A very popular salon service these days is coloured gel on toes.

The benefits are many:

1. You get colour that is instantly, fully cured and won’t smudge in your shoes.
2. You get an incredible shine that lasts.
3. It looks exactly the same as nail polish if done correctly.
4. It doesn’t chip off like nail poilsh does.
5. Most nail techs and beauty thrapists find applying the technique of applying the gels easy to master, so it’s easier to find a salon that can do a good job. 

As mentioned in a previous post, nails don’t actually “breathe” so wearing gels will not suffocate the nail, but some good advice is to give toenails a break from colour gel throughout wintertime.

The reason for this break is that toenails in wintertime are more often in shoes and socks, so they are prone to being moist and damp from sweating. This can cause the toenails under the gel overlay to become moist.

Giving toes a break throughout winter, gives them a chance to dry out and be ready for the spring & summer seasons to come.

Written by Christine Maher.

Executive Director, CNE (Senior educator of beginner nail technicians for 12 years and Nail tech for 20 years)

So is it Acrylic?

Or do you want Gel?

Or what about just Nail Polish?

To keep it simple, I say there’s 3 levels of strength:

1. Nail polish, or “nail enamel” as some call it. That’s the weakest. Most of us have tried nail poilsh at some time, so we know what the strength of that one is like.
2. Gel overlays or “Gel nails” as some would call it, that’s in the middle
3. Acrylic overlays, or “Acrylic nails” as some would call it, that’s the strongest product you can put on your nails to protect them.

So which one damages your nails less? well that’s another story, it’s not really the product that does the damage….. to be continued

Written by Christine Maher,

Executive Director, CNE (Senior educator of beginner nail technicians for 12 years and Nail tech for 20 years)