A
nail polish that doesn't chip is basically the Holy Grail of mani-pedis
-- and the $6 billion nail salon industry claims to have found it in a
gel. Over the last couple of years, the gel manicure has grown in popularity: Two-thirds of salons now offer the service, which is supposed to provide the long wear of an acrylic without the accompanying nail damage.
Still, mixed in with all the hype are complaints that gel nails do still chip, the polish can only be taken off by visiting a salon and drowning one's fingers in acetone, and horror of horrors, the color selection is lacking. Worse yet, they may cause serious nerve damage and infections. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is (a gel manicure).
The Cost of Resilient Nails
A post
on the Consumer Reports blog in April may further deter would-be gel
adoptees. Neurologist Orly Avitzur, a medical advisor for Consumer
Reports who practices in New York, scared the bejeezus out of
salon-goers with the story of one of her patients. After visiting
several physicians who could find no explanation for the electric
shock-like pain the patient felt along her forearm every time she put
any pressure on her thumb, the patient turned up in Avitzur's clinic.
After taking a patient history, Avitzur concluded that the patient's gel
manicure had caused nerve damage.
"This is likely a rare occurrence," says Avitzur, "Still, I doubt the number of these cases is being tracked."
"This is likely a rare occurrence," says Avitzur, "Still, I doubt the number of these cases is being tracked."
According to Avitzur, there are several points in the gel process that could be associated with health risks. Improper use or overuse of a nail file to prepare the nail for layers of gel can expose sensitive skin to chemicals or infection. Also, some salons may be mixing acrylic products with gel products or purchasing cheap gel products from manufacturers with little quality control. One particularly dangerous ingredient, a chemical called methyl methacrylate, can cause shortness of breath and irritate the eyes and skin.
"This patient probably didn't have a true gel manicure," says Avitzur, "but I plan on avoiding them myself and would not recommend them to others at this point."
A Miniature Tanning Bed for Hands
Gel manicures also require drying with an ultra-violet, or UV, lamp
in between each coat and at the end to set the gel. The ultra-violet
light used in tanning beds has been associated with increased skin
cancer risk, but is there a risk with gel manicures?
"Most cancers on the hands are found in people with extensive sun exposure," says Zoe Draelos, a dermatologist in High Point, North Carolina, "It's the cumulative lifetime exposure to UV light that is the risk."
"Most cancers on the hands are found in people with extensive sun exposure," says Zoe Draelos, a dermatologist in High Point, North Carolina, "It's the cumulative lifetime exposure to UV light that is the risk."
A case study by Austin-based University of Texas researchers in the "Archives of Dermatology" in April 2009 reported that two women developed non-melanoma skin cancer - cancer that occurs in the outer layer of the skin - on the tops of their hands from exposure to nail lamps. Both women were middle-aged, otherwise healthy, and had no cancer history. This does not prove that UV nail lamps definitely cause skin cancer; larger clinical studies will be necessary to determine a link.
Still, Draelos recommends using UV nail lamps in as limited a fashion as possible.
Another option may be to look for a salon that uses LED (light
emitting diode) instead of UV dryers. This month, the New York
City-based Shizuka salon began using LED dryers made by the Japanese company Nail Labo.
To Gel or Not to Gel
For those who have their hearts set on a gel manicure, but would rather avoid the potential risks of nerve pain, cancer and fungal infections, there may be an alternative. This spring, a company called CND announced the first 'hybrid' gel manicure. Called "Shellac," the hybrid is a marriage between gel and traditional nail polish that may be more nail-friendly.
The treatment is only available at salons, but does not require the same level of skill to apply as a gel. Moreover, the process of removing the polish minimizes exposure to acetone.
Regardless of what type of manicure is desired, Avitzur says, "at the very least women should choose a well-established salon with experienced and licensed techs."
Amber Angelle is a freelance writer in Brooklyn, NY who cares entirely too much about what her nails look like.
What
polish colors were popular in the '30s, you ask? According to the
Painted Woman, "All reds — from rosy to deep crimson — were popular, of
course. But it isn't true that 'they' didn't wear pink in the 30s. Pinks
were very much seen, as were nice peachy-browns and tawny colors that
looked nice with suntans (the concept of changing one's make-up
according to the season was not unknown to 30s women). Cutex color
choices in 1932 were Natural, Rose, Coral, Cardinal, and Colorless.
