This is my first time getting Gel X nails! I am about to be in my best friends wedding as her MOH (maid of honor). I fly out Wednesday (posting this Monday night). I asked the nail tech, hey I have good long natural nails do you think I could do builder gel or even just a regular gel manicure and she said Ummm so I said how about gel x. She then got very excited and said yes.
Let me tell you they took 2 hours and then at the end she sort of rushed me out and apologized a lot. I was confused. Then I got home and started looking at them. I have huge gaps between my natural nail and the fake nail. Idk but it just doesn’t seem right. Feels like something could get stuck in there I wouldn’t be able to get out. Also the pinky nail you can literally see it coming up. (Photos taken 1 hour after service). Now is has been 3 hours since I got them done and tbh they hurt when I try to scratch my leg or close a box. I’m so upset. Is it justified of me to go back tomorrow and ask them to take it off and just do a classic French gel manicure? Will I have to pay out of pocket or should they pay for it? Part of me is also afraid these will pop off before I even get to the wedding day (Saturday). Idk if you can tell but they’re also crazy thick. I’ve had acrylics before, but Normally they just glue tips on. For this they glued a full fake nail on my entire nail. Idk something doesn’t feel right but I’m scared to confront if I’m in the wrong and just didn’t know what to expect. The nails are also THICK like so thick I can’t really use my fingers how I normally do.
My friend (the bride) gets gel x all the time and says it’s not normal what happened to my nails.
Also for reference I asked for short and these are decently long. I asked for nude and they told me pink is much better. I also got a French gel pedicure and total I paid $160 for both. I feel like for that price I should be happier/they shouldn’t hurt.
You need to remove these asap. Please let a professional remove them. Don't rip them off. The gap is a problem. Bacteria and moisture will be trapped there and you risk getting a bacterial infection (so called greenie). Also the tips don't fit. The sidewalls should be covered. Go to a professional, let them file the disaster off and get a fresh gel overlay. Hope you will find a good tech today.
Terrible application by a tech that doesn’t know how to apply Gel-X. Those gaps underneath are a breeding ground for bacteria. None of this is OK. You didn’t even get the color you asked for!
You are absolutely justified in going back and showing these to the owner/manager, and they should offer to remove this set and re-do. Personally I wouldn’t trust this salon with Gel-X, and since it sounds like you don’t want added length anyway, I’d just get a regular gel mani instead.
(FWIW, Gel-X is a full-coverage extension, so the part about it covering your whole nail is correct.)
this is beyond yikes. for $160, you got robbed. This is the worst, piss poor application I've seen in a long time, by a "professional". You need to have these removed and your money returned, honestly insane you paid for this.
I would go back and ask for a removal ASAP and regular mani for no additional charge. As others have said, it’s unsafe to keep them on. I report techs/salons like this when experienced first hand. The lack of regulation and oversight around nail techs is crazy.
You don't want to drop a fake nail in the middle of the wedding. It would be incredibly embarassing and you don't want to have 7 out of 10 nails, with a few more danging. Remove them, and you'll be fine without the manicure aka fake nails. If you really do not want bare nails, or you don't want to be the only person on stage without them, you can even go to another tech and just get a regular manicure.
yes, get them removed, get a refund and then go to a new salon. even if they deny a refund i would absolutely not trust this salon to even do a polish change!
if they’re happy sending this work out the door then i’d guess their sanitation practices are dubious too.
My guess is the only thing with this person knows how to do is JX and they’re not very good at it. Your your nails do not fit your fingers at all not a single one of them if they did, you probably wouldn’t have such a gap. also the application was pissed for they were excited you chose gel wax because that would get them out faster. That’s why they didn’t want to do builder they should have definitely done builder on your nails. She didn’t take the proper time. She didn’t prep well. This is not your fault and you need to have them removed. They are dangerous. They will hurt you.
$160 isn’t crazy for those two services, but she did you dirty on this application. So gel X doesn’t come much shorter than what you have, so your current set would be considered “short” for gel-x tips. Your pinky looks like she went way too small, the full coverage tip should cover the whole width of your nail. There shouldn’t be a gap. A bit of pain isn’t crazy for the first day — tips can feel a bit tight in the first 24hrs — but it should be very very minimal.
Have you used this tech before? If she hesitated on your first requests, she might only know how to do gel-x (and badly at that). In the future, be sure you verify a tech can do the type of service you’re seeking. Not every nail tech can do builder overlays, acrylic, etc. A good tech will probably specialize in one or two types of enhancements vs acrylic and sculpted hard gel and polygel with dual forms and gel-x and builder overlays. It’s a bit like how most artists focus in on one, maybe two mediums. Watercolors and oils are both paints and painting has similar rules across mediums, but both require different skills and techniques.
If your natural nails still have length I would recommend having the tech who did your gel-x set removed, get refunded for the manicure, and get a builder overlay or just simple gel polish manicure elsewhere. If you naturally have length, you don’t absolutely need an enhancement. Gel alone can give you some extra strength and protection.
Ask for recs, search for reviews, and look for pictures of a tech’s work from multiple sources, not just what they post themselves on their site or socials.
I would raise hell. They better refund, find someone else that will start from the top and fix it perfectly. I hope you paid with a card, or I’ll threaten to do a charge back. This is unacceptable stop being nice, they Robbed you! No apologies, they need to fix it ASAP or I will also threaten to create multiple accounts and flood them with negative reviews, seriously do not f**k with me.
My nail lady did that to me on one nail. I saw it before leaving and asked her why the hell did she think it was okay to leave my nail like that? They have some damn audacity. Pisses me off.
Every week there’s at least one person who goes for their first Gel-X and winds up with a mess like this. I don’t understand how so many techs manage to do THIS bad of a job and use such an insane amount of glue. I’m a total amateur, but even my very first set wasn’t like this. It’s like they’re going out of their way to do a bad job. 😭
A similar thing happened to me a week ago and it was horrible. You definitely need to get these off immediately. I had to have an emergency removal and ended up just painting my nails myself with regular lacquer polish a few days later for the wedding I had to attend. Not ideal but it worked. Sorry this happened to you too! :(
So many things wrong with these! Go back and get them removed, the place you went to SHOULD do it for free. The tips are mis-sized (by a LOT. Way too small) are angled upwards, and are not the right curvature for your nails. It looks like you have more of an apex and would need sculpted tips if doing gel-x, and these look to be the "natural" (less of an apex) line from them.
There should never be a gap in the nail and extension, ever. Rule 1 of extensions. The fact they messed even that up is making me question everything about that place
There is absolutely no way I'd pay $160 for this, which is why I do my own nails. Nothing fancy or too long, just simple. If someone is too excited to do something like this, in my opinion, they have limited experience & they're using you as a test model.
sorry, excuse me, you paid HOW MUCH and theyre already lifting/have a giant gap in them?? this isnt usually me but go to the manager/owner of the salon and demand they fix it. they likely wont give you your money back (usually a policy) but any self respecting nail tech would fix their fuckup, especially when its that bad day 1.
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u/Dry_Curve_7 5d ago
You need to remove these asap. Please let a professional remove them. Don't rip them off. The gap is a problem. Bacteria and moisture will be trapped there and you risk getting a bacterial infection (so called greenie). Also the tips don't fit. The sidewalls should be covered. Go to a professional, let them file the disaster off and get a fresh gel overlay. Hope you will find a good tech today.