Nail extension with gel polish: methods, techniques, pros and cons

Advantages and disadvantages

Before you decide to have your nails extended with gel polish, you first need to understand all the nuances of this procedure, find out the advantages and disadvantages, and what the consequences may be. Also keep in mind that high-quality nail extensions are done in a salon for at least 3-4 hours, depending on the chosen length of artificial nails.

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Pros:

• Strengthening natural nails. Weak, short and flaking nails are firmly “sealed” with gel polish, due to which the health and appearance of natural nails significantly improves over time. In addition, even through a thick layer of gel polish, air reaches natural nails.
• Long time wear. Classic manicure, without applying gel, is short-lived. Regular varnish on natural plates becomes deformed and comes off within 2-3 days after a manicure. And gel polish coatings last up to 4 weeks, depending on your care and the growth time of natural nails.
• Hides imperfections. There are cases when the nails have some kind of damage, or the girl has short, chubby fingers, or her nail bed is too wide. All these aspects significantly reduce the aesthetics of manicure. And nail extensions with gel polish help hide all these imperfections.

The fact is that the thick consistency of artificial coatings helps to even out the nail plate and hide all the unevenness and imperfections of natural nails. And by choosing medium or long nail extensions, you will visually lengthen your plump fingers.

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• Helps get rid of a bad habit. It's no secret that even adults sometimes bite their nails. Yes, it is harmful, bad, beautiful and extremely unaesthetic. But this is a bad habit that you can get rid of with nail extensions.

Firstly, extended nails will be difficult to chew, even out of habit. And secondly, you will probably feel sorry for the time and money spent, and there is also a chance of ruining such beauty on your nails.

• Space for imagination. Due to their beauty, extended nails can be used to create almost any design you like. Everything will depend on your preferences and the skills of the manicurist. Therefore, it is best to contact a professional.
• Quick removal procedure. To model nails, a polymer gel polish is used, which is dried in a special UV lamp. It is impossible to remove them using regular nail polish remover. This product works well only with regular varnish.

And the manicurist uses gel-softening compounds or performs a hardware manicure, removing the old coating of extended nails using special cutters. If you turn to a professional, the procedure will not last long.

Removing gel polish using a cutter

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• Aesthetic beauty of manicure. Due to the long wearing time, you always have a beautiful, fresh manicure that you are not ashamed to show off. You will always be confident in the impeccability of your image. Especially if you have chosen the desired length and nail design, which can be called universal.

As you can see, nail extensions with gel polish have many advantages. But, as you know, “there is always a fly in the ointment,” so consider the disadvantages of this procedure:

• They may look ugly and sloppy. This is precisely the aspect when girls are not responsible enough when choosing a manicurist. A true professional will create a masterpiece on your nails, but a beginner or an irresponsible nail technician can easily ruin not only the coating, but also your natural nails.

Therefore, before you sign up for a manicure, select several masters who seem to you the most professional, read reviews about them on the Internet, ask your friends and clients about the quality of the procedure. And only after that sign up for nail extensions with gel polish.

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• Constant correction of extended nails is required. Unfortunately, extended nails can also sometimes break or come off completely. In this case, a local correction is made. And even if your nails are safe and sound, the natural nail plates still grow, which means a full correction must be done at least once a month.
• Price. As a rule, nail extensions with gel polish are not a cheap procedure. In addition, as a rule, it does not include the creation of nail designs and coating. That is, by the end of the entire procedure everything adds up and it turns out to be quite a tidy sum.
• Infection. Don’t be alarmed, the likelihood of infection is reduced to zero if you go to a professional salon or an experienced nail technician. Don't chase low prices and close distances. It’s better to drive further and make it more expensive than to put your health at risk.
• Discomfort. Since gel polish extensions require drying in a UV lamp, some girls may experience an unpleasant, strong burning sensation. This depends both on the chosen composition and on the sensitivity of the client.
• Removal from a master. If you can cover your nails with gel polish for extensions at home, removing it yourself is quite problematic and even harmful to the natural nail plate.

The advantages of gel polish extensions are much greater than the disadvantages. Therefore, if you have carefully read all the pros and cons and decided to have gel coat extensions, find out how it is done, so that later, in the salon, you can understand whether the specialist is doing everything correctly.

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The essence of gel polish

This product is a long-term decorative coating that must be dried in a special ultraviolet lamp. Many girls wonder: what is the difference between gel polish and shellac? In fact, professional manicurists claim that they are the same thing. The company's long-lasting decorative varnish called Shellac became incredibly popular and was one of the first to be released onto the cosmetic market. Therefore, this option for coating the nail plate began to be called shellac. Professionals, answering the question of what is the difference between gel polish and shellac, claim that they are synonyms.

Covering natural nails has become incredibly popular among millions of girls around the world. Today, this option is more popular than plate extension with gel or acrylic. Determining the pros and cons of gel polish helps to facilitate the process of choosing a coating. The positive aspects include:

• safety;
• longevity;
• wide selection of shades;
• speed of complete drying;
• possibility of strengthening the plate;
• durability;
• suitable for any length and shape of nails;
• Quite budget price;
• wide selection of shades;
• possibility of applying any design.

Flaws:

• correction frequency;
• the need to purchase a set of special tools;
• It is not recommended to wear the covering for quite a long time;
• possible occurrence of allergic reactions.

Also, after a few weeks, girls are faced with the fact that the gel polish grows back. Recommendations from professional masters will help you correct this and return your manicure to an attractive appearance.

Methods

At the moment, there are only 2 ways to extend nails with gel polish:

1. With the help of tips.
2. Using forms.

Which method to choose is up to you to decide, because the quality of the final result depends on the skills and professionalism of the nail artist.