Revlon colors introduced for the summer of 1935 included 'Sun Rose' and
'Chestnut.' Cutex named the 'smartest colors' for 1936 as Rose, Ruby,
and Rust...wild colors such as green, blue, black, and gold were indeed
available."
You're
going to need: hole reinforcers (you can use actual French manicure
stick-on guides, but hole reinforcers from a stationery shop are good
and cheap); a base coat of your choice (I use Nail Envy by OPI, an
allegedly "strengthening" and "nourishing" base coat, more out of
superstition/the conviction that at least it is not maybe hurting
my nails than out of any firm belief in its effectiveness); two colors
of polish; and a top coat of your choice (Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in my
case, your mileage mary vary); and polish remover. 
First,
prep for your manicure. The steps that come before the first stroke of
base coat go a long way to determining the durability of your polish.
Soak your hands and scrub any dead skin away. Tidy up your cuticles,
then clean, trim, and shape your nails. While this manicure looks
awesome with long, pointy old-fashioned style nails, keeping your nails
short decreases the likelihood of your polish chipping. Do not apply
any products containing oil to your skin or nails prior to your
manicure. Wait, I hear you saying, 'But...but...Jenna, polish can strip
your nails of moisture, and healthy nails=moisturized nails! How can I
moisturize my nails between drying manicures without, um, moisturizer?'
Here's what I do, when I can be bothered to remember: I remove my old
polish at night (most of the time I peel it off, I don't even use
remover, I'm so bad, bite me x2). Then I rub gobs of castor oil
all over my nails and cuticles, put socks over my hands, laugh at my
mitt-hands, pour a drink, laugh at myself trying to drink the drink with
my pathetic mitt-hands, think highly original thoughts about Edward-Scissorhands,
watch some Netflix, forget about everything else, and fall asleep. Next
morning, I remove the socks; no more mitt-hands. Whenever I get around
to painting my nails, my hands are moisturized, and I wash any residual
oil off with soap and water. Oil, if present, will interfere with the
adherence of the polish to your nail, causing chips. I believe this to
be true because my cousin, who does nails to put herself through
college, says so. She's 19 and a full-time student and the manager of the salon where she works, she knows from nails, okay. (Hi cousin!)
While
your polish is drying, trim your hole reinforcers into narrower curves.
(I mean, this step is optional, but I think having moons that are
scaled to the width of your individual nails makes sense,
aesthetically.) When your polish is completely dry, apply the
hole reinforcers to each nail. A good guide for moon depth is to have
the edge of the center hole hit right at your cuticle. 
Then
apply your main polish color. I went for a burgundy shade by Essie. I
chose not to leave the tip-stripes that some true '30s ladies had. You
do you. Now, I'll be completely honest: the hole reinforcers did
not work for me exactly as I'd hoped. I had some issues with incomplete
reinforcer-adherence, which led to some unfortunate seepage of the
burgundy onto the moons. I used remover on a Q-tip to clean up, and
lightly re-applied the pearl polish in a few instances. If you have a
steady hand, you could forgo guides, and paint the curves of your moons
freehand. Two more tips for a lasting manicure, again courtesy of my
cousin: use the freshest polish you can, because nail polishes are full
of volatile chemicals that begin evaporating as soon as the bottle is
opened, changing the characteristics of the polish inside. (You cannot,
contrary to rumor, restore an old, thickened bottle of polish to health
by adding a few drops of remover to it, although they do sell nail
polish refresher solutions at beauty-supply stores. Never experimented
with any of 'em myself.) And two: leave your thumbs 'til last. That way
you can use your thumbnails to clean up polish mistakes on your opposite
hand, improving your application immensely. And an even application is
an even manicure is a long-lasting manicure.
And then, when you're all done with the rest of your manicure, do your thumbs. Ta-da. 
Apply
your top coat, let it dry, rub some oil or moisturizer into your
cuticles, and voilà. I thought these colors looked cool against a dusty
rose pink dress, since that's a very '30s color. (At least, the dress is
dusty rose when not photographed in full evening sunlight.) Now go
enjoy the compliments you'll get on your eye-catching manicure.
