1. What are Acrylic Nails?
2. What are Gel Nails?
3. What are Pink & White nails?
4. What is Silk Wrap?
5. What is Fungus?
6. How often should I get my nails done?
7. Why does my nail polish chip so easily?
8. What is French manicure?
For questions, please email me
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1. What are Acrylic Nails?
Acrylic nails are the most common artificial nails nowadays. They are strong, most cost effective and require short time when having done. Acrylic nails are the most difficult type of artificial to do for it requires a lot of skill. The acrylic sets in a relatively short time, after 8 to 10 seconds, it will set the to point that the shape cannot be changed anymore. The nail technician must finish the nail with correct coverage, smoothness, thinness and stickiness. An average nail tech usually needs about two years before he/she can perform a decent work. Acrylic nails sometimes lift from the nail bodies which may later leads to fungus if not serviced soon. Acrylic nails, like most other artificial nails, will need to have periodical maintenance, two weeks are most recommended. The weakness of acrylic nails is lifting, yellowing and moderate damage to your natuaral nails.
2. What are Gel Nails?
There are many different types of “Gel Nails”, and most customers and even some nail tech do not have a full understanding of them. However, to simplify complication, Gel nails can be categorized as two main lines:
- Liquid gel (since the gel is in thick liquid form), also be called “UV gel, light cured gel”, is a thick clear (also come in colors) gel that nail technician will need to use a UV lamp to cure. There are about two to four coats will be applied directly onto the nail body (your natural nail). Liquid gel is said to be the future of artificial nail due to minimal use of chemicals, no smelly liquid, much less lifting (less chance to catch fungus), no yellowing, less drilling, less damage to your natural nails too. I personally think that it is a great products as most of my customers that try it prefer it to the acrylic.
- Powder gel (since it comes in the form of powder) is very similar to acrylic. Nail tech will mix Powder gel with monomer liquid (the same liquid used in making acrylic nails) to apply onto your nails. In many ways, Powder gel nails is the same as acrylic nails except that Powder Gel particles are smaller than those of acrylic, resulting in better bonding and harder body.
3. What are Pink & White nails?
Pink and White nails are basically acrylic nails. They are made of two types of acrylic: pink acrylic and white acrylic. The pink acrylic is for the pink part of your nails, the white acrylic is for the free edge (the part that extends past the flesh of the finger tips). A clear coat of UV gel sealer will be used on top of the nails to seal the two parts together and to add shine to the finishing look. In other words, the Pink and white nails give you a look of French Manicure made with acrylics. For that reason, it is also called “Permanent French Manicure”. Pink and White nails are much more popular in Southern States and require experienced technicians to do.
4. What is Silk Wrap?
Silk wrap nails, or fiber glass nails, are artificial nails that provide a much thinner body than other artificial nails, thus are weaker and more natural looking. A piece of thin linen or silk or fiber glass will be glued to your nails body (your natural nails). One to two thin coats of resins or gel will be applied on and then cured with activators or UV lamps. We don’t offer this service here simply because there is no demand here in Ohio.
5. What is Fungus?
When your nails are infected with fungus, there is already a problem that needs to be solved. Fungus nails can be easy and difficult to treat and in some cases, require specialist attention. In my experience, I can divide fungus infections into two most common types:
- Temporary fungus: is fungus that is caused by artificial nail lifting, mostly in acrylic nails. When the artificial nails lift (or separate) from your nail body, water can get trapped in between them providing a good environment with high humidity for a mold that may get stuck in there later. That mold will multiply and grow very fast and permeate into your real nails. This type of fungus is usually green or dark green (bad). This type of fungus is easy to treat. You only have to remove the artificial nails and apply fungus killer directly on the spot. I personally use acetone or alcohol to clean and dehydrate it. Since fungus need humidity, it will die instantly when dehydrated. After being treated, a new artificial nail can be applied even though the green color spot will remain until it grows out of the nails.
