QuestionI'm ashamed to admit it, but I have been getting acrylics at a... we'll just call them a less than proper salon - for about 13 years. I keep thinking of removal, but they pretty much guarantee return business by ruining your natural nails & beds, leaving me wondering how I would reverse years of damage if I do remove them. Not to mention the few times I've attempted to take them off in the past my natural nails were so thin that I didn't last more than 3 days before running back. Please help!
AnswerStart by finding a reputable salon. Especially if you can find a nail tech who specializes in natural nail care.
You'll have a few options: You can find a natural nail care specialist who will set you up with a regular schedule of manicures and a list of home care products along with a details on how to use them. Over the next 6 months you'll be able to carefully grow out your nails, removing the existing product a little at a time and slowly, but smoothly, transitioning from acrylic to natural nails.
Or: You can start getting fills by a tech who will NOT damage your natural nail. After a few months, you can decide whether or not you LOVE the new acrylics and keep them for another 13 years, or you can safely remove the product to reveal healthy nail underneath.
Or: You can take the current acrylic off and spend the next few weeks babying your tender natural nails until they're grown out enough that they don't hurt anymore.
It doesn't matter if you transition to acrylic, gel, or wraps-- what matters is that you find someone who applies the product without damaging your natural nails.
Be prepared: When you remove product from your nails, they'll be dehydrated-- because that's the first step to getting products to stick. So, even in the best case scenario with minimal damage to your natural nails, it'll take a couple of days of massaging your natural nails with some high quality cuticle oil (something that doesn't contain mineral oil) to get them feeling normal again. And, of course, even in perfect shape, your natural nails won't be as thick or strong as the acrylic and that always has a little bit of a mind trick effect to it that makes people think their natural nails aren't strong-- just because you're used to the acrylic.
BTW: even 13 years of going to a "less than proper salon" won't change your DNA. Although it is possible to damage the nail matrix during the process of doing nails, it's unlikely. So the only part of your nail that's damaged is the part that's already grown out. The new growth should be normal and healthy-- barring any effects that might show up in your nails over the last 13 years of just plain aging. So it'll only take a couple of months of new growth before your nails are back to being in as good of condition as if you'd never put on acrylic. Nails are just like hair-- a bad dye job or perm will get cut out with time, and so will a bad set of nails. Rest assured.
