I want to share my experience with gel manicures over the years, including “after” photos of how my natural nails look after removing the gel.
I’ve been doing gel manicure for as long as I can remember myself.
I know there is a lot of controversial information about good and bad, and how long-term UV lamps and the gel itself can destroy your nails and make them super thin, peeling, and splitting, but here are my experience and tips.
First of all – the salon you choose matters!
if you go to the cheapest place around the corner in Queens (lol just an example) you might not struggle not only with the quality of your manicure but also with how long it will last and with “paper nails result” afterwards.
I would recommend going to European nail salons, that offer “The Russian Manicure”
- it’s a dry manicure and it’s safe!
- they do a much tidier job around cuticles
- they pay attention to every detail
- they do great nail design
Here are my nails after several months of getting gel manicures back-to-back.
Over time, my nails grew out so long, and I loved how they looked!
I had a casting where I needed my nails to be natural, so I went back, had the gel removed, and took a picture for the casting agency with my bare nails.
As you can see, they are just as healthy and strong as before the gel manicures. We didn’t even cut the length—that’s how strong and fine they were!
Tips for your next appointment
Every person’s experience is different!
Some people may have had bad results and will try to scare you, but here I am with a perfectly fine experience, having done my nails in different countries and salons, and being super happy. This means your experience can be good too.
- just be mindful of the salon you choose
- read their review / ask friends for recommendations
- look for “The Russian Manicure”
- ask the technician to be gentle with your cuticula or barely remove it (I do that) if it too short
- give it a try and see how your own nails react
Here are some examples of my nail designs—if you’d like some inspo 🙂
xoxo, Mari
