POSTED ON: Saturday, November 22, 2014 @ 5:35 PM | 0 comments
About two weeks ago, I got my first gelish manicure and I loved them. They have been staying super glossy and chip-free on my nails even up till I had to remove them cos my nails were getting too long and I have work lined up next week.
So I went back to the same salon (283 Bishan Street 22) that did my nails to get my discounted soak off service at $10. But to my horror, the soak off and removal service was not only less than pleasant, it was traumatising.
To start off, gel manicures need to be soaked off in acetone for about 12-15 minutes. But I've also read that we should not be saturating the nail with acetone, and certainly should not soak the entire hand in a bowl of acetone, as commented by Shellac's spokesperson. She recommends that we wrap our nails with acetone soaked cotton wool to soften the polish (sounds like how we would remove glitter polish!) and the polish should come off together with the cotton wool with a gentle twist.
Okay now back to my experience at the salon. The obviously newly-trained manicurist filled a container full of acetone for me to soak all my fingers in for around 5 minutes. When I took out my hand from the bowl of acetone, only the sides of the gel polish had started to soften and peel of a bit. The manicurist determined that the length of soak off time was enough?? She then took a metal scraper from inside a cup of water at the sink area, and proceeded to vigorously scrap of the gel polish off my nails! Honestly, most parts of the gel polish was still pretty hard and she was just forcefully scraping off chunks of hard polish! Together with layers of my natural nail of course!
Seriously?! A metal scraper and all that violent shoving and digging and scraping?!
And as though that trauma wasn't enough, she went on to file down the surface of my nails to remove the remnants of the gel base coat. And being inexperienced, she literally filed of all my cuticles. Well guess what? More scraping to come after that!!
And all she did after the traumatic scraping and filing was to clean up with water and a cotton pad. That's it. My nails now are in their worse state ever. The photo below might not show the damage clearly, but there are clear scratch lines and ridges on the surface of my nail, some soreness on the nail bed, and very thin and brittle nails that I had to file down when I got home (nope, they didn't even offer to file my nails back in shape).
Being upset and annoyed over the ordeal my poor beloved nails have gone through, I browsed through the web to look for ways to heal my nails and get my old pretty ones back in the shortest time possible. And I chanced upon an article with a dermatologist who is the president of the British Cosmetic Dermatology Group who warns ladies of the dangers of this sort of aggressive nail treatment. He says that all the scraping and filing can "lead to permanent damage where the nail lifts from the nail bed" and that "there is also risk of infection if manicure instruments are not sterilised properly". Here's the article I read: Why your manicure could ruin your nails for life.
Your manicurist is destroying your nails with these gel polishes!!
Yes I am strongly discouraging all of you from trying out gel polish (for those who have not tried), and please stop visiting these ill-educated manicure salons to get your gelish nails done if you're already a regular. Of course there might be well trained manicurists who would take all the trouble to make sure your nails are in the best condition they can be, then please carry on.
Okay back to my lecture notes and readings (and feeling very sad for my poor nails). Freedom in 3 days~! Those who have upcoming exams too, hang in there!!
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POSTED ON: Saturday, November 22, 2014 @ 5:35 PM | 0 comments
About two weeks ago, I got my first gelish manicure and I loved them. They have been staying super glossy and chip-free on my nails even up till I had to remove them cos my nails were getting too long and I have work lined up next week.
So I went back to the same salon (283 Bishan Street 22) that did my nails to get my discounted soak off service at $10. But to my horror, the soak off and removal service was not only less than pleasant, it was traumatising.
To start off, gel manicures need to be soaked off in acetone for about 12-15 minutes. But I've also read that we should not be saturating the nail with acetone, and certainly should not soak the entire hand in a bowl of acetone, as commented by Shellac's spokesperson. She recommends that we wrap our nails with acetone soaked cotton wool to soften the polish (sounds like how we would remove glitter polish!) and the polish should come off together with the cotton wool with a gentle twist.
Okay now back to my experience at the salon. The obviously newly-trained manicurist filled a container full of acetone for me to soak all my fingers in for around 5 minutes. When I took out my hand from the bowl of acetone, only the sides of the gel polish had started to soften and peel of a bit. The manicurist determined that the length of soak off time was enough?? She then took a metal scraper from inside a cup of water at the sink area, and proceeded to vigorously scrap of the gel polish off my nails! Honestly, most parts of the gel polish was still pretty hard and she was just forcefully scraping off chunks of hard polish! Together with layers of my natural nail of course!
Seriously?! A metal scraper and all that violent shoving and digging and scraping?!
And as though that trauma wasn't enough, she went on to file down the surface of my nails to remove the remnants of the gel base coat. And being inexperienced, she literally filed of all my cuticles. Well guess what? More scraping to come after that!!
And all she did after the traumatic scraping and filing was to clean up with water and a cotton pad. That's it. My nails now are in their worse state ever. The photo below might not show the damage clearly, but there are clear scratch lines and ridges on the surface of my nail, some soreness on the nail bed, and very thin and brittle nails that I had to file down when I got home (nope, they didn't even offer to file my nails back in shape).
Being upset and annoyed over the ordeal my poor beloved nails have gone through, I browsed through the web to look for ways to heal my nails and get my old pretty ones back in the shortest time possible. And I chanced upon an article with a dermatologist who is the president of the British Cosmetic Dermatology Group who warns ladies of the dangers of this sort of aggressive nail treatment. He says that all the scraping and filing can "lead to permanent damage where the nail lifts from the nail bed" and that "there is also risk of infection if manicure instruments are not sterilised properly". Here's the article I read: Why your manicure could ruin your nails for life.
Your manicurist is destroying your nails with these gel polishes!!
Yes I am strongly discouraging all of you from trying out gel polish (for those who have not tried), and please stop visiting these ill-educated manicure salons to get your gelish nails done if you're already a regular. Of course there might be well trained manicurists who would take all the trouble to make sure your nails are in the best condition they can be, then please carry on.
Okay back to my lecture notes and readings (and feeling very sad for my poor nails). Freedom in 3 days~! Those who have upcoming exams too, hang in there!!
