Hi all! Tanyusha is with you, in this article we will look at all possible reasons for gel polish peeling. Unfortunately, this problem occurs quite often. And, undoubtedly, many are interested in why gel polish chips at the ends or comes off at the cuticle, and sometimes even peels off like a film. Gel polish does not stay on nails for many reasons, and here I will try to talk about all the ones I know, as well as what to do to solve the problem and finally get a truly long-lasting coating at home.
To begin with, it is worth saying that a high-quality gel polish coating should be worn without chipping or peeling for at least two weeks , regardless of the manufacturer. If you have less wear time, then it’s worth looking for the causes of detachment. All of them can be divided into 2 large groups:
- due to incorrect application technique
- or due to the characteristics of the body and, in particular, the nail plate.
You can also highlight separately the nature of the detachments :
- Sometimes gel polish chips at the tips of the nail (ends),
- it happens that it moves away from the cuticle,
- Well, in the worst case, the coating peels off like a film, which usually happens on the second or third day and clearly indicates problems with the application technique.
Why does gel polish on nails swell and wrinkle in the lamp?
There may be several reasons for this phenomenon.
The most important of them:
- This is insufficient defatting. Most likely, on the nails, in the place where the bubble appeared, there is a layer of fat that got in when applying hand cream, before applying the coating, or if the technique was not followed.
- Perhaps the surface of the nail is not completely degreased. Swollen areas appear after applying primer or touching lips, hair or facial skin with nails. This caused particles of fat to appear on the nails.
- The cause of blisters on nails is pigmented compounds. Typically, varnishes that contain a lot of pigment cannot dry in a lamp within a certain period of time. Such compositions must be applied in very thin layers, carefully listening one by one.
- Insufficient lamp power. This usually happens with ultraviolet devices in which the bulbs are not replaced in a timely manner. That is, if your lamps are dim and don’t shine well, then highly pigmented varnish can easily swell. The lamp power is simply not enough to dry the coating.
- Incorrect placement of the nail in the lamp. Most often this happens on the thumbs, when all five fingers dry out at the same time. This way, the thumb is at an angle, and at the beginning of drying, a drop of gel polish simply rolls into the area of the inclination. This results in a large accumulation of gel polish that simply does not have time to dry. As a result of this, swelling on the nails appears.
Beautiful coating
What is the wear time of the coating?
If the gel was applied correctly, the coating can last you a whole month! However, experts recommend removing it no later than after 15 days so that it does not harm the plate. Such a “dense” and heavy varnish is still a burden on your nails. In addition, they grow enough during this time. You don't want your hands to look unkempt, do you? But the regrown gel gives them just such a look! By the way, the brighter and more saturated the color of the coating, the more noticeable that the nails have grown. So this varnish doesn’t look neat for very long – at best, a week.
If you need to go longer with the gel (the same recommended two weeks), choose light colors or translucent pink shades.
Also, nails sometimes need a break from gel polish. It is better to take a break every 3 procedures. During your “rest”, use medicinal varnishes and make restorative baths and nail masks. After a couple of weeks of this treatment, you can apply the gel again.
The beauty of your nails, first of all, depends on you. If the coating peels off, make sure you're doing it right. Just follow our advice, and then your manicure with gel polish will last you a long time and will make you happy every day!
What to do if the gel polish is wrinkled?
How to fix the situation? There is no need to completely redo your manicure. It is enough to cover normal nails with a top coat to complete the design. And those nails on which bubbles and swellings have appeared must be treated and the lesions removed. This is best done with a pusher or file. Please note that the cutter may become clogged with this sticky substance.
Next, you need to remove any remaining dust with a brush and wipe the nail with a degreaser. After this, gel polish is applied. There is no need to re-prep the nail, apply primer, degreaser and base. Gel polish is immediately applied, and after drying it is covered with a layer of top coat.
Preparing nails for coating
It plays a big role in the durability of the manicure. First, you need to polish your nails a little, since even the smallest roughness or pits will negatively affect the integrity of the varnish layer. Secondly, you need to push back the cuticle and remove the built-up layer of keratinized skin cells at the base of the nail, for which you should use a special manicure spatula, as on the page https:///katalog/lopatki-dlya-manikyura-i-pedikyura
This is easier to do after softening the cuticle, but do not use water for this, as it will temporarily expand the nails. As the varnish dries, they will begin to narrow and the coating will become deformed. It is better to use a special oil or regular vegetable oil. Thirdly, before painting, it is necessary to degrease the nail plate to ensure an even, smooth coating - the coloring composition may get a little stuck in fat. For degreasing, you can use acetone liquid or weak white vinegar.
Why does gel polish peel off at the cuticle?
There are several reasons, they are the fault of the master and occur when the technique of applying gel polish is not followed.
