By Francesca Claybrook
Picture this: you just had a nice, relaxing manicure but the minute you walk in the door you look down and realize that, yup, you’ve already managed to chip it. But there are new products on the market that are aiming to change that (Shellac or Axxium by OPI are two examples). These gel/polish mixtures give you the same shiny manicure that you’re used to, but it won’t chip or crack like regular polishes because of the way they are applied – by using an ultraviolet light that essentially cures the polish into the nail. It seems that taking the polish off is kind of tricky because you have to apply pads with acetone or a special remover for 10 to 25 minutes, and afterwards there can even be crumbs of gel the manicurist has to scrape off (yes, it’s hard to take this manicure off yourself). Some drawbacks: as mentioned, these products must be applied and usually removed by professionals, and because the manicure lasts so long, you’re stuck with the same color for almost 2 weeks, which could be a problem for color commitment-phobes (or ideal, for those who have their tried and true favorites). Also due to the long-lasting nature of these gel polishes, you’ll see new growth at your nail beds before you get chips in the polish (again, is that really that bad?). I admit I’m really curious about all this, but I haven’t had the chance to get a gel manicure yet – how about you? Got any feedback? What did you think?