Is gel polish really bad for your nails?

• 3 min reading time

You probably also have a friend, colleague or acquaintance who says that you better not use gel polish because it is so bad for your nails. Sound familiar, right? And maybe you yourself also think that it is true.

Test gel polish

From the very first moment I was sold. It doesn't dry while you're painting, so you can take your time to paint neatly. (It took some getting used to that you really have to paint very thinly by the way). But the biggest advantages were of course that I didn't have to wait for my nail polish to dry and that it stayed beautiful for at least 2 to 3 weeks.

Because I started out too thickly and occasionally messed with my cuticles, it didn't stay on properly and air got underneath. And what did I do? Exactly, what everyone does...picking. I pulled the gel polish off my nails. In retrospect, this was very stupid of course, because that is really bad for your nails, because you always pull off a few layers of the nail plate. And if you do it that way every few weeks, your nails do indeed become thinner. Only then it is not because of the gel polish, but because I did not remove the gel polish in the right way and therefore damaged my nails.

I had also read that I had to roughen the nails first so I filed them completely dull. That also removes layers of your nail plate. So don't do it. Just lightly with a buffer over the nail is enough and with the right preparation and products even that is no longer necessary these days.

Once I understood how to apply the polish better, it lasted longer and I wasn't tempted to pick it off anymore.

Removing gel polish

Then I tried to soak off the gel polish. But I also did that the wrong way at first, which made it take way too long. When I removed the foils after about 10 minutes, I could easily remove part of the gel polish. But the rest was still stuck and I tried to loosen it with my cuticle pusher. You get the idea...this is not the right way of course.

When removing with foil, a few things are important. Start by filing off the topcoat. It is also important to put enough remover on the wipe. And the most important, make sure you wrap the foil tightly around your fingertip, so that the wipe presses on the nail and can work well on the gel polish. If necessary, you can also clamp nail clips on it.

Another way to remove gel polish is to file or mill it off. The danger of this is that you quickly file too far and therefore damage the nail.

Conclusion

Gel polish is not bad for your nails.

So what is bad for your nails?

• files on the nail plate
• peel or pull off gel polish
• try to scrape off the gel polish with a cuticle pusher
• filing too far when removing your gel polish.

Finally, if you have been wearing gel polish for a long time, you get used to the firmness of the product. If you then remove the gel polish and no longer have that firming layer on your nails, your nails will also feel a bit thinner. As long as you do everything to protect and care for your nails, you can wear gel polish with confidence.