- Chronic fungus: is a type of fungus that looks yellowish and always stay underneath your nail body. They are more often found in toe nails, especially big toe nails. This type of fungus takes a long time to form and it causes separation of your real nails from your nail beds (your flesh). They have bad smell and need to be treated. To repair this condition, you need to see a specialist. I have heard that people can use hydrogen peroxide to cure. I think it possibly can but the nail won’t reattach once the scar tissues are formed despite that the fungus has already been removed. The best way to treat fungus is to prevent fungus. Since fungus need much humidity to proliferate, good ventilation will prevent it. If you have acrylic nails or artificial nails, have them maintained regularly. If you notice a nail lifts, come to our salon for a repair to prevent further problem. Also, keep your toe nails serviced periodically in both warm and cold seasons. One visit a month to a nail salon is considered sufficient.
6. How often should I get my nails done?
If you have artificial nails, the book suggests 2 weeks. How fast nails grow varies person by person. Basically, how often you should get your nails done depends on two factors: first, how beat up your nails are and second, how fast they grow. If you nails grow slowly and are well taken care of, you may be able to stretch it to two and a half weeks, or even three weeks. Otherwise, two weeks is recommended. One benefit of getting your nails done every two weeks is in the event your nails catch fungus, the damage won't be significant cause the fungus do not have enough time to grow and pose any serious threat to your nails. If you are not aware of the condition and prolong it, the fungus will grow and cause some regretful damage. Another benefit is you can continuously maintain the same look for your nails.
If you have natural nails, the need for getting them done is much less compulsory. If you look at your nails and think that they need to be done, or if you have a party, function, wedding... to take part in, then they need to be done. We have customers that visit our salon for a manicure service everyweek. And we also have customers that only come occassionally when they have a specific reason to get their nails look decent. That is also applied for pedicure service. Most women don't get their pedicure done in the winter. Since most of the time, their feet are in boots, socks, or shoes... the urge to get them done is not that strong just as an old saying "out of sight, out of mind". I personally disagree. In my opinion, the winter is the time when you make you pedicure worth the most. Since most of the time, your feet stay inside socks and shoes, they don't have good ventilation and tend to be unhealthy. Having the pedicure will reverse that condition. The service will clean your feet, clear the pores, exfoliate dead tissues, hydrate skin... Another money smart reason to get them done in the winter is most technician tend to take more time and do a better job as their salons are normally not as busy as in the spring and summer.
In conclusion, if you wear artificial nails, you are more committed to having a regular maintenance and have a much more desirable look on your nails. If you prefer to have natural nails, the frequency of having them done simply depends on the when-you-think-you-need basis.
7. Why does my nail polish chip so easily?
Nail polishs are made to stick to the object. Some nail polish may perform better than the other, but the difference in that respect is not much. When painted on the different objects or different materials, the level of how well a certain nail polish can stick varies widely. And unfortunately, nail polish don't stick to nails as well as they do to other materials such as wood, metal, ceramic tile... eventhough they are designed for nails. There are a few main reasons why your nail polish chips: The nail pre-polish condition is not ready, the polish applying process is not done appropriately, a thin outer layer of your natural nails chip bringing the nail polish with it, how beat up your nails are, what medication you take. As you may notice, the nail technician can control some of the above process, the rest is affected by the polish wearers. There is no way anybody can guarantee that your nail polish will never chip even in just one week as he/she doesn't have full control of your nails. This is the way how nail polish should be applied: first, you have to dehydrate the nails or clean all foreign chemicals away by using PH balancer since your nails have to be dry from any liquid and free from foreign chemicals that may later hinder the polish stickiness. Second, apply a thin coat of basecoat. This basecoat works as a doubleside sticky tape that will, in one side, stick to your natural nails, and the other side will stick to the polish. Third, apply two thin coats of nail polish. Fourth, apply topcoat. Tips: dry your nails a few minutes between coats for best result, polish and topcoat have to be in good condition, apply polish with correct pressure and long stroke, the longer the better.
8. What is French Manicure?
French Manicures are manicures designed to resemble natural nails, and are made with natural pink nais and white tips. French Manicures may have originated in eighteenth-century from Paris and have been very popular. Many choose this design because it is very simple and give nails a natural, healthy look and can visually correct or perfect otherwise imperfect nails. French Manicure design can also be applied on natural nails and artificial nails.
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