Nail Biz Artificial Nail Types

The Business of Nails
NAIL-BIZ by the Dragon

Acrylic Also often referred to as sculptured nails. They are made by combining a liquid acrylic product (called a monomer) with a powdered acrylic product (called a polymer).

The liquid monomer is a chemical made up of small molecules that are not attached to one another. The powdered polymer is a chemical made up of molecules that are attached to one another in long strands or chains. When combined, and with the help of a catalyst (an ingredient that is also mixed in with the powder) the products cure or harden in a chemical reaction known as polymerization.

Acrylic nails are very durable and have the best resistance to moisture. Nail techs are widely available with the experience and skills to create acrylic nails and there is a wide range of prices for acrylic nail services.
As with all forms of artificial nails, as your natural nail grows out, a gap in the artificial nails begins to appear up near the cuticle. This gap needs to be repaired every two weeks. This repair is know as a fill or as a fill-in or when in the most professional procedure, as a re-balance.

The summary on acrylics is that they are very durable, very available in most any location you may live, and considered to be the most artificial or fake looking of the artificial nails. Low cost acrylics are the basic service of discount nail shops, as they are with traditional nail salons. And now a days, most traditional nail salons are also quite low priced and have the additional benefit of offering more elaborately designed acrylics nails and acrylic nails applied in permanent colors .... known as pink and whites.

Gel Gels nails are actually a different type of acrylic product, with quite different properties and appearance.

A gel is brushed onto the surface of your natural nail somewhat as the acrylic would be, but with the gel nail the catalyst or curing is done in a separate step. They are light-cured gels and no-light gels. Light-cured gels are usually cured by holding your fingertips under a special light, sometimes a halogen light, but most light-cured gels are cured using an ultraviolet light .... and are commonly called UV-Gels. No-light cured gels are cured or hardened by spraying or brushing on a gel activator or in some cases, by dipping into water.

Gel nails are strong and durable, through perhaps just a shade less strong and durable than acrylic nails. Gel nails are beautiful natural looking nail treatments and if applied correctly, do not have an artificial appearance.
Fewer nail techs are widely available with the experience and skills to create gel nails. Be advised that gel nails have never been widely offered by discount nail shops, but now that consumer demand is rising for gel nails, the discount shops are starting to use cheaper, easier to apply imitations of gel nails. But caution, while gel imitations cost the higher price of gels, they are not the same. Do not pay for gel nails, but only receive a thin gel coating spread on top of an acrylic nail.

As with all forms of artificial nails, as your natural nail grows out, a gap in the artificial nails begins to appear up near the cuticle. This gap needs to be repaired every two weeks. This repair is know as a fill or as a fill-in or when in the most professional procedure, as a re-balance.

Wrap Wraps are a surface covering of material .... most often the material is silk, or linen, or fiberglass. They are sometimes called overlays. They are small nail size pieces of material that are bonded or glued to the surface of your natural nail

A silk wrap is strong and lightweight and very thin and smooth. It looks very natural.

A linen wrap is thicker and less smooth than silk. It is a strong wrap and long lasting.

All wraps have a natural appearance and all wraps are less durable than gels and acrylics and all wraps have less moisture resistance than gels and acrylics.

So this information is basic and meant for consumers, not nail techs .... so your next question may be 'where should I go for nail services?'

No easy answer You may hear that the discount shops, operated mainly by immigrants, have so many problems with improper licensing and sanitation and safety ..... well through there are two sides to the debate, I cannot advise you to patronize a discount nail shop.

On the other hand, although American nail techs have quite a bit less of a problem with improper licensing and sanitation and safety ..... I also cannot make a blanket statement such as avoid discount shops and go to an American born nail tech.

Here is the advice I can give. It is not the best advice and I hope that conditions in the future will make the choice or where to go for nail services easier.
You see a friend, a neighbor, a relative, a co-worker, whose nails look good. You ask them where do they go for their nails. You also ask them if their nail tech does things to avoid ... like ever hurt their nails, like using files and tools used on a previous customer without cleaning them. Like not answering any questions about what they are doing to your nails and why they are doing it to your nails. You ask if them if their nail tech does things to seek out .... like have a photograph nail tech license, like having a clean table and washing their hands and your hands before beginning the service, like using a bottle of that blue stuff to cleanse the instruments .... (not just having a blue bottle sitting there for show, but actually using it to disinfect) ...
..... do a little research ..... use some common sense ..... and be aware that 'consumer beware' is in effect.

Then you try the nail tech out .... and judge for yourself if they satisfy you... or if you need to keep looking.

By the way, price should not be a factor in finding the right nail tech. One nail tech may do a great job for $15, another may be unsafe and terrible for $15. The same can sometimes be true in the high range .... one nail tech may be safe and terrible for $40, while another may do a great job for $40. BUT IF you must factor price into your search for a satisfying nail tech, then also factor in that old saying 'that you generally get what you pay for'.

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