Your nails say a lot about you. Short or long, square or oval, acrylics, gels, shellac or natural, whatever you go for make sure they're always perfectly polished by taking a trip to your nearest nail salon!
Nail salons and nail bars are the beauty salons entirely dedicated to nail care and nail treatments. Nail technicians are here to take care of the health and beauty of your hands and feet, what’s not to love! They will usually offer an array of nail treatments to choose from:
A regular manicure or pedicure is a great option if you wish to have a quick filing, cuticles tidy and shaping of your nails before a polish in the colour of your choice. This is not a long lasting treatment but is great to keep the health of your nails and cuticles in check and if you are a bit indecisive about which colour to go for, this option means you are not stuck with the same colour for 2 weeks as it is safe to remove at home with nail polish remover!
If you’re a bit bored of your regular mani, you can always jazz it up with some mean nail art. It can be as simple and understated as a small colour dot on a nude manicure to a bold set of studded nails. Keeping the colours as vivid or muted as you want is just a question of taste and lifestyle!
On your way to holidays or just after a longer lasting solution than your basic manicure or pedicure? Gel polishes like Shellac or Gellux are a great option. They will usually look shiny and stay pristine for up to 2 weeks at which point you should book an appointment at your salon to remove your gel nails. Peeling them off or removing them at home runs the risk of damaging your nail beds which will leave you with weakened unhealthy nails.
Those of us who are looking for longer and lasting nails need to book themselves for some nail extensions and/or acrylics. Acrylic nails and hard gel nails give you the possibility to add length to your natural nail by sculpting a nail overlay with the base, this can also be done by adding nail tips. Hard gels and acrylics will last two weeks before they grow out and leave a gap at the base of your nail. You can then book an appointment for nail infills where the nail technician will check if there is no lifting, strip the shiny coat of colour and fill the regrowth part of the nail before reapplying colour. You can also choose to take them off, to let your nail breathe and strengthen, just like for other gel polish manicures and pedicures, the removal process should always be done in a salon, by a nail technician.
Whichever nail treatment you choose, apply cuticle oil daily and massage it into your nails to ensure they grow nice and strong. It is also always good to let your nails breathe and rest in between manicures and remember to take your pedicures off regularly… there is nothing worse than yellow nails!
