Question
My Nails
Hello Maggie! First I am sorry for the length of my question--I have several questions. A few years ago, I complemented a woman on how nice her fingernails were. She told me that she had "gel nails" and that she loved them. She said she got alot of complements about her nails, and I thought they were her natural nails. Recently, I started thinking about getting nail enhancements and did some research online. I remembered those gel nails I saw years ago, and decided that they sounded like the best choice for me. I had never had enhancements before, just regular manicures and pedicures. I went in to a local nail salon that I had never been to, and asked some general questions about getting "gel nails" (that's what they were called on the menu, and the price was $30 for a full set). The 3 nail techs spoke both English (though only one spoke it well) and Korean I think, but they seemed to understand that I wanted gel nails. After having them for a day or to, I really felt like these were not the nails that I remembered, so I did a search online. From what I have read, it sounds like I did not get "gel nails" even though that is what I was paying for.
Here is what they did to give me gel nails: Buffed the nail surface to make it rough, and then applied plastic nail tips with nail glue. She cut the length of the tips down and filed them. Then she painted a clear liquid on my nails from a bottle labelled 'primer'. Then she applied a gel-like material onto my nails by first dipping a paintbrush into a clear liquid, then into a small jar with a hand-written label saying 'powder'. She painted this white powder and clear liquid mixture onto all of my nails. It dried clear in just seconds, then she filed and smoothed the edges of my nails. I had asked the tech when I first came in if you can get a French manicure with gel nails, and she said "yes, $5 extra". She took me back to another station and airbrushed a light pink paint and then a white paint tip onto my nails, a very pretty French manicure. Then she brushed on 2 layers of a clear liquid that was a little thick from an unlabelled bottle, and took me over to the UV lights. I had my nails under for 6 minutes, then she wiped my nails with a cotton ball dampened from a clear bottle with a hand-written label saying 'alcohol'. And that was it--I paid and left the salon. (By the way, the salon listed the price for a full set of acrylics as $22, and a full set of "pink and whites" as $40).
Even though my nails look pretty, I am not happy with them. The nails are very hard, and do not look very natural--at least not as natural as the ones that I first saw years ago or the ones I have seen in pictures online labelled as "gel nails". I have now spent hours reading articles and posts about nail enhancements. I found some info that said there are salons using the method I received, and these techs are deceiving their customers by calling them 'gel nails' when they are not. I also read some places where it said that true 'gel' nails never use a powder. Is that correct? It seems like there is so much confusion and varying information. But when I found your site and read some of your replies to other posts, I thought you could definitely give me some good advice. What do you think they did to my nails? Do you think they used MMA? Should I go back to the salon and complain? I still would like to get true 'gels', so can the enhancement they give me be removed or soaked off, or do I have to wait for them to grow out? For a full set of true 'gel nails', how much should they be charging? Should it be more than a full set of acrylics? I am disappointed and frustrated, and feel like I have been deceived. I am unsure of what I should do--please help. I would appreciate any info/advice you can give me. Thank you!!
(I am attaching a picture of my nails in case that might help answer some questions)
AnswerThank you for the very detailed description, it really helps.
Absolutely yes, you are wearing acrylic nails. Gel is NEVER a powder.
Yes: you can soak off the acrylic nails you are wearing. Start by filing off the gel topcoat-- the only true gel you are wearing. You'll need to file it off before you can soak off the acrylic as (usually) gel products are solvent-resistant and won't budge even after an hour in acetone!
According to the Nails Magazine Big Book for 2008-2009, a full set of acrylic nails on tips averages $48 in the U.S. and a full set of gels averages $55. Since this salon's prices were significantly lower than this, there is a good chance that they used MMA, which is far far cheaper. However, you probably won't know for sure until you try removing it.
You can buy pure acetone at a local hardware store or beauty store, just make sure it is 100% acetone. Set aside a couple of hours for this project. I recommend putting your favorite dvd on, getting a drink with a straw in it, pouring enough acetone into a ceramic or metal bowl (acetone will eat plastic) to cover your fingertips. Put the bowl of acetone on a tv tray in front of you, coat your fingers in Vaseline (this will help prevent your skin from drying out in the acetone,) hit "play" on your dvd, and put your fingers in the bowl. Make sure to cover your hands and the bowl with a dish cloth or small towel-- this will keep the acetone from evaporating before your nails have melted off, and will cut down on the smell of the acetone.
