I figured we could talk nails here rather than highjack the wedding thread.
For many years, I got a regular manicure once a week or so. Then gel polish came along…and I did that. Every two to three weeks.
When I first started, the removal of the gel polish did huge damage to my nails. Every few months, I would take time off and get nothing on my nails but clear regular polish.
Then something changed with the removal…no more scraping…a gentler removal and I have had no difficulty since.
A few months ago I tried powdered gel…where you dip your coated nails into some color gel powder. I have to say…it looked terrific, and really made my sort of thin and soft nails harder. BUT…the removal showed the same damage as the old gel polish.
My new nail salon claims to have a different kind of powdered gel and they claim it does not damage the nails.
Frankly the regular gel works fine for me…and the powdered is $10 more.
I only do gel when I’m going on a vacation, or some other special occasion. I do find that one time, it does no damage, but 2 or 3 times in a row it still seemed to. I tried the dip polish like you mentioned, and the removal process just wrecked my nails, it took 4 months for my nails to grow back out root to tip. I’ll never do that again.
I get manicures about every 2-3 weeks. Regular - not gel (because I’m afraid of exactly what you said about gel removal). I use a light shade - Mademoiselle - so chips don’t show at all.
Me, neither. I’m waaay to active to keep any sort of manicure remotely nice.
Last Mother’s Day my kids gave me a certificate to get a pedicure. It was a bit of a shocker; it had been a while since I’d been in a nail salon and was a little surprised to find there were just as many men giving (and receiving) the pedicures as the women. So as I was sitting there getting my foot rubbed by a tiny, cheerful dude it was starting to get a little uncomfy because he seemed just so taken with my feet. Kept going on and on about how lucky my husband was that I had such baby soft feet. I was just about to yank my foot back and get the heck out of there when he looked sadly at my hands and said, “your feet are like heaven! But your hands… they kinda rough.” And the creepy vibe was over and we all moved on.
I’ve never been interested in doing my hand nails. I don’t chew them but just like them clipped short. It’s weird but would feel very un-me to have them done.
I do paint my toenails especially in the spring/summer/early fall. I usually do it myself. I have gotten a few pedicures and that is nice. But usually I just soak my feet, use a couple of foot tools on them to smooth out and paint on my own.
I was so excited to get gel when it first came out, it didn’t chip! But boy it ruined my nails for months. Now even regular nail polish breaks them, so my nails are bare. When I go for pedicures I’ll have them give me a manicure without polish.
Dazzle Dry. Really resists chipping but doesn’t hurt your nails like gel. It comes off with regular remover. It dries rock hard in 5-10 minutes. Where I live about 90 percent of the non- gel manicures are dazzle dry. Whoever invented it deserves some sort of award!
My gel manicures now do not damage my nails. They used to, but don’t anymore. Maybe it’s related to,the technique used or something. My nails used to get sort of punky…but now they don’t.
I don’t usually use nail polish but on the rare occasions that I do I do it myself. It just always seems that my time could be better spent doing needlepoint or sewing or something. I would never go to a nail salon. I wouldn’t like anyone messing with my nails.
Short unpolished nails here. I keyboard a lot, but that probably isn’t the deciding factor for me. My dogs, though? The things my hands and nails have been exposed to in their service? I wouldn’t want them longer.
Another reason I keep mine short is I can’t stand working with food and having ground meat or bread dough, for example, catch under them. <shudders.></shudders.>
I get a mani/pedi every three weeks and pay a little extra for the deluxe pedicure that includes the extra long leg/foot massage and hot towel wraps and painted whatever fun color I want that day. On my hands, I get the regular manicure but do not have them painted, simply arm/hand message and buff and shine on the fingernails. I keep mine short and oval. I have never liked the square nails.
I’ve been getting my nails done regularly for 25+ years…since moving to current state in 2008, I’ve been getting gel every other week with no damage. However, I go to a wonderful woman that works in a hair salon that does not use drills and is very careful. I have horrible nails, they are thin and not with the best shape - the only way my nails look good is if they are “fake”. I get the french manicure and love that they look natural.
I thought the dip (which I have done) is an acrylic rather than a gel finish. That’s why it lasts so well. I am a biter and picker, so I usually got gel (and then dip and then back to gel) to keep me from doing that. However, I would pick at the gel once it began to grow out and lift, and peel it off. Not good. I have short nails, and do believe they look much better with the gel or dip- I give the nod to the dip for looking the best. I take time off, and am doing so right now and just put clear coat on myself. I get gel on my toes and it lasts about 5 or 6 weeks. My favorite look is colored tips and clear base, but right now my nails are a little too short for that to look good. That grows out really nicely, too.
I get a manicure and pedicure every 2 weeks from someone who really knows her stuff. I get regular polish on my toes but we’ve decided that my hands do best with no polish at all. I’ve tried gel extensions, gel polish, regular polish and Dazzle Dry. We thought Dazzle Dry was the answer for a while and then my nails began to split badly. The splitting stopped when we started leaving the nails bare. I’m now adding a collagen protein powder to my morning coffee and my nails have never looked better. I’m not really sure of the connection, but I’m also not about to stop the collagen supplement. I now, for the first time in my life, have 10 nails that look nice at the same time.
I always painted my own fingers and toes until I turned 55 and had my first pedicure. OMG. So now I get regular pedicures a few times each year, especially in the summer, but I still paint my own fingernails.
I use one coat of Seche Clear, two coats of a cute OPI pink color, then one coat of Seche Vite. I do tons of yard work and take care of my elderly mother, so I wear vinyl gloves and yard gloves all the time. My self manicures last a week or so.