It's official, I'm addicted. I've had gel nail polish done 3 times now since early July, and I honestly can't see myself using 'normal' nail varnish any more. Firstly it's a bore to put on and I ALWAYS smudge it half an hour after having it done, secondly it only lasts 3-5 days, and thirdly, I tend to buy nail varnishes and then get bored of them so the £18 spent on the latest 'must-have' Chanel colour ends up being a bit of a waste...
My local salon offers Jessica GELeration polish manicures, where the gel polish is applied as normal, and then 'cured' (I'm sure that's not the technical term) under a UV lamp. I'm not going to describe the process in intimate detail as I haven't paid enough attention, but they basically wipe the nails with primer, apply a base, then an optional 'build' layer which makes the nails a little thicker, followed by 2 or 3 coats of your colour du choix on top, finished with a top coat. You can walk out of the salon straight away, and the colour is rock 'ard and good to do battle with your coat zip, shoe buckles, rummaging in your handbag, whatever, without risk of smudging or flaking. Huzzah!
It lasts for 3-4 weeks on me, before my nails have grown so much that the gap between my cuticle and the polish gets too hideous for my liking. Perhaps if I stopped taking hair and nail vitamins, they might last longer...? No chips, no cracks, no smudges, no flakes. It's uh-mazing. I've done housework (well, a little...) and all sorts.
Here's my current colour - the first photo was taken 1 day after application, and today's photo on the right shows my nails 2 days short of 4 weeks after the original application:
I'd say the only drawbacks to the gel nail polish process are that the colours to choose from are limited (at my salon at least), and the removal process is a little laborious. You need neat acetone, which you can get cheaply from the chemist - I think it's about £1.20. I'd like to say 'from any chemist', but the Lloyds Pharmacy at the end of my road doesn't stock it as apparently people mis-use it...! You have to dunk your nails in it for about 10 minutes to soften it, and then scrape it off. You're supposed to use an orange stick, but I use my fingernails - ooer... I like to leave a few days between removing it and having a new colour put on, so my nails aren't going straight from one set of chemicals to another. Although my friend Gaby is horrified that I use acetone at all, as she says the body absorbs it and can't get rid of it. Hmm...
For any Reading-ites who are tempted to try gel nail polish, I really recommend Gemma at The Beach on the Oxford Road, and it costs £35 :)