Manicure with tips

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Using tips

Tips are preferably chosen by those girls who want to significantly increase the length of their nails. In fact, extensions using tips are similar to how many girls once glued artificial nails, which were in fashion in the 2000s.

But the main difference is that high-quality tips are flexible enough not to break, and special adhesive compounds keep them on the nails for a long time. After the tips are glued, the master gives the plate the required shape and makes a design on long nails.

Manicure with tips

On forms

Forms are special plastic or paper elements that are attached to the finger and then adjusted to the nail so that it is almost on the same plane with it. Forms are most often chosen by experienced professionals, since this work requires maximum skills and concentration, while extensions on artificial plates (tips) are done easier and faster, but do not look as natural.

For extensions on forms, colored gels are used, which are called nude. This coating can be left practically without design, or you can extend your nails and apply a colored coating.

Extensions can be easily done on short nails using modeling gel compositions.

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Forms for nail extensions

Tools

For beginning craftsmen and home craftsmen, it is necessary, first of all, to equip their workplace with all the necessary materials and tools. There is a special list that includes a list of the standard extension kit:

• UV lamp for drying;
• wide range of base coatings;
• tips and gel for fixation;
• forms and “clothespins” for them;
• lint-free wipes;
• brushes of different lengths and thicknesses;
• orange sticks;
• files of different hardness;
• antiseptic;
• degreaser;
• base;
• top;
• buffs;
• pushers;
• cuticle remover tools;
• cutter (cutters);
• brush;
• scraper;
• primer;
• cuticle oil;
• a manicure machine (if necessary and sufficient skills) and an extractor hood.

A set of tools for nail extensions
This is a basic list for those who have seriously decided to get into extensions. Don't forget that modeling gels are different from gel polishes. These are 2 different compositions. The use of gel polish is similar to ordinary colored varnishes, and with the help of modeling gel, nails are extended.

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Extension technique step by step

Extending nails with gel polish onto tips and forms has the same goal, but the process itself is slightly different.

For tips

Step-by-step instruction:

1. Hands are treated with an antiseptic, cuticles are removed, excess length of nails is filed off, and the top, thinnest layer of the plate is removed.
2. The tips are selected according to size, glued to the nails and pressed for a while to remove all the bubbles, then dry.
3. The tips are given the required shape and length using a nail file. The surface is degreased, modeling gel is applied in 2 layers, after each of which drying in a UV lamp is required.
4. The sticky layer is removed, the nails are filed to remove all possible irregularities.
5. The extended nail is coated with colored gel polish (optional), a manicure design is created with gel polish, or left as is, covering the nails with a finish and drying.

Step-by-step manicure using tips

On forms

Extension of artificial nail plates with forms comes in two types: lower and upper. In the first case, the form is placed under the nail, in the second - on it, along the growth line. In both options, the extended nail turns out smooth and beautiful.

Step-by-step instruction:

1. A full manicure is carried out, as in the first case: cuticles are removed, the length of the nails is removed, the top layer is polished. Cover the nails with primer and wait until it dries on its own.
2. The form is applied under or on the nail, using a brush, modeling gel polish is laid out and evenly distributed in the middle of the nail, after which the first layer must be dried in a lamp.
3. To strengthen the nail plate, apply a second layer, spread evenly and dry.
4. There may be irregularities left on the artificial plates, which are filed down, excess length is removed and the nails are given the required shape.
5. A design is made on the nail plates, which the client has chosen in advance, colored gel polishes, drawings, rhinestones, stickers, etc. are applied.
6. Finally, the nails are coated with a finish.

Step-by-step manicure on forms

Shellac manicure

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Publication from MANICURE KRASNODAR Krasnaya street (@na_klavishah) Sep 24, 2022 at 12:06 PDT

Everyone thinks that shellac is just a long-lasting manicure. In fact, this is the name of the substance that CND released in 2010, which produced one of the main nail revolutions in recent times.

Expert opinion

— Shellac is plastic due to the high content of varnish components. This is a three-phase system consisting of base, color and top. Each layer is polymerized in a UV or LED lamp. Using shellac you can create a fashionable design. True, the manicure will last no more than two weeks. But this coating does not need to be filed off like gel polish. It can be easily removed in eight minutes. On each finger you just need to put a piece of cotton wool soaked in nail polish remover and wrap it in foil.

Maria Laktyushina, CND product expert

Everyone liked this idea. In order not to lose customers, other brands began to produce similar products. Professionals say “permanent manicure”, but among the people “shellac manicure” has taken root, which was picked up by many salons and called the procedure in their price lists.

Under shellac, nails grow quite quickly, so the coating needs to be renewed every two weeks. It happens that the body rejects its components (cases have been recorded when gel polish simply fell off the nails). If this happens to you, try a manicure using gel or powder.

Strengthening nails

The composition of many gel polishes, in addition to the main substances that give it its characteristic properties, may include vitamins, minerals and other complexes that help strengthen natural nails.

A variety of designs can be created on artificial nails, and after strengthening your natural nails, you can choose a design for them.

During periods of rest from extended manicure, let your nails rest: take warm baths, adding essential oils, chamomile infusion, sea salt, etc. Rub the pharmaceutical preparation "Aevit" into your nails and cuticles, it moisturizes and strengthens them.

Don't forget about useful hand masks, which also strengthen your nails. They can be purchased at a cosmetic store or made at home by finding useful recipes on the Internet.

To summarize, we can say for sure that if you choose the right nail artist, nail extensions with gel polish are a fairly safe procedure that will help you always maintain the aesthetic beauty of your manicure.

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