A properly applied shellac gel manicure holds for two to three weeks. Acrylic and Gel-X sets usually go two to three weeks before a refill.
If yours started peeling sooner, that's frustrating. Early lifting has a handful of causes. Some come from how the nail is prepared, some from the nail itself, and some from what your hands do in a week. Most are fixable. Here's what we look for.
What makes gel lift early
Prep. Gel bonds to a clean, dry nail plate. If any oil or lotion is on the surface when the base coat goes on, the set will lift no matter how good the product is. It's one of the first things we check, which is why we take our time at the start of a service, before any colour goes anywhere near your nails.
Product touching the skin. When gel reaches the cuticle or the sidewall, it can't seal to the nail, and the edge starts to peel within days. A hairline margin of bare nail around the whole perimeter is deliberate — it's what keeps the seal intact.
Cure time. Every gel has a specified time under a lamp of a specified strength. Cut it short and the layer stays soft underneath. It feels perfectly fine on the day and separates a week later.
No cap on the free edge. The tip of the nail takes every knock. If the gel doesn't wrap over the very edge, that's where chipping starts.
Things that are simply life
Some sets have a harder week than others, and that's nothing to feel bad about.
Hands that open boxes, garden, lift at the gym, or spend twenty minutes a day in dish soap ask more of a manicure than hands that don't. That isn't a flaw in the set or in you. It's normal wear, and a set lasts longest with light, everyday use and a little looking after between visits. Tell us what your week looks like and we'll build something that suits it, usually by adjusting length and shape.
If a nail starts to lift
Please don't pull it off — and if you already have, no lecture from us, it's the most natural instinct in the world. It's just that gel grips hard, so peeling it away takes a fine layer of nail plate with it. That's what leaves nails feeling thin and bendy afterwards.
Give us a call instead. A single lifting nail is usually a ten-minute repair, and if it's within seven days of your appointment with light, everyday use, we'll fix it free of charge.
Most of the damage blamed on gel comes from removing it the hard way, which is why removal belongs in the salon.
Getting the most out of a set
- Use your nails gently. Open cans, peel labels and scrape with a tool or the pads of your fingers, not your nail tips.
- Leave cuticles and hangnails to us. Cuticle care at each appointment keeps the skin around the set tidy, and cutting it yourself is how splits start.
- Gloves for dishes and cleaning. Hot water and detergent loosen an edge faster than anything else.
- Book your fill around the three-week mark rather than waiting for a problem. As the nail grows, the balance point shifts and a long-overdue set catches on things.
Do nails need a break?
Generally, no. Nails aren't alive — they get everything they need from the blood supply underneath, so the idea that they need to "breathe" between sets isn't really a thing.
What does help is proper application and gentle removal every time. If you've had a run of sets that lifted early, come in and we'll look at it together: the prep, the nail itself, and what your week asks of it.
And if your nails already feel thin, come in and let us have a look. Often a short, light set protects them while they grow out better than leaving them bare and catching them on everything.
Whatever shape they're in, you're welcome here — we've seen it all, and none of it fazes us.