Nail(ed) It
No, I’m not talking about talking about hardware. I’m talking about nail art!
I’ve always been a big fan of manicured nails. In high school, I had long natural nails that would get painted during any break from school. I was big on bright colors and multi-coloured digits back then. (see photos below for reference)
Throughout university I would occasionally paint my nails on the weekend and hope they could make it through the week (they never did). I never quite got into the acrylic craze because the very few times I tried it, it damaged my nails, irritated my skin and made even the simplest things tasks uncomfortable. It was decidedly not for me. I was also really impatient and hated sitting so long for them to be done only to end up smudging them minutes after leaving the salon (I usually did). So for the most part, my nails were kept short and neatly filed, but I always wanted a little razzle dazzle.
This desire for nail art continued into my early “career” years, by that time I had a little more “disposable income” and could afford the monthly pedicure and occasional manicure but I still struggled with patience and an aversion to acrylic so I still was missing out on the razzle dazzle my nails so clearly desired.
Fast forward to two years ago, I was scrolling through Instagram and I saw my regular nail salon post that they would now be offering dip nails…with tips!. Was this my chance for razzle dazzle? I went for very short tips in bright red with glitter. I can’t even imagine it now. Me? With red nails? I am sure it was around Christmas time, only excuse. The process was easy, quick, didn’t damage my natural nails and the best thing? They dried immediately! No smudging. We were finally getting somewhere!
My regular nail salon didn’t have many dip color options so I started exploring and ended up doing a dip with tips set with GetNailedJa. Shannon did an awesome job and I was sure that I had found my nail thing until about two weeks into the dip set I broke not one but two of the nails! This had me scrambling to find someone that could fix them because Shannon’s location wasn’t convenient enough for me to venture there during the week. I discovered SpaDateJA and the owner Mikaelia who were able to fix me up and also introduced me to gel polish. Gel polish on my natural nails solved my smudging problem but did not give me the added length and extra-ness that I so desired. It was also a little bit too harsh for my natural nails. Was all hope lost?
*cue the entrance of of Gel-X"*. Gel-X is a soft nail gel extension, the tips cover the entire nail bed from cuticle to free edge and you can choose from a variety of shapes. Almond and Coffin being my favourites. The length can also be adjusted based on preference. The nails feel natural, are durable and can last up to 6 weeks.
I’ve been wearing Gel-X sets, on and off for almost a year and I have zero complaints. Other than opening clasps on necklaces, there isn’t any task that I have been unable to do. I sometime cut or grate the side of a nail while cooking and I have had an unfortunate candle/melted nail incident but throughout it all, no chips and no smudges. In terms of colour, unlike my high school self, I tend to go for for neutrals and pastels but I think I might be branching out. I may have finally found the razzle dazzle I was looking for.
Check out some of my favourite sets below :-
Last but certainly not least, make sure to check out my nail tech, Mikaelia, she is awesome! You may not be able to venture out right now because of COVID19 but…scroll through her page for some nail art inspiration till then. I know that’s what I’m doing.
What’s your go to nail treatment? Also, how much have your nails grown out? We all in this struggle together.
Love and Light,
UltraRush