Gel manicure: how to reach three weeks without lifting

A properly applied gel manicure holds three weeks without lifting. When it lifts on day five, the cause is usually the preparation or the first few hours — not the brand of polish.

Where it goes wrong

Gel does not bond to oil. If a film of natural oil is left on the nail, or traces of hand cream, the product adheres poorly from minute one and peels back from the edge within days.

Which is why it is worth not putting hand cream on the day of your appointment. It sounds like a trivial detail and it is one of the things that makes the most difference.

What hot water does

The natural nail expands and contracts with temperature; cured gel does not. Washing dishes in very hot water without gloves, twice a day, puts your manicure through a constant expansion cycle until it gives way at the edges.

Gloves for washing up. The least glamorous advice available, and the one that buys the most weeks.

The expensive mistake

Taking it off yourself by picking. When you peel gel off, it takes layers of your natural nail with it. The nail is left thin, soft and marked with white patches — and the next manicure lasts even less. That is how the "gel ruins my nails" cycle begins.

Gel does not ruin nails. Removing it badly does.

If a corner has lifted and your appointment is a week away, trim it flush with small scissors and seal it with a layer of top coat. Do not pull.

Breaks

Nails do not need to "breathe" — a nail is dead keratin, it does not respire. What they do need is to be healthy before being covered again. If yours feel thin or bendy, a week or two with a hardener and cuticle oil restores the thickness.

And cuticle oil daily. It is the only item on this list that also improves how your hands look between appointments.