Is this normal for 2 week old gel nails

[NcBadfriend]

First time getting gel nails, got them done by woman who had excellent reviews and I loved how they looked on the first few days.

Within a week I had a noticeable growth gap but still acceptable, whereas it’s now been 2 weeks and the growth gap looks so unkempt/tacky

Surely people aren’t getting nails done as often as every 2 weeks though?? It’d already be expensive enough going every 3-4 weeks! & worse still they only really looked good in the first week

have labelled pic after 1 week and then after 2 weeks (now)

If you want to get 4 weeks out them (which isn’t recommended) you need to get nude/neutral colours. I hate seeing the regrowth come in so stick to pale colours on my fingers. Toes grow slower so I get coloured polish.
to be honest very few people will actually notice the regrowth, they just won’t be looking that closely at your hands.

On the vanishingly rare times I used to get a gel / Shellac / BIAB manicure, I made sure I soaked my hands in hot water for a decent amount of time and then pushed back my cuticles as far as was safely possible before I went to the salon. This meant I knew the polish was going on very close to the newest growth of nail.

In my experience some salons don’t have the turnaround time to work on cuticles very much at all, and this is where you can sometime see gaps appearing really fast after the manicure.
I’m sure lots of other people will have different experiences but this is just what worked for me. (Sidenote: I stopped having these manicures in the end because removing the stuff was such a pain, and I felt the ratio of time spent feeling happy with my nails to feeling embarrassed by them made them more trouble than they were worth. A friend introduced me to Nailberry Açai Nail Elixir and that’s all I use nowadays. It’s incredible.)

I have the Mylee kit and do them myself, it only takes 15 minutes once you get the hang of it. My nails last 2 to 3 weeks and the varnish peels off easily in big pieces by the end of the cycle. (It’s quite satisfying)

I agree with this. People are really not looking that closely, and in the event that anyone does notice, everyone (except you 😂) would expect regrowth and think it looks normal.

Mine grow really fast also so I got a kit and do it myself at home. I’ve done my nails myself for years so I’m quite proficient anyway. I get 2 weeks out of them and it takes perhaps 30 minutes to change them.

for me, my nails always grow faster the shorter they are. If they are left a bit longer, the growth seems to slow.
Zthey look good though, no chips or lifting!

This is why it’s a great business model for the salon. You are obliged to go back and start again!

These are mine, I had them done 24 days ago, and I have an appointment on Tuesday. I get a Russian Manicure, lasts me around 4 weeks.

a new salon recently opened near me and offers a “Russian manicure” where they cut the cuticles a lot more. I didn’t know anything about this method but have noticed the growth appears a lot less. I looked into it and it seems to be because the gel is closer to the nail bed. I’ve been able to stretch to 4 weeks going there, if anywhere offers this near you it might help. As others have said, a neutral colour helps too.

Didn’t see this post before I mentioned the Russian manicure!

I already posted but another thing I used to do. The day of or before my next infill, I'd rub moisturiser or nail oil into my cuticles. I'd push the cuticles back so when they did the infill, it was closer to the cuticles and lasted a bit longer.

I used to need infills about every 2-3 weeks though. Leaving them a month, they would look horrid and were more likely to catch or tear.

This is why I can’t get my nails done, as much as I’d love too. Mine grow so quick and I can’t bear them long so cut and file them weekly, I could never leave them 3-4 weeks!

Mine grow really fast! I just don't bother anymore as hate how they look grown out

Perfectly normal, our nails grow, if you want it to be less noticeable then get paler more neutral colours, I get mine done every 3 weeks.

The girl who does my nails sorts my cuticles out for me before she puts the BIAB and gel on, that’s part of what you pay for.

This is why I get a French ombré where the base colour is close to my skin tone. The gap from growth is less noticeable

Yes that's normal. Gels never last me more that 2 weeks for me. Acrylics usually get an infil after 3 weeks rather than a full new set. I've never had a set of nails still look good after 3 weeks.

How do people have the time and money to do this every two weeks !! 🤯
personally I find the gap at the bottom noticeable when people have them.

I get three weeks out of mine. My nails grow slowly. These are 3.5 weeks and being done tmrw

Same here. My nails, like my hair, grow really fast and by Day 14 they need to be re-done. I have found somewhere reasonably priced, thankfully!

I get four weeks out of mine but my nail lady is extremely extremely thorough with the prep. My appointments are very long (2+ hours) as a result but that’s fine with me. I don’t often get solid dark colours either, and I do get nail art, so I think it makes regrowth less obvious as the eye is drawn to the tips. I went six weeks over summer due to holidays etc and only the last week I would say I felt like they really could do with being done.

IT depends a lot on the individual .

I can’t get nails done as my nails grow extremely fast, so look bad after 10 days or so. I know others who don’t have to go for 3 weeks+

On a positive, this means that your health in certain aspects is very good. I’m assuming your hair is thick and grows fast, too.

However you may not be the best candidate for gel nails. Considering your nail health you may not need them.

Mine are a week old and are same as yours at week one

Well, I do notice, I look at other people’s nails, that’s whole point of having them done is to draw the eye to them and it does look unattractive especially with strong or dark colours once the regrowth gets noticeable. I go to a salon that does good preparation and factor in needing to remove them after two weeks for strong colours and three for nudes. I only get them done about twice a year and remove them myself (soak off) so I am not in a cycle but do need to set aside a good hour to remove them properly.

I am always noticing the gap at the bottom of people's nails because it looks bizarre and untidy. Like the op, I'd never really thought of it as being down to the nails growing. 🤦‍♀️ I can't believe people are having their nails done every 2 weeks. Seems a bit pointless really.