Why Natural Nails Need Protection
Sometimes we meet women who wish to wear their natural nails, without any product.
They’re so sick and tired of having thin and brittle nails, not to mention crappy manicures that start chipping and lifting within a week, that they’ve resigned themselves to having nothing on their nails.
These women want to free themselves from frustrating nail salon experiences once and for all.
We get it.
But wearing natural nails without any protection is a bad idea with damaged nails. And reacting to frustrating nail experiences by having nothing on your nails can really come back to bite you.
“You’re a nail professional. Of course you would want me to have something on my nails.”
You have every right to feel this way, based on your previous nail experiences. Given the little information most nail salons communicate before proceeding with a nail drill, we’re sure almost all women would feel this way too.
But what if we told you that at Atelier Anaiis, we specifically take on clients who wish to just wear their natural nails?
That we help clients whose sole purpose of coming to us is to recover from nail damage so they can have healthy and strong natural nails?
That we don’t trap clients in a cycle of nail damage, so they can’t ever leave?
That would change things wouldn’t it?
Here’s what one current client wrote to us, before she committed to healing her nails.
“I have very weak nails due to 12 years of gel manicures. I go very consistently and use high quality products but I am looking to fully move away from gel and wear my natural nails. However, I need them to strengthen significantly in a natural way.”
Using this as our jumping off point, let’s discuss the road to eventually wearing your natural nails.
The Road Map to Wearing Natural Nails
At our Philadelphia nail care studio, we help women grow healthy and strong natural nails.
Whether they intend to maintain the manicured look with beautiful colors or plan to eventually wear their natural nails by themselves, the road map is the same:
Heal nail damage first. Then you gain the freedom to choose.
The Frustration with Gel
Let’s focus on the first sentence from our client before she began her nail care journey, “I have very weak nails due to 12 years of gel manicures.”
You’ve probably heard this sentiment: that gel manicures lead to weak nails. Maybe you’ve experienced it yourself.
And we agree with you – specific parts of the gel manicure process lead to weak nails.
To dive deeper into this discussion, we first need to share how we think of gel manicures at Atelier Anaiis.
Here, we believe there are three main components to a great gel manicure: removal, prep, and curing.
Gel Removal: Where Most Nail Damage Happens
The weak nails that clients talk about is most often a result of how gel manicures are removed.
At most nail salons, removal is done with nail drills. For the salon, nail drills are quick and powerful, shaving tons of time from each appointment.
Shorter appointments lead to quicker turnaround times, meaning that these businesses are able to attract more clients at cheaper prices.
The problem is that this approach completely disregards the clients’ nail health. How?
Nail drills are one of the leading causes of thin nails, brittle nails, and peeling nails.
This means that every client who has experience with E-files likely already has nail damage.
Gel, once cured properly, does not leach into the natural nails’ keratin layers. It simply sits on top, shielding the natural nails.
So we gently reframe this as, “I have very weak nails due to 12 years of nail drills being used on me.”
In our experience, when we ask clients about gel removal in the past, 100% of the time they acknowledge that nail drills have been used on them.
And that’s a guaranteed straight shot to weak nails, every time.
Nail Prep: Why Gel Manicures Peel Within Days
If removal is where most nail damage happens in gel manicures, nail prep is on the opposite end of the spectrum: absolutely necessary and mostly missing.
When we talk about nail prep, we don’t just mean clipping the nails or buffing the nail plate. We’re talking about the beating heart of Nail Care – the treatment of nail walls and hangnails.
Damaged skin and hangnails don’t magically disappear on their own. They need to be gently removed and treated so the body can heal those areas efficiently and completely.
The reason most gel manicures last just a week to ten days is because of this lack of nail care. Left on their own, the damaged skin and hangnails begin pulling on the gel layer as it grows out, making it vulnerable and causing it to split and peel.
Treating hangnails and damaged skin absolutely matters for how long manicured nails last and in turn, how healthy and strong your natural nails will become.
Because for you to comfortably wear your natural nails without gel, they need to be healthy and strong. They need to give you peace of mind.
It would certainly be frustrating if your nails bothered you every time you touched something, right?
So we gently reframe the original sentence as, “I have very weak nails due to 12 years without any professional nail care.”
Gel Curing: Why Most Manicures Fail as Protection
At our Atelier in Philadelphia, we view gel manicures as protection.
Protection from bumps, cuts, and accidents. Protection so your natural nails can regrow undisturbed.
This approach is the polar opposite of traditional nail salons that view manicures as short-term decoration.
The protective feature of True Nail Care mainly happens when the gel is applied and cured.
Most nail salons treat curing as “set it and forget it.”
This is how gel manicures routinely get totally overcured or grossly undercured. Either way, the robustness and literal strength of gel manicures fly out the window.
That’s why we take individualizing curing times for every single client so seriously. Because done right, it creates a shield that will protect your natural nails for three to four weeks at a time, undisturbed.
So that they can reshape and regrow to be strong and resilient natural nails. Natural nails that can be worn without anything, by themselves.
So we gently reframe, “I have very weak nails due to 12 years of suboptimal curing.”
