Acrylic nails

[Beautygirl1977]

I've always thought they damage the natural nail so I decided not to do them but everyone on here seems to say they don't if done properly. I took someone's acrylics off and her nails were paper thin and a real mess (that's when I decided it wasn't for me) but was it because they haven't been done right?

 

[ginalhaytonxx]

How did you remove them? The tech that did them might have filed the natural nail too much during prep xx

 

[pure]

If the nails are thinned then they either haven't been applied properly, removed properly, or a cheap product which requires the nail to be 'etched' has been used.

There are plenty of excellent products available which when used by properly trained techs do not damage the nail.

I use CND and the only prep that is required is that all non living tissue is removed from the nail plate and that it is temporarily dehydrated - no damage at all, and provided they are removed or rebalanced correctly again there should be no damage.

The challenge of course is findng a competent tech who uses quality products as they were intended - but there are lots of us around

 

[beauty_sarah]

The nails should hardly be filed, infact they should lightly buffed to remove shine!

 

[linzi]

I've always thought they damage the natural nail so I decided not to do them but everyone on here seems to say they don't if done properly. I took someone's acrylics off and her nails were paper thin and a real mess (that's when I decided it wasn't for me) but was it because they haven't been done right?

That is precisely when you should have done the opposite; the more conscientious techs there are out there, the better. And you, having seen first hand the damage that can be caused, may be better placed than most to help teach clients how to look after their nails properly.

It's true, it's generally either improper prep or removal that ruins the nails. Technicians using bad techniques (over-filing) during preparation or clients biting them off - or even some techs popping them off instead of removing properly

Another thing to note is that there is no one-size-fits-all product - the myth that there are systems which are better than others is usually perperuated by those who are only trained in said system. You get some people asking for 'gel nails' because 'acrylic ruins your nails', of course it doesn't. That's usually what they were told by their last tech who couldn't do 'acrylic' and is when we should be educating. These people (techs) appear not to realise that all nail enhancement products are just different derivatives of acrylic, it's just that some are pre-mixed (gel), whereas the others are not - liquid and powder.

 

[gr8nailz]

I had a nail professional who did my acrylics every two weeks for 11 years. After 11 years, my nails were in perfect condition.

She took very good care of my nails. She was a true professional.

 

[Beautygirl1977]

I soaked them in asetone for ages until they came off. They were quite long but like I say they were like paper so had to cut them all right down. I then applied gel like I normally would as she decided she wanted to stop getting acrylics but she couldn't cope with her nails like that because of the damage and went back to acrylics. Maybe I'll look into it a bit more as it just put me off. I know every system doesn't work for everyone. I've had a few clients with damaged nails after having shellac too and I had it done twice and it chipped next day so I decided against using it too. I am now realising it's the therapist and not the product after reading SG.