http://www.mahoodsculpture.com/sculptures-hair-salon/
getting nails done at the salon????
I have always maintained my natural fingernails, but since on a different medication, have noticed they’ve become brittle and need some work.
So…..
Can anyone tell me the differences between these services offered for fake nails?:
1) acrylic
2) gel
3) pink and white full set
4) sculptured
The above four is what my salon I go to for my hair offers. Can anyone recommend which is best and why?
Thanks much!
1) Acrylics are made from the combination of a monomer(the liquid), and a polymer (the powder). When combined, they form a resin which is than applied, and shaped to resemble a fingernail. This resin hardens rather quickly – in just a few minutes, but it takes about 24-48 hours to fully ‘cure.’ Good things: Acrylic is durable, and can be used in many ways. For example, there a many, many different colors of acrylic available. Also, things like glitter, mylar, and more can be added to make a beautiful set of nails. No need to only get one, or two colors because there are MANY possibilities when it comes to acrylic. Take a look at these nails for example:
http://www.christiesnails.com/glitters.htm
http://www.christiesnails.com/greatnails.htm
(click on a pic to enlarge it)
The downside is that acrylics can cause allergic reactions in some people. This usually happens when an unskilled tech applies the acrylic sloppily, and it comes in contact with your skin, or seeps through the nailplate because it is too wet of a mixture. Eventually, this can cause contact dermatitis. Once you have that, you cannot get acrylic nails anymore. Some people get it within a few weeks of having their first set of acrylics, some a few, or many years after – yet many never get it. Plus the odor of the chemicals used bothers some people a great deal.
2) Gel nails are made from chemicals very similar to acrylic nails. They are from the same acrylic family. But gels are always in a ‘gel’ form. Gel is NEVER a powder. Watch out for scams where they will apply liquid & powder on your nails, apply a uv topcoat, then charge you for gel nails. If you have ANY liquid & powder applied to your nails, you have acrylic nails, not gel nails. Gels are normally UV gels, meaning that they must be ‘cured’ under a special ultraviolet lamp after each and every layer of gel is applied for about 2 minutes each cure.
The good things about gels are that they are non-toxic, the are durable and flexible – meaning less breakage and lifting, the can be applied quite thin to make a very realistic looking nail, and they are odorless, and if they use top quality products, they are also non-yellowing – plus they have a great shine to them, and you can go longer between fills. Always make sure that the tech is using nothing but the very best products on your nails. Avoid the discount salons. They always use inferior, and cheap products to save money. The bad things: I cannot think of anything really bad about gels except for one thing. Gels are non-porous, so when cured, nothing will penetrate their surface. This means that they cannot be soaked off in pure acetone in the same way as acrylics are removed. You can sit there with your nails dipped in acetone all day long and you won’t do any damage to them. There are some exceptions to that rule however, but very few: Recently, some gel companies have developed gels which can indeed be soaked off. But, I find that those are rarely used, and not as good in terms of quality. Gels must be filed off by a highly skilled technician. An unskilled tech can ruin your nails by overfiling, and removing a good portion of your natural nails along with the gels. Not good!
3) A P&W full set can be done either in acrylic, or gel. Its just a way to describe the colors which are used in the application. You have a pink color applied to the nailbed – there are many shades of pink available, and your free edge (the extension) is white. There are also several shades of white available in both gel, and acrylic form – some bright white, some more subtle of a white. This is often done by the tech applying white, plastic ‘tips’ to your nails, and covering that with a clear gel, or acrylic to provide support and strength. In my opinion, the best way to have a set of P&W – either gel, or acrylic, is to sculpt them, and soooo….
4) Sculpting is when the tech applies a ‘form’ to your fingertip. The form has an adhesive backing and it will stay attached to your fingertip so that the tech can apply the gel or acrylic. The difference is that no plastic tips are used. Instead, the white is literally ‘sculpted’ onto your nails on top of the nail form.
For more information, use this link to locate articles that may be of interest to you:
http://www.beautytech.info/articles/index.htm
I hope this helps!
(Sorry so long!)
Hair Saloon Mechanical Explanation