If you have MMA on your nails, this could take anywhere from one hour to 3 hours. If you have EMA (cosmetic-grade acrylic) it will take anywhere from 20 minutes to one hour-- depending on how thick the product is.
As MMA begins to break down in the acetone, it almost doesn't look any different, but it gets gummy and sticky. You might want to also grab a medium/coarse file (180-100 grit) to have handy. If you have MMA on your nails you can file off a layer every half hour, just roll off the gummy layers until the product is off your nails.
If it IS cosmetic acrylic, the acetone will break it down much more quickly and it will get sort of fluffy and begin to flake off.
Just make sure that when you take your nails out of the acetone you immediately file off any "melted" acrylic-- no matter what type of acrylic was used, once it hits the air it will begin to re-harden!
Once this project is done, you might want to buff your nails with some oil and soft buffer to get them nice and smooth. The nails will be dehydrated and so will your skin, so make sure to use LOTS of cuticle oil and hand lotion for several days.
Now. Find someone who does gel nails. Not just does REAL gels, but does gels well. You can start with the internet and your favorite search engine-- or the old-fashioned yellow pages, and a telephone. Find salons that advertise gel nails, then CALL them and ask to speak with the nail technician who does gel nails.
Ask what brand of gels she (or he) uses, if she has taken any training courses in gels, or holds any certification for gels and if so, who offered the classes? (honestly, knowing that might not really mean anything to YOU, but if the answer is "yes, I'm certified in gel application by Amy Becker" well, A. Amy Becker is an award winning gel tech-- just FYI, but if someone is forthcoming and proud to answer these questions, that's a GREAT sign!
The big names in gel products right now in the professional industry are CND (Creative Nail Design,) Young Nails, Akzentz, and OPI, Light Elegance, and LCN (Light Concept Nails). Other great names in the industry are NSI, Star Nail, Vick Peters, IBD, and Entity. Believe me! I'm leaving out a LOT of great professional product names! So just because it's not one of these, doesn't mean it's not top notch! But I'm really trying to list the names I hear most often from my colleagues. And any time someone has also followed through by obtaining some additional training from the company that makes the products, that's good news.
More good questions to ask are how long the tech has been offering gel nails, and whether or not she offers pink and white gels, does she sculpt? or does she use tips? and if she does tips, does she use white tips? or does she use white gel for the free edge?
If you start asking a nail tech about her products, services, and education, you'll start to get a feel for how knowledgeable the tech is and how much you feel you can trust her.
Chances are strong that once you find a qualified nail tech, you will have to make an appointment-- often up to few weeks in advance. It is well worth it to make the appointment and wait, rather than go off on an impulse buy and end up disappointed again.
Also, as I mentioned, Nails Magazine's current industry statistics show that a full set of gel nails in the U.S. currently averages $55. Gel products are much more expensive than acrylic products-- which already aren't cheap for the good stuff! Yes, some very good nail techs charge the same for their gels as they do for their acrylics, but it's very common for gels to cost more. Gels also require a level of technical skill and education above and beyond what most state boards require for licensure. So gels is a premium service in most areas and a tech who is skilled with gel is someone who has risen above and beyond the minimum level of skill required to have a license.
Now... the one thing you didn't tell me is what city/state you are in. I'm in California and I know that the CA State Board of Cosmetology can respond to written complaints involving fraud and false advertisement. Find out who regulates salons in your state and FILE A WRITTEN COMPLAINT against the salon that gave you acrylic instead of gel. Include printed copies of some of the information you have found online about gels vs. acrylics to help back up your claims.
By all means, ask for your money back. If they refuse, make sure you include that in your complaint to the state. You can also consider sending a copy of the complaint letter to your city offices, since cities often issue business permits and also have requirements of businesses to operate above-board.
Do be careful about what you say or write about the salon since you don't want to get in trouble for liable. But I, personally, would like to see the public become more aware of nail services so that salons would stop getting away with scamming people!
Oh yeah... and there is such a thing as white acrylic powder, and white gel, which can be used to create the free edge for a permanent french manicure. No painting, no polishing, no drying, no smudging, no wearing off the edges-- the color is IN the product. In fact, both acrylic and gel comes in LOTS of different colors now! One of the hottest services right now is "gel polish" which is colored gel!
