Guide · Nails
Before you sit down in the chair, it helps to know the difference between gel polish and extensions, which shape survives everyday work, and when nails go for a refill rather than a removal. Here is that overview — with no product plugs and no promises that something lasts longer than it does.
The difference is not in how it looks straight after the salon — everything looks good then. The difference is what happens in the third week.
Colour in several thin layers, each cured under a UV or LED lamp. It adds no length and does not strengthen the nail by itself — it only colours, but it will not chip the next day. It comes off by soaking, not by picking.
Gel is built over a form or a tip and shaped to the length you want. A more natural look and less smell than acrylic, but more prone to cracking if you go for real length.
Powder and liquid that set in the air, with no lamp. The hardest of them all and the best choice for badly bitten nails or serious length. It has a strong smell while it is worked, so it needs a salon with ventilation.
The middle ground between the two: the body of acrylic, but cured under a lamp and with no smell. Lighter on the nail than acrylic, so it is often chosen for medium lengths and for overlaying the natural nail.
A thin layer of gel or rubber base over your own nail, without adding length. For nails that split and break before they even grow — the lightest load on the nail plate of anything here.
Tips and forms are not techniques but ways of building length: a tip is a ready-made plastic extension glued to the edge of the nail, a form is a paper guide the material is built along and which comes off once it sets. The same gel and the same acrylic work on either.
The shape is chosen for what you do with your hands, not only for what is in fashion. Corners break first, and the narrower the tip, the more fragile the nail.
All three rounded shapes hold on short nails; almond and coffin need at least a few millimetres of free edge to read at all.
“Lasts a month” and “looks good for a month” are not the same thing. Below is the point at which growth at the cuticle becomes noticeable, not the point at which it falls off.
| Technique | Growth shows | What is done |
|---|---|---|
| Gel polish on hands | 2–3 weeks | Removal and a new set |
| Gel polish on toes | 4–6 weeks | Toenails grow more slowly |
| Gel extensions | 3–4 weeks | A refill, not a removal |
| Acrylic | 3–4 weeks | Refill |
| Polygel | 3–4 weeks | Refill |
| Natural nail overlay | 3–4 weeks | Fill at the cuticle |
Nail growth differs from person to person and is faster in summer. If “growth” shows after only a week, that is usually not growth but lifted product — and that calls for a repair, not a refill.
Almost all the damage later blamed on gel polish happens here. The method is the same in the salon and at home — the difference is patience.
Extensions do not come off this way. Gel and acrylic do not dissolve fully in acetone the way gel polish does — the bulk is filed off in the salon with the thickness under control, and that is one of the few jobs that genuinely needs a salon.
After gel removal the nail plate can be thin and sensitive to cold. What helps there is not a new, thicker layer but the opposite: nails cut short, oil every day and possibly an overlay with rubber base, which holds the nail together until the healthy part grows out.
Nothing here is a diagnosis. If a change spreads, hurts or lasts for months, that is for a dermatologist, not a nail technician.
Most often after picking product off, or from over-filing during prep. The plate is not repaired by a product — it has to grow out, and in the meantime be kept short and oiled.
A lengthwise split usually runs from the cuticle and comes back in the same place. If it repeats for years on one nail, this is not a polish matter — it is worth having a dermatologist look.
Pigment from dark colours can get into the surface layer when work is done without a base. It goes as the nail grows. A yellow thickening that spreads and crumbles is not a colour stain — that is for a doctor.
Lengthwise lines get more pronounced with age and are not in themselves a disease. They are evened out with rubber base in the salon; filing them smooth thins the plate and brings the problem back worse.
Usually a small injury to the matrix from a knock or from rough cuticle pushing, which grows out in a couple of months. A calcium deficiency is not recognised this way, however often that gets repeated.
A brief, sharp spike of heat while the layer cures — it happens with a thicker layer and a stronger lamp, especially on a thinned nail. Take the hand out for a couple of seconds and put it back; do not endure it to the end.
A greenish patch under the product, an empty space that is spreading and pain on pressure are not covered over with a new layer. The product comes off, the nail is left free, and if it does not settle — see a doctor.
The curing lamp is the most common question. Exposure is brief and far less than sunbathing, but if it worries you there are fingerless gloves and sunscreen applied before the appointment — simple, and with no loss of quality.
Product formulations change: from September 2025 the European Union banned the photoinitiator TPO in cosmetics, so manufacturers have replaced it in new batches. If you want to know what the salon uses, that is a perfectly ordinary question and the technician should show you the packaging.
What actually shows up as a problem in the salon is neither the lamp nor the formulation, but tool hygiene and removal by force. Any tool that touches skin must be sterilised or single-use — that is a question worth asking.
The material itself does not. The removal does — filing too deep and picking off lifted polish take layers of nail with them. That is why it is soaked off, and why it is not removed at home in a hurry.
Acrylic. If you break nails at work or go for real length, acrylic takes more. Gel looks more natural and sits lighter on the nail, and polygel stands between them.
File off the shine, put acetone-soaked cotton on the nail, wrap in foil and leave for 10–15 minutes, then lift the softened layer off with a wooden stick. If it does not come easily, back into acetone — do not scrape.
Not reliably. What circulates as removal with hot water or oil only works if the layer has already lifted. The alternative to acetone is not water but the salon, where the rest is filed off with the thickness under control.
Working in a well-ventilated room is not usually considered a problem, but the decision is your doctor's, not the salon's. Tell the salon you are pregnant — for the sake of ventilation and product choice.
The nail is not fed from the air, so a break is not needed in itself. A break is needed when the plate has been thinned by removal — and there only time helps, not a product.
If the plate is healthy, a new set can go on the same day. If it is tender to the touch and translucent at the edge, wait for it to grow — a day off changes nothing there.
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