Causes:
- Incomplete removal of pterygium from nails. That is, when the base is located on the pterygium, it gradually grows and a pocket or detachment is formed
- A little gel polish got on the cuticle. Thus, detachments cannot be avoided
- The shine was not removed from the nail using a file or router
- The nail was not degreased or primer was applied. Because of this, there is no normal adhesion between the nail and the artificial material, so it peels off
Gel polish did not dry out
Correct application
The first thing you should pay attention to is applying the base. It should not get on the skin, but it should completely cover the area where the color will be. Otherwise, the gel polish may peel off.
Be sure to strengthen soft, springboard-shaped nails. Without strengthening, gel polish will not last long. Strengthening the nail plate can be done using acrygel, single-phase gel or acrylic powder.
There are often problems with the base “creeping” from the cuticle, side rollers and ends; this is due to the tendency of this polymer to shrink. To reduce this effect, you need to apply the base with a medium drop and dry one finger at a time in the lamp.
Having learned how to correctly diagnose the condition of a client’s nails and identify the causes of gel polish peeling, you will be able to do long-term manicures.
This will allow you to expand your base of regular customers who will come to you. Tatyana Sorokina master of manicure and pedicure
Gel polish chips off the ends: what to do?
Causes:
- Chips in the end area appear as a result of improper processing or the use of low-quality materials.
- At the ends, chips appear if you did not seal the free edge, that is, you did not coat the cut with base, gel polish, and then top coat. At each stage it is necessary to coat this area, that is, seal it.
- Most often, chips and cracks at the end are formed due to the low ductility of the material and excessive softness of the nails. There are very soft nails on which gel polish does not last more than a week, but you can use high-quality, professional materials, following all the rules and techniques.
Chips at the ends
Strengthening with acrylic powder:
- This is due to the fact that the coating is not so plastic and does not adhere to the nails, it shrinks, and along with it, it chips. In this case, it is necessary to make the nail more rigid. Several options can be used for these purposes. This is strengthening with acrylic powder, acrygel or polygel.
- The fact is that the gel itself is a fairly soft material and mobile. That is, it can shrink along with the nail. Nothing will happen if the material is sufficiently plastic. If the plasticity is low, cracks and chips appear.
- To avoid this, it is necessary to carry out strengthening. The simplest method, suitable for use at home, is strengthening with acrylic powder. To do this, you need to prepare the nail, do a manicure, remove the pterygium, cuticle, and clean the area of the side ridges.
- After this, apply dehydrator, primer, bonder, base. Before placing it in the lamp, you need to sprinkle the undried base with acrylic powder without color, that is, transparent. After this, the nails are dried in a lamp, the remaining powder is removed with a brush and covered again with a base.
- This layer of acrylic powder is a reinforcing frame that will hold the gel polish on the nails and prevent cracks and chips. Of course, the quality of materials matters, so we recommend using products from well-known brands that have proven themselves well.
Strengthening nails with acrylic powder
Selection of low-quality materials
Detachment of the nail due to incompatibility of manicure products with each other
- Incompatibility of funds with each other . Detachment of one layer from another occurs due to different viscosity and plasticity of the materials. To avoid these troubles, make sure that you are not purchasing a fake, but a real brand product.
- Violation of storage conditions . Often the quality of manicure products deteriorates irrevocably due to violations of the storage conditions of the materials. Coatings lose their properties and quickly peel off during wear.
Why does gel polish peel off at the base and cuticle: what to do?
It often happens that after applying gel polish, you end up with a beautiful manicure that is not particularly soft. But after a couple of days it peeled off from the base. The main reason is insufficient drying. Perhaps you did not withstand enough time or the lamp power was low. Therefore, when using pigmented coatings that are quite dense and viscous, we recommend using a 48 W hybrid lamp. This device dries absolutely all gels, gel polishes, shellacs, as well as substances that dry under UV rays.
Please note that some gel polishes do not dry well in ice lamps or, conversely, do not dry in ultraviolet devices. Therefore, you should carefully read the information on the packaging, you may have come across just such a product. If this happens and you feel empty inside when you press on the nail, this means that the material has peeled off from the base. This happened due to the fact that it did not dry out completely, and only the top layer of coating was baked.
Grown-out gel polish
The bottom layer remained sticky and not dry. In this case, it is necessary to soak the coating using a special product or remove it using a file or cutter. Once the coating is completely removed, it will be necessary to restore it again using all the technology. In order to prevent peeling next time, we recommend applying the product in very thin layers and drying it in a lamp for a longer period of time. Only then apply the next layer.
Another reason why gel polish may come off the nail plate after a few days is the use of very hot water. After visiting the salon for 24 hours, many masters recommend refraining from washing dishes, going to the bathhouse, or sauna. If you have a general cleaning the next day after you have done your manicure, you should wash and clean with gloves so as not to expose the gel polish coating to aggressive substances. Because it remains fixed on the nail within 24 hours.
