QuestionWhat is the real difference between Axxium and any other nail gel? I have hard, healthy natural nails and normally avoid gels and acrylics but wants something to allow my polish to last longer on my natural nails. Any suggestions?
AnswerAxxium is one of the many soak-off gel formulas that are popular right now. These products are going by lots of names: soak-off gel, gel polish, hybrid gel polish, etc. These are gels, but they are much more flexible and more porous-- the porosity means they can absorb solvents, so they soak off in acetone easily so you don't have to file them off.
It still takes 10-20 minutes to soak them off though, and many people opt to file them off anyway.
Axxium is OPI's brand of gel polish. It's available in several of OPI's regular polish colors, which is awesome because you can purchase a bottle of matching polish to touch up regrowth or chips in between gel manicures. Axxium wears very well, but takes longer to soak off than many of the popular new brands.
Eco gel, by Star Nail, so far offers the fastest soak off time-- about 6 minutes. My favorite so far is a brand called "Gelish" which comes in a polish type bottle. Soaks off in about 10 minutes, but wears reasonably well too.
CND also has recently introduced "Shellac" which also comes in a polish style bottle and is being marketed with that oh-so-popular buzz word; "Hybrid." I am hearing fabulous things about Shellac, but have not yet worked with it.
Many of my natural nail clients are loving the new gel polishes. It's a great way to get polish that actually lasts from manicure to manicure (but be warned! It CAN chip, nothing's perfect.) You can soak it off at home if you're so inclined.
What you really want to do is make sure that wherever you get your nails done, that you are getting the actual product that you want for one thing. The industry has seen a lot of fraud where services advertised are not the service rendered-- preying on a naive public that isn't aware of differences in products. So make you sure you are getting the product you want, because there are colored gels on the market that do not soak off.
And make sure that whoever does your gel manicure is careful not to damage your nails in the process. Many of these products work best if the natural nail is gently buffed, but no one should ever be filing into the nail-- not even for acrylics or traditional gels!-- that's where most damage from nail services occurs, in aggressive filing which is totally unnecessary.
I say give it a try and see what you think. If you decide it's not for you, go back to traditional polish.
