Nail Care

Preparing the Nail Before Any Color Goes On

Gel lifts at the edges when it is applied to a surface it cannot grip, and that is almost always a preparation problem rather than a product one. The nail plate needs to be dry and free of oil, and the cuticle area needs to be pushed back rather than cut, because gel that touches skin lifts first. Leaving a hairline margin of bare nail around the whole edge does more for wear time than any top coat. Capping the free edge, brushing a thin line of product across the tip, is what stops the color peeling back from the front.

Base Coat, Builder Gel and Color Do Different Jobs

These three are often used interchangeably and behave nothing alike. A base coat is thin and exists to bond color to the nail. A builder gel is thick and self leveling, and it exists to add strength or to rebuild an apex on a weak nail. A camouflage base sits between them, adding a tint while it structures. Using color without a base is the most common cause of staining, and using a builder gel where a base coat belongs makes removal much harder than it needs to be. Magnetic and cat eye polishes need a dark base underneath for the pattern to read at all.

Removing Gel Without Damaging the Nail Plate

Almost all nail damage attributed to gel happens at removal rather than during wear. Gel does not dissolve so much as release, and it needs time to do it. If a layer has to be scraped or forced, it has not soaked long enough, and forcing it takes nail plate with it. Filing off the top coat first lets the remover reach the layers beneath, which shortens the wait considerably. Builder gels are usually filed down rather than soaked, which is worth knowing before applying one.

Clippers, files and cuticle tools sit alongside the color in this collection rather than separately, and the wider routine this fits into is in Beauty. For scent applied at the end of a routine, start with Perfume.