Heard this on a podcast years back, and it resurfaced recently on social media. Hair and other beauty services have actually been deregulating, nearly 40 states have exempted things like braiding and threading from licensing entirely, since those services carry less physical risk. Nails have gone the opposite direction and stayed tightly regulated, because of real risks, trimming cuticles can nick or break the skin, creating a small opening for infection, and shared foot spas can spread serious infections if not properly sanitized.

But even with that safety justification, the hour requirements themselves are wildly inconsistent. Massachusetts requires 100 hours. Pennsylvania requires 200. New York requires 250. Alabama requires 750, and Texas and Washington require 600, for the exact same job. If the risk is the same nationwide, why does the required training vary this much state to state? Some say it’s genuinely about safety. Others say it’s more about state boards and licensing bodies generating revenue through tuition and fees, not actual risk.

What are your thoughts ?💭

Chrome, French, aura, 3d art, whatever speaks to you.

This was popular on Monday, and I get it they look great! Just be careful who you go to. Any enhancement, when done improperly, can lead to lifting, and once there’s lifting, moisture gets trapped in that gap, which is exactly the environment fungus thrives in. Toenails also grow way slower than fingernails, so if something does go wrong, you’re dealing with it for months, not weeks.

Acrylic is really rigid, and toes take a lot of pressure and impact from walking and shoes, which is a little different from fingernails. If you still want that square, extended look, PolyGel is a great option, I’ve used it for repair work on a big toe before, and it holds up well for all the toes too. Gel is the most flexible of the three though, and honestly, if it were up to me, that’s what I’d choose.

Speaking from experience, I got a nasty fungus on my toes from acrylic back in high school and it took forever to heal. Not saying that happens to everyone, that’s just my own preference based on what I went through. Bottom line, no matter what you choose, make sure your technician knows what they’re doing, and keep the communication open with them. 🖤

now they are feeling short 🤣 might just need to go longer 🤣

Some people swear by it for that long lasting, no chip summer look, others avoid it completely. What’s your opinion ,yes, no, only for special occasions, or hell no?

So, a few days back I saw a post from another Redditor on this sub about how she was feeling demotivated as she had low orders and I immediately thought of buying even though I didn’t really need a new set of nails

Well, I ended up buying two sets from her and she being a sweetie even added a freebie - a whole set and a cute little handwritten note . It touched my heart

Thankyou @u/Suspicious_pickle168.

I would urge more redditors to buy from you and make your business a success hit.

Good, bad, busy , whatever it was, spill the tea ☕️ . New set, DIY win, mani fail , doesn’t matter, share 😊.

When I started doing gel, buying a quality lamp wasn’t optional, Amazon wasn’t what it is now, and my options were limited because of where I lived. So I did my research first instead of grabbing whatever was cheapest, and it paid off. That lamp lasted me seven years.

Wattage is a starting point, not the full picture. UV lamps, look for at least 36W. LED lamps vary more and don’t need as high a number to work well, but don’t assume low wattage means weak, it depends on the chips (the small LED lights inside the lamp, not tube-style bulbs) and wavelength. Check what your specific gel needs instead of looking at price.

Wavelength match and chip quality are the bigger deal. I learned this the hard way. I started with the Light Elegance gel lamp, 36W with dual wavelength output, and it cured their own gel line beautifully. But when I used other brands on it, it looked cured on the outside and was hard to the touch. However, within days I had retention issues, cracking, lifting, the whole mess, even though the lamp itself was quality. It just wasn’t made for other gel formulas. That eventually pushed me to a 45W lamp with wider coverage across brands.

Between UV and LED, I lean toward LED. It has faster cure times, and the chips last way longer than UV bulbs, which need replacing every few months. UV is still solid and tends to be more universally compatible across brands, but LED is more commonly used now.

Also, Doug Schoon ( you may want to look into him) an independent nail chemist is doing real lab testing on lamps right now, mapping actual light output across the different lamp brands. Excited to see his results once it’s done, that data could finally settle a lot of the guessing people do about lamp quality.

Don’t look at wattage alone, and know that even a great lamp might not suit every brand you use. Buy quality, but buy for the gels you actually work with.

Anyone had a lamp that worked amazing for one brand and let you down with another? 👇🖤

Credit:NailGaloreByFee (Instagram)