Ugh I saw this on a pedicure and wanted to throw up. At least keep cutting your freaking toenails.

Since you are a professional, you have a very critical eye.

Anonymous wrote:I'm 45 and have bitten my nails and picked my cuticles forever. This summer, I have done four consecutive gel French manicures. About to do another.

You have to keep up with the manicures. Supposed to last 3 weeks, but I'm lucky if I can make it a full two weeks. My nails are paper thin and weak, but are growing.

The thickness of the gel plus the appearance are helping me to break the habit okay compulsion to bite and pick. I tend to be hyper vigilant about perceived imperfections, so one chip or break and I am peeling off the gel.

My nails and hands look so much better now.

I am the same way! Lifelong nail biter and dip powder gels have made me the type of person whose hands always look perfect. That's key to me not biting, since I will peel or bite to remove if my polish looks crappy. Regular polish lasts 2-3 days, gel lasts about a week for me, and the powder lasts until you take it off. I don't like the grown out look, so I go every 2 weeks. It's been a real game changer.

Anonymous wrote:They remind me of the old cheap acrylic nails.

I will not do anything that caustic to my nail beds--ever.

Short, polished nails or clean unpolished nails are much more attractive to me. Gel manicures always look 'thicker' and I don't have time for that crap. Regular manicures are much quicker.

I don't know what kind of gel polish you've seen. When I used to get it, they looked exactly the same.

I was getting it done every week and due to going to cheap salons, my nails took a beating. The salon used a grinder to get the remainder of the gel off. I shouldn't have let them do that. Now my nails are growing out and it really is a pain. I get light cream colors, but I swim so it's hard to keep them pretty like gel did.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Popularity = they don't chip.

Ever walked out the salon and dinged your new nail on your keys or a desk or just opening a package. Two hours of salon worked ruined in less than a day.

2-3 days with regular nails and no chipping is a miracle.

That's why people get gel.

TWO HOURS for a manicure? What the hell kind of manicure are you getting? I don't have the freaking patience to sit there for TWO HOURS to get my nails done. My natural nails look fine.

Sorry - two hours for a manicure with gel and pedicure. I never walk out of the salon without both. If you're JUST getting a regular manicure then I guess a half hour or so. Doesn't change the ridiculous chipping problem.

Anonymous wrote:They remind me of the old cheap acrylic nails.

I will not do anything that caustic to my nail beds--ever.

Short, polished nails or clean unpolished nails are much more attractive to me. Gel manicures always look 'thicker' and I don't have time for that crap. Regular manicures are much quicker.

They also remind me of this because they basically are that without the acrylic tips. People still get acrylics too... which is kind of shocking to me, lol. I got them a couple times as a teenager (the french tips) because it was the cool thing to do. Sigh. If I ever have a daughter and she comes to me wanting that, we're going to the drugstore and she can have some press on nails. I don't like anything that ruins the nailbeds.

Anonymous wrote:Popularity = they don't chip.

Ever walked out the salon and dinged your new nail on your keys or a desk or just opening a package. Two hours of salon worked ruined in less than a day.

2-3 days with regular nails and no chipping is a miracle.

That's why people get gel.

TWO HOURS for a manicure? What the hell kind of manicure are you getting? I don't have the freaking patience to sit there for TWO HOURS to get my nails done. My natural nails look fine.

Popularity = they don't chip.

Ever walked out the salon and dinged your new nail on your keys or a desk or just opening a package. Two hours of salon worked ruined in less than a day.

2-3 days with regular nails and no chipping is a miracle.

That's why people get gel.

They remind me of the old cheap acrylic nails.

I will not do anything that caustic to my nail beds--ever.

Short, polished nails or clean unpolished nails are much more attractive to me. Gel manicures always look 'thicker' and I don't have time for that crap. Regular manicures are much quicker.

To the poster who bites and picks your nails, I understand because I have a problem with hair twirling the hair in the area where like a woman's sideburns would be. I can't stop. So I have shorter pieces there. It's not noticeable though because I have thick hair.

But you're not really fixing your problem by getting gel nails. It's kind of like putting a bandaid on it. There is a subreddit called calmhands you might want to check out for this exact problem.

I'm the OP and to the poster who said I don't seem to know much about it, I'm a licensed cosmetologist. I know what goes into a gel manicure, a light is needed to cute them. Let me also point out that the UV light you must stick your hands under to cure the gel polish is also damaging and it can cause skin cancer. I know that you have to maintain them. But it looks like shit after about a week or two. I have plenty of clients that get them done. Also poorly painted nails look like shit.

939 wanted to add that the "weight" of the gel seems to be making my nail tips break. So I've had four French gel manicures and each has looked vastly different. Lots of variation in technique - filing and shaping, width of white faux tip, even gel hardness or layering.

I'm unsure how long I'll keep getting gels but my options are limited. Bare or regular polished nails = off the wagon!

I'm 45 and have bitten my nails and picked my cuticles forever. This summer, I have done four consecutive gel French manicures. About to do another.

You have to keep up with the manicures. Supposed to last 3 weeks, but I'm lucky if I can make it a full two weeks. My nails are paper thin and weak, but are growing.

The thickness of the gel plus the appearance are helping me to break the habit okay compulsion to bite and pick. I tend to be hyper vigilant about perceived imperfections, so one chip or break and I am peeling off the gel.

My nails and hands look so much better now.

Ideally you get them done every 2 weeks, and the regrowth at that time isn't that noticeable.

If someone lets them grow out longer than that (which I've also seen), I agree - it's as bad as chipped nail polish. But sometimes you just don't get around to fixing it! I'm sure those women know it doesn't look great.

As a side note, I have a gel manicure right now, but I don't regularly get them, just for vacations or special occasions. Many people who get gels don't get them continuously, and by taking a break once in a while they prevent nail damage.

Your post seems really judgmental, OP, especially for something you seem not to know much about!

I noticed two ladies yesterday who had gel nails that were grown out. The portion where the gel doesn’t meet the cuticle looks very bad and obvious. I can’t understand why these are so popular. The refrowth looks bad and it seems like a pain to maintain these. Please explain what I’m missing here. On top of all this it damages your nails.