QuestionQUESTION: What is the difference between getting acrylics, pink and whites,
and gels? Do they last the same length of time? Do they affect
my real nails the same way?
ANSWER: "Pink and white" refers only to the look of the finished product. It means that your nails will be white on the tips and pink over the bed-- a French manicure. A new set of "pink and whites" means that pink and white product was used-- the color is IN the gel or acrylic, not painted on with paint, polish, or airbrush.
Gel and acrylic are different types of enhancement mediums for creating artificial nails. Acrylic is a liquid and powder product that is applied by dipping a brush first into the liquid, then into the powder to create a wet, workable "goop" (for lack of a better word) that is then applied directly to the nails. The substance will cure (harden) to the point that it can no longer be manipulated by hand within a minute or so. Then the hardened acrylic is filed to shape and either buffed smooth, or a gel topcoat will be applied and you end up with a nice shiny surface.
Gel is a thick liquid, honey-like in consistency. It is brushed onto the nail in layers, each layer has to be exposed to ultra violet light to harden before the next layer can be applied.
One product does not necessarily do any more or less damage to your nails than the other. There is one exception: MMA. MMA is a type acrylic that is made with a chemical called "Methyl Methacrylate Monomer" (MMA for short.) MMA is only a concern when it's in the LIQUID portion of an acrylic system. MMA is used in the dental industry to make dentures and porcelain veneers, it is also used industrially as an adhesive in concrete aggregates... it is way too harsh to be used on nails! As such, the FDA declared MMA to be a "poisonous and deleterious" substance and banned it from use in cosmetic products (ie, nails) all the way back in 1974!
However, since MMA is still widely used in other industries, it's still very accessible and CRAZY cheap compared to professional nail products! And since it is so strong it creates a nail that rarely breaks, and can achieve adhesion that will end up in your nail ripping off your finger before the acrylic rips off your nail-- but this level of adhesion is only achieved through excessive filing of the natural nail.
MMA is the only product being used (illegally) in salons for artificial nail enhancements that will ruin your nails. Everything else is the tech's fault.
I have often been curious why it is the trend for consumers to blame the stylist instead of the products when their hair gets screwed up, but they tend to blame the PRODUCT instead of the TECHNICIAN when their nails get screwed up? But that's where most of the credit or blame should go-- the products used in nail salons have been tested repeatedly over the last several decades and have repeatedly been found to be safe for their intended uses... the amount of damage your nails will suffer lies with the person who applies them, how you treat them between maintenance appointments, and how they are removed.
The good news-- if you opt for gel, and you actually GET gel (not acrylic with gel overlay, this seems to be a very common scam coming from discount shops) you don't have to worry about MMA because it isn't an issue in gel products.
Both acrylic and gel should easily last 2 to 3 weeks between maintenance appointments (fills.) Gels are currently very popular but they are also more expensive than acrylic and it can be difficult to find a nail tech who is proficient at them. (The process looks so simple, but mastering gel application actually has a pretty steep learning curve!)
Just remember, if it is a liquid and a powder it is NOT gel.
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: I had acrylics for about 4 months and then took them off. My own nails
were weak and soft. How long should that last and is there anything to
do to help them recover?
AnswerDepending on how the acrylic was removed it could take 2 weeks to 6 months.
If the acrylic was soaked off with acetone until it released from the nail of it's own accord, then the only thing you should be dealing with is dehydration of the nail plate. This corrects relatively quickly with regular application of cuticle oil (olive oil will work great.)
If the nail plate was damaged during application, with aggressive filing/drilling, over use of primer, or use of MMA-based acrylic (I just posted a pretty decent blog about MMA on my Myspace profile: myspace.com/nailsbymaggie if you'd like to check it out) or if the acrylic was removed by nipping, clipping, ripping or prying it off, then it can take up to 6 months for your nails to grow long enough that the damaged part will have been clipped or filed away.
If the nails have been damaged (quite often you'll see little half-moon shapes where the natural nail was drilled or filed into too deeply) there's nothing you can do to "fix" them. You just have to wait until they grow out, or you can opt to put enhancements back on.
It's like frying your hair with a bad perm or too much bleach-- no amount of conditioner will make it healthy again. Nails are just wide, flat hair follicles. Try cuticle oil to condition them, but nothing can repair them.
