say.
It was the standard procedure for the mani/pedi combo, then the Gelish is applied. One base coat, two coast of colour, followed by the top coat. After each coating of the nail, you are required to put your finger tips under the UV light to cure the product and twice at the end. (I always worry about UV curing - skin cancer alert!). The beauty of this, is that there's no waiting for ages with your hands in dryers, no smudging or anything like that, because as soon as your hands come out the product is dry and hard, but still quite flexible.
I was extremely happy with the end result, the question now is, how long will it last? I've been told anywhere from two to four weeks, before it needs removing and replacing - the other thing that appealed to me about Gelish is that it's removed using acetone, so no filing, scraping or picking it off. Well so far, so good, I'm on day four and it looks as good as the day went on and my boyfriend kindly ran over my toes with a shopping trolley and there's not even a scratch!
So far Gelish gets the thumbs up from me :-)
