Shh! Anti-agers no one but you need to know about: Can you really do gel nails without a salon visit?
- An anonymous reader asks which at-home gel nail kit to use without a salon
- DIY gel nails aren’t safe — and you should leave to professionals in salons
- Top manicurist and industry expert Marian Newman gave her substitute instead
Q I’d like to buy an at-home gel nail kit as I still can’t go the salon. Which would you recommend?
A None! I know gel manis are hard to be without once you get hooked on them, but DIY gel nails aren’t safe — period. ‘Gels contain potential irritants — meth- acrylate monomers — that must never touch the skin,’ says top manicurist and industry expert Marian Newman.
‘If skin is exposed repeatedly, it can develop an allergy that may result in a nasty rash anywhere on the body, or your nails could come loose.’
Inge Van Lotringen (pictured) spoke to top manicurist and industry expert Marian Newman about DIY gel nails
She says gel polishes must have a low level of monomers, while the UV lamps that ‘cure’ (dry) them (which should come as a matched system with the polishes) must be powerful enough to dry the gels thoroughly. If not, the risk of contact allergy remains.
‘The price of online DIY kits makes that quality impossible,’ says Marian. She also warns that the risk returns when you soak off the gels: ‘As they soften they, again, must never touch the skin!’
So please, leave this job to the qualified pros with top-of-the-range kit.
Top manicurist and industry expert Marian Newman said DIY gel manicures are not safe
While you wait for salons to open once more, Marian recommends painting your own with CND Vinylux Nail Polishes, £8.95 at nailpolishdirect.co.uk, or using press-on nails with sticky tabs, not glue.
Replace the tabs every three days to keep your nails healthy, then just re-use the artificial nails.
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