Need help strengthening nails after acrylics and gels

[JaneDivided]

Hello everyone,

I apologize if this post is not acceptable, and please remove if it is not. I had been having acrylics put on my nails from 2001-2005, the last year using Creative products. I decided to use products because my own nails would start to peel once they grew past the tips, whereas with product over it I had no issues.

In the later part of 2005 after swtiching salons I took off my acrylics and my technician started applying Brisa gel products by Creative. It seemed to me that there was less filing of my own nail for fills, and in the event I broke a nail and needed a new tip my own nails looked a little better than with acrylic. However, my own nails have always been thin, so even though the condition of my nails seemed improved, it really was marginally.

I had such a problem keeping on the Brisa gels. They would always start lifting away from the back to the point that on my off week if I ran my hands through my hair I'd get pieces of hair stuck between the product and my own nails. I also began having difficulty with my own nails sticking to brand new tips, and would need to replace them frequently. On average I broke two nails every two weeks.

I took off the Brisa gels and went back to using Creative acrylic in my salon, and I still broke them with the same frequency because those would also lift. I kept the acrylics on for a year and then tried to go back go gels because both seemed to be lifting the same amount, and at least my nails seemed less damaged with the gels.

So finally getting to my question, I have taken all of the product off and my own nails are so thin and weak now. Since getting my nails done I have had a hypernicium (at least that's what I've heard it called by one nail professional) grow under each of my nails, so my own nails are fiercely attached to this. I wish I didn't have this hypernicium because the tips of my fingers feel very sensitive and I'd rather trim the nails way back until I grow out the part of my nails that had product on it previously. But I'm wondering now that I've had product on for so long and feel like my nails are so damaged, how can I repair this damage and get my nails back in shape?

Thank you all so much for your help. Again, if this is not considered an acceptable post or question please delete this.



Kelly

 

[heathereedy]

Hi,
My mother had this problem as she had her gel nails on for a few years. To try and rebuild the condition of her nails she used cuticle oil every morning and every night and a cuticle massage cream daily. Try to wear gloves when washing up etc.. as she found this softened the nails, and they split more easily. Although her nails have not fully recovered, they are getting better day by day.
As I am only a trainee technician I haven't got past experience from clients, but anyway, I hope this helps.
Heather
xxx

 

[JaneDivided]

Hi,
My mother had this problem as she had her gel nails on for a few years. To try and rebuild the condition of her nails she used cuticle oil every morning and every night and a cuticle massage cream daily. Try to wear gloves when washing up etc.. as she found this softened the nails, and they split more easily. Although her nails have not fully recovered, they are getting better day by day.
As I am only a trainee technician I haven't got past experience from clients, but anyway, I hope this helps.
Heather
xxx

Thank you for the help Heather. I'm not sure why I have this problem. My professional had even tried to use a product I believe said "Bond Aid" on the bottle but that didn't help. My mother has gels and hers have only recently had small lifting problem after a couple years of having them. But thank you for the tips. I've been using cuticle oil but hadn't thought of washing with gloves. I will try that next. Thanks, Heather!


Kelly

 

[HeatherDavis]

It sounds like you had product used on you improperly for a very long period of time.

I know its hard not to, but dont blame the gels or the acrylics. Blame the usage of them! The reason your hyponichium is growing underneath your free edge is because your nail has been traumatized, and excessive filing of the natural nail or repeatedly tearing off enhancements is the only way this can happen, other than overexposure to product from working very wet or touching uncured product.

Keep oiling them, also try and find a natural nail strengthener- CND makes one called "Toughen up" and while it doesnt work overnight, it WILL work- Your goal now is to find TOUGHNESS and flexibility rather than strength.

If your tech is using bond aid, she is probably using a hodge podge of products with her CND, and you should never mix product lines, or what happened to YOU happens.

