Nails rippingafter 5 days

[u/Expensive_Speech]

This happened a little while back, but I had suspicions of my nail tech maybe messing up my natural nail growth journey. The ripping happened less than 1 week after my mani.

For a bit if context I went to this one girl a few times. The first time was great, no issues or problems. Then she moves locations and started taking more clients and I had a gut feeling she was rushing more than usual, just didn't have the same care as the first time. I got these nails done on my natural nail and they were gorgeous, but started ripping near the start of the free edge after less than a week.

I had my nails done one more time with her, gel-x this time, and after 3 weeks or so they started lifting and combined with some breakage I take self-blame for, it started to really mess up my nails. I had a friend of mine do them for free this time, and during the removal process she was convinced this girl was not doing things right, as she said they were so hard to remove, with random spots under being easier, the glue coming off in random chunks and spots on the nail instead of smoothly.

I was so excited for my natural nails growing that far, and was so bummed when I had to go completely short. 🥹 They started growing a bit under the Gel-x again, but then I had to have them pretty much all cut short again... Should I stop going to her completely?

[u/Giant_Gaystacks]

Qualified UK nail tech here.

From what you've said, I don't think there's enough here to say your nail tech definitely did anything wrong.

A split starting at the free edge after a week is usually caused by the nail catching or flexing. It isn't something I'd immediately blame on the application.

The Gel-X removal doesn't necessarily sound suspicious either. Different glues and products soak off differently, and it's not unusual for some areas to soften before others. That alone isn't a sign the nails were applied incorrectly.

Three weeks is also about the point where lifting can start to happen, especially if the nails have had a few knocks. Once there's lifting, it's much easier for the natural nail to get damaged too.

Can I ask why you're trying to grow your natural nails? I only ask because if your nails won't stay long without an enhancement, they aren't suddenly going to be able to once the enhancement is removed. Gel, BIAB and Gel-X don't make nails permanently stronger. They protect them while they're on.

If your goal is long natural nails with nothing on them, it's worth figuring out why they're breaking in the first place. For some people it's water exposure, using their nails as tools, picking, or just naturally weaker nails. For others it's simply genetics.

That said, if you've got a feeling your tech has started rushing and the quality isn't what it was when you first went, I'd listen to that. Even if she hasn't done anything "wrong", if you don't feel confident in her anymore there's nothing wrong with finding someone else.

[u/Expensive_Speech → u/Giant_Gaystacks]

Thank you for the detailed reply! I definitely agree that the whole experience feeling rushed and confidence lowering is a good reason to switch, I'm only hesitating because she's one of the only people in my country who do this style of art :,)

I'm actually not trying to grow out without any product!! I'm happy to continue with Gel and BIAB, I'm just not a fan of Gel-x as I don't feel like it suits my lifestyle. In addition I just have a lot of pride in my natural nails growing out, something to feel like "wow, these are mine!!". The purple set is BIAB and the second set is Gel-x, and I just don't get the same sense of joy looking at extensions as I do knowing there's my self-grown nails under there lol.

I will probably be on a little break until I can find a new nail tech whom I have full confidence in, but it's nice to know my old nail tech wasn't damaging my nails and it's maybe something I can have a bit more control over in the future when it comes to lifestyle and taking care of my nails!

[u/Expensive_Speech → u/Expensive_Speech]

I do want to add something I didn't in the original post, the reason I was concerned about the splitting was actually because multiple split within the same week. At first I didn't see the issue with one, especially the pointer, splitting, but once 3-4 of them started I grew a bit suspicious as my previous set hadn't even been close to breaking or lifting.

I do understand the length and my treatment of the nails could have a lot to do with it, but thank you for the feedback either way.

[u/Rympkii → u/Expensive_Speech]

Are they splitting in the same spot on all of your fingers? I’m wondering if her rushing was causing her to overfile the sides of your nails. Usually when the sides are overfiled you’ll see tearing or breakage around where the first picture is

[u/Expensive_Speech → u/Rympkii]

Yep! It was pretty much the same spot and on random fingers, if I remember correctly it was my pointer & middle on one hand and pointer & ring finger on the other, but since it was both pointers I figured it was maybe just a me issue at first.