avbprincess
Member
Hello Geeks, I'm hoping some of you can explain what has happened to my nails. Here's the problem: after wearing Shellac, many of my free edge smile lines (the whites of my nails) have increased in size and the smile line is now crooked. I'm pretty sure it's not onycholysis, as the nail plate is not really lifting from the nail bed; it appears that the hyponychium has moved back toward the base of my nail.
Here's the background: I got my first Shellac manicure in mid-May. 2 weeks later I went in for the usual removal/redo. 1 week and 2 days after that I removed the Shellac at home because it was chipping and wearing at the tips and I was tired of it (but that's for another thread). Both times (at the salon, and at home) the Shellac was removed with pure acetone on cotton balls wrapped in foil, and soaked for 10 minutes, with the remaining residue being scrapped off with an orange wood stick. When I removed the Shellac, less than 3 weeks after the first application, I saw that one side of the free edge of many of my nails had increased in size by lifting from my nail bed. So, the whites are their normal size on one side of the nail and an unusual, broader size on the other side. My nails' smiles are crooked smiles, lol! Interestingly, I had some non-formaldehyde nail hardener on my toe nails a week ago and within a few days of application the same thing was happening to the whites of my toe nails: the sides of the free edge were lifting from the nail bed, so more white was showing.
So, what's up with this? As far as I can tell from checking CND's application and removal videos everything was done properly, with the correct equipment, so I'm wondering if my naturally bendy (but still pretty strong) nails just don't like Shellac, or don't like to be made more firm by a foreign substance. I've had acrylics on for a month or two at a time in the past and never had this problem. Any thoughts? Thanks for your help!
ETA: I was and still am applying cuticle oil to my nails once per day, and they seem hydrated enough. My nails were firmer than normal when the Shellac came off, but I figured that was normal, as the Shellac was protecting my nails from the usual environmental moisture that I come in contact with each day that makes them softer.
Here's the background: I got my first Shellac manicure in mid-May. 2 weeks later I went in for the usual removal/redo. 1 week and 2 days after that I removed the Shellac at home because it was chipping and wearing at the tips and I was tired of it (but that's for another thread). Both times (at the salon, and at home) the Shellac was removed with pure acetone on cotton balls wrapped in foil, and soaked for 10 minutes, with the remaining residue being scrapped off with an orange wood stick. When I removed the Shellac, less than 3 weeks after the first application, I saw that one side of the free edge of many of my nails had increased in size by lifting from my nail bed. So, the whites are their normal size on one side of the nail and an unusual, broader size on the other side. My nails' smiles are crooked smiles, lol! Interestingly, I had some non-formaldehyde nail hardener on my toe nails a week ago and within a few days of application the same thing was happening to the whites of my toe nails: the sides of the free edge were lifting from the nail bed, so more white was showing.
So, what's up with this? As far as I can tell from checking CND's application and removal videos everything was done properly, with the correct equipment, so I'm wondering if my naturally bendy (but still pretty strong) nails just don't like Shellac, or don't like to be made more firm by a foreign substance. I've had acrylics on for a month or two at a time in the past and never had this problem. Any thoughts? Thanks for your help!
ETA: I was and still am applying cuticle oil to my nails once per day, and they seem hydrated enough. My nails were firmer than normal when the Shellac came off, but I figured that was normal, as the Shellac was protecting my nails from the usual environmental moisture that I come in contact with each day that makes them softer.
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