Removing the sticky layer
Preventing peeling
In order for your manicure to last as long as possible, you need to take care of it. What should I do for this? Read below!
Care products
Gel polish can be maintained in good condition using special products. These include cuticle oils , as well as nourishing hand and nail creams . There are also professional gels for caring for this coating.
In principle, any natural cosmetic oil does not destroy gel polish, so you can use your usual cuticle care product. It can be pure coconut, almond, peach, shea butter or regular castor oil - whatever you like.
If you still decide to purchase a ready-made care product, then look for the following components in its composition:
- aloe extract;
- vitamins A and E;
- sage essential oil.
Remember that such products need to be applied daily! Same as hand cream. The latter, by the way, is recommended to be used at least twice a day.
Wearing a covering: basic rules and recommendations
To prevent the gel from peeling off prematurely, just follow these tips!
- For the first two hours after a manicure, I don’t wash my hands at all. The coating has not yet fully hardened on the plate, and water can harm it.
- For two days after your manicure, refrain from taking a hot bath. Long contact with water, especially at high temperatures, is undesirable for the gel in the first days.
- When working with household chemicals, be sure to wear rubber gloves! In general, when doing any housework, do not neglect this rule: this way you will keep your hands neat and well-groomed.
- Do not change the length and shape of your painted nails! Simply put, don't use a file or scissors. Otherwise, you will remove the sealed edge of the nail plate, and, accordingly, speed up the peeling of the coating. The same thing will happen if you use your nails to open various objects or simply knock them on hard surfaces. Give up this habit once and for all: it leads to fragility.
- Protect your hands from temperature changes: wear gloves in cold weather, and it is better to avoid visiting a bathhouse or sauna altogether (until you remove the covering).
Failure to follow these recommendations is the main mistake that ruins the manicure, even if it was done correctly! So pay attention to them.
Why does gel polish peel off at the side rollers, what should I do?
The main reason is that you did not prepare the nail plate correctly.
Reasons for the appearance of detachments on the side ridges:
- The base did not get into this area and part of the nail was left bare. Accordingly, when gel polish gets on this area, it simply peels off.
- The base got on the cuticle, so a detachment appeared due to the growth of the pterygium.
- The area near the side ridges was poorly treated during the manicure and the pterygium was not removed, so the base and gel polish fell directly on it.
- Incorrect selection of material. Please note that some manufacturers make base and gel polish, as well as top coat, specifically for artificial turf. That is, for acrylic and acrygel. This type of coating has an excellent mirror effect and creates beautiful highlights. But the coating is not very plastic, that is, hard, something like glass. This way, the coating will come off the nails during housework and cleaning. After all, the nail in these areas, due to its natural softness, becomes deformed and bends. But the material, due to lack of plasticity, does not move with the nail and chips off it. Therefore, choose the right varnishes for coating, and do not purchase a product for artificial nails.
- Insufficient drinking. Perhaps in this area you did not reach with a file and did not process it well, and did not remove the shine from the nail. In this case, there will definitely be detachments. Therefore, in the cuticle area, we recommend using a bullet or flame cutter, which does an excellent job of removing the cuticle, pterygium, as well as the upper shiny layer of the nail in the area of the side ridges. Where it is quite difficult to get to with a file.
The gel polish did not dry out and chipped.
To avoid peeling on the nails after applying gel polish, it is necessary to use high-quality materials, properly treat the nail, and apply the coating in thin layers. With a little practice, you can create the perfect manicure without chipping or peeling at home.
Types of varnish peelings
Most often, women complain about such damage to an expensive manicure as peeling of varnish at the tips of the nails (at the ends), especially if the nails are given a square shape, gel polish coming off near the cuticle, or complete peeling of the coating along the entire nail plate . In the latter case, it can be easily removed as a single film, even without the use of special manicure removers. Such troubles most often occur at the end of the coating’s wearing period and signal that it’s time to go to a new meeting with your favorite master. But if it happened much earlier, then something went wrong.
Reasons for chipping of gel-based coating on the tips
The causes of chipped ends most often lie in poor technique and improper care:
- The layer is not sealed at the end. Some masters are guilty of this, especially when they work with short lengths. If you don't paint the end, the coating will probably start to chip.
- Sometimes clients apply the layer themselves when they adjust their clothes, pick up the phone, or put their hand under a lamp.
- Improper care after the procedure makes the manicure short-lived. It is better to avoid water for several hours before and after the procedure, but many girls neglect this.
- Gel polish is a fairly durable material, but it cannot withstand severe or frequent mechanical damage. Impacts or scratches damage the integrity of the coating.
- You cannot adjust the length or file the nail yourself, otherwise the coating may crack.
- Thin nails will probably break off under gel polish, thereby causing chips.
