As mentioned in a previous post I wore acrylic nails, have done for a long time. They were ok but I'd love to have naturally nice nails (to match my naturally nice hair when it grows!) So the other day when I broke one of my acrylic nails I bit them all off. Please do not do this, it is not good to bite your nails anyway but certainly not chew the acrylic off your natural nail plate. It had been 4 weeks since my last acrylic application so there was some lifting anyway. But please get your artificial nails removed safely by a professional. So my natural nails were thin, ripped off down to the end of my fingers and had ridges and bumps in them - not pretty.
I then had the stroke of luck of stumbling across a local home based nail technician who was looking for a client with nails in a soft, thin state such as having acrylics taken off so she could trial Gelish Recovery Vitagel. It is recommended you have 6 treatments over the course of 12 weeks. You can then paint your nails as you would normally or if your nails are in "good enough" shape you can have Gelish colour too, which would generally last a fortnight but if your nails are particularly soft and flexible it may not last that long.
Anyway, I went along today and met Naomi, who is a lovely lady. She explained all about the product and the results we hoped to get over the course of 12 weeks. Her nail room is beautiful, smelt welcoming and there was gentle, relaxing music playing in the background. Naomi took details down on a client record card for future reference and carried out a very thorough prep on my hands and nails. 3 very thin layers of Vitagel were applied to my nails, with a curing time of only 30 seconds for each layer.
The result; my nails look improved already, they are even and nicely shaped even though they are short. You can see some damage in areas but as the Vitagel is a clear product you would expect that. My nails looks shiny as if I were wearing a clear polish. They feel stronger than just my natural nail yet they are not in the least bit thick. The plan is to return to Naomi in 2-3 weeks time when this Vitagel will be soaked off and replaced following the same method. Repeating the process for up to 12 weeks by which time my nails should have grown and be looking more nicer - naturally!
Naomi gave me advice on aftercare along with a leaflet with tips on looking after Gelish nails and a little bottle of cuticle oil for me to use a few times a day to keep my cuticles healthy and moisturised and thereby encourage nice healthy nails to grow.
After work this weekend I will paint my nails with a colour and see how the polish fares over the Vitagel.
A link to Naomi's site;
natural nails and beauty.
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