Nails help

[Cinders22]

I have noticed so many people have lovely nails - mine are plain, I can never be bothered to put polish on as it only lasts a day or two until it starts to wear off. I have had Gel nails previously for a holiday, but it absolutely wrecked my nails in that they were weak and splitting afterwards.

I have got reasonable length nails which are quite strong but have absolutely no idea what to have done to make them look neat and tidy (and painted) - but that won't damage the nails in the long run. I have looked at a local nail technician advertisement but have no clue what shellac, acrylic etc mean.

Any help/advice for a complete nail novice would be appreciated.

Hi Cinders - I had my nails done for the first time (I'm old ) .

I think if you go to a nail place they'll talk you through it . Mine acrually didn't because they didn't really speak English .But anyway I had acrylic on my finger nails - they clip your nails a bit ,apply false tips which they then trim according to the look you want .There was a chart and I pointed at the most natural looking - in my case a bit longer than my own and rounded /oval .

They file and apply lotions and potions and paint .And I'll have to go back to get them soaked off .Aargh .

Don't know if that's any help - prob ably not and doesn't answer your question about damage to nails .

Hopefully someone knowledgeable will come along !

I go to a lady one who uses 'builder in a bottle' by 'gel bottle' lots of natural shades that just get infills each month (they are not soaked off which is where the damage happens) as I just want them to be neat rather than fancy. Obviously if I want rid for good them I will have to soak them off.
They are gel nails, just a different version than shellac and are the only one that I know that doesn't have to be soaked off

@peridito @Lovetoridemybicycle Thank you for your replies.

My local nail salon is by appointment only so I can't go in and ask, any queries direct you to the price list - which is no good if you don't have the foggiest idea what you want doing.

The builder in a bottle sounds good, I am guessing infills is patching it up where your own nails have grown?

Yep, they grind down the top of the previous gel, but did a thin layer is still left on. Fill in the gap where the nail has grown and put a couple of coats over the whole thing.

@Lovetoridemybicycle can you change colours when you get the infill done?

I would say shellac it's a nail varnish put under uv light and painted again and I've
Light etc so it's just natural nail just they set the varnish so it doesn't chip and come off within days or even week.

Maybe lasts four weeks!
I've had some on my toes for three months it's just starting to grow out

You can put a different shade on top unless it's a very vibrant one that you've had before. I did that once and it created a kind of muted ombre nail, but then I don't mind an experiment! The ones in the photo have a bright pink underneath but this shade covered it well. There aren't many shades of builder gel I tend to switch each time but you can put designs or ordinary gel on top of you want to. Tends to be used by self employed at home technicians rather than nail bars so you need to search on Facebook for some one with a small business that uses it near you.
I love it as it's hard wearing and survives my rather physical job for 3-4 weeks (construction) shellac etc would only last me 2 weeks before it chipped.