GOod luck- I hope you havent been turned off these products forever

 

[1999judy]

http://www.salongeek.com/nail-geek/...rylic-extensions.html?highlight=after+acrylic
This may be a useful thing to read.
http://www.salongeek.com/nail-geek/...ittle-peeling-nails.html?highlight=nailtiques
http://www.salongeek.com/nail-geek/38245-natural-nail-advise.html?highlight=nailtiques

 

[kailiek]

i know there are wonderful products on the market to rebuild nails but i stick to old faithful, warm extra virgin olive oil soaks and jello in my diet. works everytime for me and my clients who want to lay off enhancements a bit.
the olive oil has many healing properties and works very quickly and the jello adds strenght to the nails. eating it is much faster than taking capsules

 

[Lana]

i know there are wonderful products on the market to rebuild nails but i stick to old faithful, warm extra virgin olive oil soaks and jello in my diet. works everytime for me and my clients who want to lay off enhancements a bit.
the olive oil has many healing properties and works very quickly and the jello adds strenght to the nails. eating it is much faster than taking capsules

I couldn't help but I had a laugh reading your post about Jello.Keep eating it,but shhhh,don't tell anyone :lol:

 

[HeatherDavis]

olive oil cannot penetrate the skin- it can only condition whats on the surface.

Solar oil is so COOL because it contains jojoba- jojoba's molecular structure is the SMALLEST moisture molecule, and can penetrate more deeply than most other oils, and can drag the other vitamins and oils with it

I love jello. My kids love jello. I think Im going to send that one into mythbusters and see what the deal is with that story I am so curious lol. iI had a client tell me she would drive her nails into garlic cloves to make her nails tough At least the vampires left her alone

 

[JaneDivided]

It sounds like you had product used on you improperly for a very long period of time.

I know its hard not to, but dont blame the gels or the acrylics. Blame the usage of them! The reason your hyponichium is growing underneath your free edge is because your nail has been traumatized, and excessive filing of the natural nail or repeatedly tearing off enhancements is the only way this can happen, other than overexposure to product from working very wet or touching uncured product.

Keep oiling them, also try and find a natural nail strengthener- CND makes one called "Toughen up" and while it doesnt work overnight, it WILL work- Your goal now is to find TOUGHNESS and flexibility rather than strength.

If your tech is using bond aid, she is probably using a hodge podge of products with her CND, and you should never mix product lines, or what happened to YOU happens.

GOod luck- I hope you havent been turned off these products forever

Hi Heather,

No, I haven't been turned off to product all together, but I'm afraid of picking another bad tech. I left one girl because another tech in her salon was giving her clients nail fungus and had been using my tech's brushes. So I went to this place and they seemed very clean. But as someone who has no training whatsoever in acrylic and gel applications I have no idea what I should be looking for in spotting a qualified technician. I mean, I can obviously look to make sure they're licensed in NH, but that may only require them to pass one exam and complete a certain number of hours.

Does my hyponichium ever heal? Will it ever retreat from growing over the free edge? I never used to have this problem before having product on my nails. Again, I'm not opposed to ever having product on my nails again, I just want to make sure my nails are in the best shape possible when I do decide to try again.

Thanks for your help, Heather!


Kelly

 

[JaneDivided]

I just wanted to thank everyone for their replies to my questions. It's really great to get tips and suggestions from such knowledgeable people. Unfortunately as someone who is not trained I have no idea what is considered normal, or how to fix what has gone wrong. Being able to draw from your collective experience and training has been a huge help and I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions.


Kelly

 

[wizz]

It WILL heal!

Nails can be damaged permanently,but nails can also be really badly damaged and grow out fine. You just have to be paitient, it will take time, but as Heather wrote they will get better with time!

I've had problems on and off since I started doing nails, and the only thing that surely improves the health of the nail is SolarOil, and maybe a strengthener... and TIME.

Use the oil also under the nails (under the free edge) I find it helps, some says it doesn't but atleast it will not make it worse! I would give it 4-6 month and then see if you feel your nails are back to normal and then try with enhancements again.

It is really hard to see wether the salon you have chosen is of a good quality and the tech is competent. I have a page on my website stating some things to look for and ask, in order to help you. Besides looking at the hygieene of the salon, and the diplomas, it is always a good idea to ask alot of questions. Both genneral nail questions but also questions about how, where, when and how much education the nail tech has. Salon routines etc.

If a tech does not want to... or cannot answer your questions I would think it strange. At the same time it will give you an idea of how competent the tech is! I like clients who are interested in "testing". It gives me a chance to prove my competence and educate them on how to take care of therir nails at the same time. I do at times get a question I cannot answer right away, but I always then call the company I'm educated from and make sure to get back to them with an answer!

 

[JaneDivided]

It WILL heal!

