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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be disappointed with this gel manicure?

131 replies

Saturdayrabbit42 · 10/05/2025 00:10

As title. Nails short but not bitten etc. (need short nails for work). Went to the salon today, £25 for these. Have had gels elsewhere before elsewhere with same length nails and I was really pleased…not thick/cuticles tidied/edges and skin clean etc. I messaged them when I got home to say that I was disappointed and their reply was my nails were too short and I just had to wait for them to grow. Perhaps they were right and I am being unreasonable?

AIBU
Yes-suck it up buttercup/nails too short
No-dogs dinner, even if short result should be better than this!

PS realise this is a very first world problem!

To be disappointed with this gel manicure?
To be disappointed with this gel manicure?
To be disappointed with this gel manicure?
To be disappointed with this gel manicure?
OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
Original poster
Saturdayrabbit42 · 10/05/2025 00:11

PPS I added photos but they are “currently being reviewed”!

OP posts:
Original poster
Saturdayrabbit42 · 10/05/2025 07:40

Photos up now! Bump!

OP posts:
Moomookangaroo · 10/05/2025 07:43

I mean, yes they're too short to be made to look particularly glamorous but surely not too short for them to have sorted the cuticles 🤦🏻‍♀️ I wouldn't have been happy with that at all

Fourteenandahalf · 10/05/2025 07:43

It's hard to see if the gel is covering all of the nail? I don't think I would get a gel manicure with such short nails, and I don't think the colour helps. But no they do look pretty awful (sorry).

Littlemisscapable · 10/05/2025 07:45

Oh no. That's not good at all.

Dearg · 10/05/2025 07:46

No they should have taken more time on the preparation. They should have trimmed the cuticles for example.

For what it’s worth I used similar colour on my non- gel nails and it looks shit too

ocelot3 · 10/05/2025 07:48

The nails look just too short OP - I know you say you don’t bite them but they look like they are bitten down as far as they can go, so couldn't be filed to smooth lines by a nail technician. I think it’s fair enough to be disappointed particularly as the lines round your cuticles are not smoothly done. Overall though if is was me I would just get it taken off I think.

TheWorminLabyrinth · 10/05/2025 07:51

No, you are deffo not unreasonable. They've made a mess of those. Short or not, the gel is uneven and too thick, and they've got gel on your skin on your little finger and it looks like your thumb too, which means it will lift quicker! They've also not bothered with your cuticles. I'd be really pissed off.

ScrewedByFunding · 10/05/2025 07:52

Way too short and wrong colour for such short nails. I would just keep them clean and tidy with a neutral tone of polish if needed. It looks like tippex.

Arancia · 10/05/2025 07:53

Sorry, but that's a terrible manicure indeed...

Panamacatinahat · 10/05/2025 07:54

Putting gel nails on such short unkempt nails just highlights how bad they look. I wouldn’t have bothered. Tend them and take care of them. Let them grow a bit before going for a colour.

Ploeready · 10/05/2025 07:54

I think it is two fold, the nail prep ie cuticle trimming etc is poor as is the application of the gel. However, your nails cannot be filed to even out the length because they are too short. You also chose a colour that really highlights the actual shape of your nails rather than something more flesh toned and because they couldn't be filed across the tip they do look terrible as they are uneven.

I would just have them taken off. As someone who had their nails done for years at a salon you need to find someone who does it well and stick with that person. You could get someone newly qualified or someone who has been doing it for 20 years so you don't know how skilled someone is until they do your nails.

babystarsandmoon · 10/05/2025 07:56

The nails look too bitten or broken down to look good.

I would go for a natural pink builder gel and start taking good care of them.

Barbadosgirl · 10/05/2025 07:58

As a gel nail aficionado I would say as others have said that the cuticle work is terrible, they would have done better and the gel is not evenly applied but I cannot see what they could have done at the top as the nails are too short to file- the nail needs to be at the top of the finger not under it.

Also light colours like that look terrible on short nails. Light colours for medium/long nails and dark colours/brights on short nails is my rule. Mine are currently at medium length and are only just long enough per my policy for a light yellow!

I would have it removed and go elsewhere once they have grown to the top of your finger.

TippledPink · 10/05/2025 07:59

My nails are short and I get gels, they don't look anything like this. Doesn't look like they did any prep work? Cuticles way too long and sides are very messy. I agree it was the worst colour to choose though but they look like a child painted them....

Glohc · 10/05/2025 07:59

I wouldn’t have paid for that, it looks like they’ve done them with tippex. Don’t go there again.

Traversti · 10/05/2025 08:04

Awful manicure but even with a good job done, gel on such short nails doesn’t look good. The colour exacerbates it

Glohc · 10/05/2025 08:06

Looking at the thumb nail I would go back and get them removed.

SummerIce · 10/05/2025 08:08

Your nails are very short and they won’t look that wow with that nail length.

But that could have at least filed them so had a smoother round shape, tidied your cuticles and applied the polish to only your nails and not the surrounding skin. They did a shit job.

Hufflemuff · 10/05/2025 08:14

Shit job. They even got gel on your actual fingertip wtf.

I'd recommend getting them taken off, then using some high quality nail stregnther so they can naturally grow, then go for a gel manicure... at another place.

OPI brand do good nail strengthening stuff!

loobyloo1979 · 10/05/2025 08:15

They are terrible. Looks like when we were in primary school and painted our nails with tipex. Your nails are way to short for that type of colour.

ExtraOnions · 10/05/2025 08:18

How much time did they spend on this ? My manicure and gel takes 90 minutes, costs £35. My friend is the Nail Tech, so we are chatting a lot in that. She spends a lot of time doing my cuticles / any dead skin, 2 base coats etc … finishing off with cuticle oil.

Whoever has done yours doesn’t look bothered with doing it properly.

jeaux90 · 10/05/2025 08:18

Bad prep/cuticle work and gel is pants. I’d go back and complain. On short nails like this I would have gone for a neutral colour.

FilthyforFirth · 10/05/2025 08:19

Why bother getting gel when your nails are that short? Complete waste of money, yes it does look terrible but a lot of that is on you!

elusiveemz · 10/05/2025 08:19

That's horrendous.

It's always going to be harder wirh very short nails and they're never going to look amazing, but they could have done a much better job. They haven't sorted your cuticles, the gel is far too thick and clumpy and doesn't even cover your nails in some parts. I don't think the colour helps either- looks like you've tippexed them.

I'd definitely be pissed off.