Nails can be damaged permanently,but nails can also be really badly damaged and grow out fine. You just have to be paitient, it will take time, but as Heather wrote they will get better with time!

I've had problems on and off since I started doing nails, and the only thing that surely improves the health of the nail is SolarOil, and maybe a strengthener... and TIME.

Use the oil also under the nails (under the free edge) I find it helps, some says it doesn't but atleast it will not make it worse! I would give it 4-6 month and then see if you feel your nails are back to normal and then try with enhancements again.

It is really hard to see wether the salon you have chosen is of a good quality and the tech is competent. I have a page on my website stating some things to look for and ask, in order to help you. Besides looking at the hygieene of the salon, and the diplomas, it is always a good idea to ask alot of questions. Both genneral nail questions but also questions about how, where, when and how much education the nail tech has. Salon routines etc.

If a tech does not want to... or cannot answer your questions I would think it strange. At the same time it will give you an idea of how competent the tech is! I like clients who are interested in "testing". It gives me a chance to prove my competence and educate them on how to take care of therir nails at the same time. I do at times get a question I cannot answer right away, but I always then call the company I'm educated from and make sure to get back to them with an answer!

Hi Clara,

Thanks for the advice. Do you mind providing me with a link to your website in English? I have found the website I believe to be yours, but I'm having difficulty finding the questions as I only speak and read in English. Thank you again.


Kelly

 

[HeatherDavis]

hey sweetie- a clean tech is a good thing, but it doesnt mean EVERYTHING huh? lol

I would look for certificates showing that the tech you frequent is a master in the products she is using. This means he/she has been trained specifically to use the products they have, and the best way. Now this can also have its problems! You have to learn the difference between high end product that needs no "roughing up" of the nail plate to make the product adhere, and those that DO. Good quality product just barely removes the shine from the surface of your nailplate with a 240 grit board- this is very smooth, in one direction, only once over. If the tech you are seeing pulls out a file that says "100/100" on the side of it- RUN AWAY!!! ANd maybe politely tell the tech that products have come a very long way, and the service as she is practicing it could be harmful if s/he doesnt keep up on changes in the industry.

Or something like that

Ask the tech what they are using, ask to see the containers, write down the chemical ingredients and look them up. Ask the tech to also provide you with their step-by-steps for the services they perform.
And when in doubt, ASK US! Treat each new meeting with a new tech as an interview, if they don't want to oblige, I would assume they had something to hide

Happy holidays! Good luck!

 

[wizz]

Hi Clara,

Thanks for the advice. Do you mind providing me with a link to your website in English? I have found the website I believe to be yours, but I'm having difficulty finding the questions as I only speak and read in English. Thank you again.


Kelly

Hi Kelly.

I am situated in Denmark and the information on there is only in danish.
If you can be paitient and wait a couple of days I will be happy to translate it for you, or see if I can track down an english version for you.
I have gotten the information from the danish distributor of Creative products, so I believe I should be able to find the same in english!
Otherwise it'll take me about half a day to translate it!

I'll pm it to you as soon as I can!

Glad to help

 

[mynails13]

Hi Kelly!
I may be able to help you out in one way....you are fifteen minutes away from me! If you wouldn't mind driving to Manchester, visit me at the salon I just started working at! I am being mentored by a really great Tech who is very knowledgeable and will be able to help you. We are both licensed and use CND products and are very picky about our sanitization/disinfection practices. I'd love to hear from you! Here is our website:
Arcadya Salon & Day Spa

 

[Dessi]

One new question here, when the part of the nail that has enhancement grow, the new natural nail will be ok , mean the natural nail will be the same as before u put enhancements, isnt it?

 

[Sassy Hassy]

One new question here, when the part of the nail that has enhancement grow, the new natural nail will be ok , mean the natural nail will be the same as before u put enhancements, isnt it?

Hi Dessi, if you do your job properly then ALL the nail should be okay, you should not be able to tell the difference on the nail plate where the product was and where it wasn't! If there is damage to the natural nail then it means that either you over filed it, of the client has bashed her nails or picked them off.

I was a nail biter until I started having nail enhancements on. I wore them for 2 years and when i finally had them removed my natural nails were so strong!!! This is because they hadn't been near my teeth and weren't being constantly weakened by me ... the overlay infact protected my nails and allowed them to grow as mother nature intended!